EN 15038 Can Help You Assess Translation Service Providers

By Jason Heaton,
Marketing Manager, ForeignExchange Translations

Many clients struggle to find a good way to rate the many translation agencies that come knocking on their door. It can also be a challenge to assess current providers. Companies have longed for an objective means by which to carry out their assessments. Some help has arrived in the form of European Standard EN 15038:2006, "Translation Services - Service Requirements." EN 15038 was originally released as a British Standard and was made a European Standard in 2006. Despite its European origins, it can be applied universally to assess providers, both new and existing.

The standard provides guidance on such topics as human resources, linguist competency, technical resources, project management, client relationships and quality management. In short, it covers all the important areas that will determine the level of service and quality a company can expect from its translation provider. In regulated industries, where metrics and standards are vital, EN 15038 is a welcome tool. Many translation agencies are flocking to get EN 15038-certified or claim compliance. While certification is great, it is also helpful for client-side companies to understand the guts of the standard. Though it's not perfect, the finer points of EN 15038 give companies a good starting point from which they can assess their current or prospective translation service providers.

This article will summarize the key points in the standard, and describe how it can be used as an assessment tool for translation providers. It will pull out the key points and make suggestions for how the standard can be turned into a useful assessment tool and distill some good questions that you can ask your current or prospective translation providers.

EN 15038 is broken up into three main sections: Basic Requirements, Client-Translation Service Provider (TSP) Relationship and Procedures in Translation Services.

Basic Requirements

The Basic Requirements section of EN 15038 covers five areas: human resources, technical resources, quality management system and project management.

The human resources section of EN 15038 focuses primarily on the competencies of the linguists who work on projects. The standard breaks down these competencies into five categories:

• Translating competence. Linguists can translate to an appropriate level in terms of terminology, grammar, phraseology, style, locale and target audience. Equally emphasized is that the translation is done in relation to client expectations and requirements.

• Linguistic and technical competence in source and target language. Linguists should have full comprehension of the source language and a mastery of the target language.

• Research competence, information acquisition and processing. A linguist should be proficient in using tools available to learn more about the subject matter in which they are translating.

• Cultural competence. Translations should be done with the target audience in mind with respect to value systems, behavioral standards and locale.

• Technical competence. Proficiency in hardware and software tools necessary to carry out the translations.

The above competencies should come as the result of a recognized higher education degree, equivalent qualification in other areas plus two years of documented experience translating and/or at least five years of professional translation experience. Additionally, EN 15038 stipulates that editors should have adequate experience in the competencies above as well and reviewers should be specialists in the subject matter in which they are working (e.g., medical device, finance, consumer electronics).

A key takeaway of this Human Resources section of EN 15038 is that, while it would be nearly impossible for a client to be able to screen linguists for these competencies, they can ensure that the TSP has processes in place for the selection and qualification of linguists. By asking to see a TSP's selection criteria and perhaps random linguist records, a client can have a pretty good idea of a TSP's adherence to this requirement.

EN 15038 does not go into a lot of detail regarding technical resources. But the high level requirements it does list are important:

• The TSP should have the equipment necessary to carry out projects and provide for safe and confidential handling of client documents and electronic media and data.

• The TSP should also have adequate communications equipment and hardware and software.

• Access to relevant information sources and media.

Technology changes so quickly now, that the writers of the standard were wise to not go into too much detail in this section. Faster processors, upgrading operating systems and storage methods, as well as advances in content management, translation memory and the advent of machine translation would render any more specific directives obsolete almost annually.

It would be a good idea to ask your TSP for their archiving and disaster recovery protocols. Also, a list of their software capabilities will help determine how current they are, especially vis à vis your specific project needs.

Though not cited specifically in EN 15038, Translation Memory would fall under this section. Translation Memory, or "TM," is the widely used means by which previously translated phrases can be leveraged in later projects to maximize consistency and cost-effectiveness and reduce turnaround times. There is an ever-growing list of options in TM technology. It helps to read trade journals and industry Websites to keep on top of the state of the art, as well as industry trends and standards. What is important is not how much a TM system can do, but how it pertains to your specific needs.

EN 15038 states that a TSP should have a quality system suited to its size and structure but should include a statement of quality system objectives, a process for monitoring quality, a robust corrective action program and a process for handling information and material received from clients.

The simplest approach to assessing an agency's quality management system is to check their certifications and compliance to recognized standards, most notably ISO 9000. Since many companies that use translations have their own ISO-certified quality systems, it is easy to relate these to that of the TSP. Check your agency's certification status and any compliance to other standards, such as ISO 14971 (Risk Management). It might also be helpful to have your own company's internal quality auditor perform an audit on the TSP to check on key points as they might relate to your business.

Quite simply, EN 15038 states that each translation project should be overseen by a project manager and be carried out according to the TSP's procedures, and in accordance with the project expectations and requirements agreed upon.

Client-TSP Relationship

The second main section of EN 15038, which covers the client-TSP relationship, is actually quite short. The focus is on how projects are assessed, quoted, agreed upon and concluded.

With regard to human and technical resources, an agency should not be so eager to "win" a project that it is not being honest about their bandwidth and capabilities. So a forthright discussion about their human and technical resources, backed by documented proof, will tease out any issues of scalability.

Barring other client-TSP agreements, projects should be quoted with, at the least, price and delivery details. One could assume that project schedule is included in "delivery details" and is often an equal, if not more vital, concern to clients than price.

EN 15038 briefly touches on agreements that an agency establishes with its clients. This point is somewhat open but basically states that there should be a contract between TSP and client that covers commercial and legal terms such as copyright, liability, confidentiality and settlement of disputes. These are typically assumptions contained within a Master Services Agreement, Statement of Work or individual project proposal.

It is the responsibility of the TSP to attempt to eliminate ambiguity by approaching the client for supplementary information related to a project. This point actually speaks to the larger need for good client-TSP communication, which is often intangible but vital to a good relationship.

All information received from the client should be handled in accordance with the TSP's quality management system. This point relates to confidentiality, version control and archiving which should be covered in the TSP's quality management system, which was discussed above.

A TSP should have procedures in place for wrapping up a project. This covers post-delivery aspects, such as archiving, follow-up and assessment of client satisfaction. Again, this points to the larger need for good communication. Project "postmortems" are effectives means by which clients and TSP's can discuss the good and bad aspects of a project, which will lead to future improvements. The way a TSP finishes a project is as important as how they start one.

Procedures in Translation Services

The final main section in EN 15038 breaks down how projects are carried out. First off, a TSP must have documented procedures in place for project management, including:

• Monitoring and supervising preparations - kickoff meetings, review of proposal and requirements, etc.

• Assigning translators

• Assigning editors - EN 15038 calls these "revisers"

• Issuing instructions

• Enabling and monitoring consistency - this could be facilitated through the use of glossaries, style guides and Translation Memories

• Monitoring and supervising the schedule

• Staying in contact with all parties, including the client

• Delivery

It should be noted that, while most TSPs have the position "project manager" within their ranks, the tasks above are often carried out by several functions, such as linguistic leads, publishing leads, account managers, etc. An effective assessment might be to talk to a TSP about how each of the above tasks is carried out and by whom.

The attention to detail EN 15038 gives to Preparation highlights the importance of this area. The standard goes into some detail about each preparation step, breaking them down into administrative, technical and linguistic aspects.

• Administrative - Two points are highlighted here: projects should be recorded and activities during projects logged. This allows projects to be traced and status to be determined at all times. Also, appropriate internal and external resources are to be assigned and documented, again for traceability.

• Technical - Appropriate technical resources (e.g., software versions) should be used and any pre-translation technical processing should be carried out. This might include preparation or extraction of text, Translation Memory leveraging or post-alignment of text.

• Linguistic Preparation in this area focuses on recording any specific linguistic requirements a project and/or client might have. This could include style guides, specs for adaptation to a specific target audience or glossaries. Source text should be analyzed in order to head off any possible translation problems, such as colloquialisms or industry or company-specific terminology.

For assessment of a TSP's adherence to the above Preparation points, it might be helpful to obtain any pre-project procedures and checklists, as well as style guides specific to your company or your company's industry.

"Translation process" covers how text is translated, checked, edited and reviewed. Assuming that the human resources involved in this process are in accordance with the basic requirements discussed earlier, the important points about the process are as follows:

• Translation is carried out according not only to the basic linguistic rules of the target language but also to the specific requirements of the project and client.

• There should be quality assurance checks through out the process, after each step.

• Editing - EN 15038 refers to editing as "revising". This refers to having a second person review the translation for its suitability for purpose, as well as quality of its style and voice and its consistent use of terminology. Editing is often overlooked and not understood but is a vital piece of a quality translation.

• Review - if it is contained in the project require ments that a review is carried out, it should be done by an appropriate person. Often client in-country representatives do these reviews. But many TSPs provide this service as well.

• Final verification - the TSP should do a final check of the translation against the project specifications to ensure that expectation will be met.

EN 15038 succinctly describes an effective translation process. It is based on having appropriate staff, conducting an edit step to verify the translation quality and to perform quality checks throughout the process. Ask for a thorough description of how a project is carried out, step-by-step. Is editing done? If so, is it by a separate person? Ask to see quality checklists that linguists use.

Conclusion

EN 15038:2006 provides an objective set of criteria by which translation service providers can be assessed, which previously was missing from the translation industry. While many of its points may seem obvious, taken as a whole, the standard can be effectively used to make decisions about potential translation vendors and review existing ones. Its contents could also be adapted or augmented for use in specific industries. And it provides justifications for decisions that are often difficult to make in a service industry like translation.

While this article should not be relied on as a substitute for EN 15038:2006, hopefully you have a better understanding of the finer points of the standard. These points could be woven into a company's vendor selection or RFP process, or into an annual supplier review. With the industry's increased focus on supplier quality and compliance to standards, a bulletproof method of assessing translation agencies will surely become more important in the future.

About the author

Jason Heaton is a ten-year veteran of the localization and life sciences industries. Having come up through the ranks as a Technical Writer, Jason also worked for a large medical device manufacturer in their Technical Communications and Regulatory Affairs departments. Jason was an Account Manager with ForeignExchange Translations for his first three years with the company and is currently the Marketing Manager. Jason is based in Minneapolis and can be reached at jheaton@fxtrans.com

Published - January 2009

ClientSide News Magazine - www.clientsidenews.com

Corporate Blog of Elite - Professional Translation Services serving ASEAN & East Asia

Buying Translation Services: How to Always Stay Within Budget

By Yann Meersseman,
VP at Welocalize

Some meetings with your manager should happen only in nightmares: red-faced and heart pounding, you shuffle pages of spreadsheets that stick to your sweaty palms. “Sorry... it’s going to be a little more expensive than I thought...”

You fall pathetically short of explaining why you need another $25K to finish the localization project. Your “evil vendor” story isn’t sounding very convincing.

Unfortunately, quite a few localization project managers suffer through such unpleasant meetings for real. Some people subscribe to such meetings quarterly, never learning from their mistakes.

Running over budget is one of the capital sins of localization management. It’s high up there with “late delivery” and “bad quality.” There are probably countless excuses for it, but what you really want is to avoid needing one.

Budgeted, quoted, or invoiced

To explore how best to avoid a budget crisis, let’s consider a single localization project and the following definitions:

• budget – the maximum amount of money you anticipate spending (and boldly communicated to the rest of the company).

• quote – the amount of money your vendor proposes to charge for the work.

• invoice – the amount of money you end up paying the vendor.

If you were the perfect localization manager, your Tshirt would likely read: “Budgeted = Quoted = Invoiced.”

Very doubtful this double equation ever materializes in the real world. Nonetheless, it represents the two basic challenges project managers face:

the challenge of committing how much it will cost (budget) before your vendor gets all the materials they need to precisely estimate the cost (quote)
the challenge of trusting your vendor’s estimate (quote) before you begin the project and commit to paying the bill (invoice)

How big is it?

The cost of localization is directly related to the nature and size of the content to be localized. The more precisely you can identify the project scope, the more accurate your budget will be.

In a perfect world, before you utter the slightest opinion about a budget, the complete and final localizable content would be delivered to you on a silver platter. Under these circumstances, the first equation is easy to fulfill: since the work can be precisely estimated, the quoted amount becomes your budget.

In reality, you rarely have access to all the data you need when you provide a budget. The content is probably still under development—if development has even started. The product engineer, content author, or product manager, your information sources, might offer no more than a wild guess when you pressure them for a number.

To find some solid ground in this sea of uncertainties, you’ll be much better off querying for a range rather than a number. When people lack the knowledge to respond directly, they are much more confident setting the boundary between what they know and don’t know.

Thus, unless you like to gamble, don’t even think about formulating a budget if you can’t answer the following:

• What are the different types of localizable content? For example, a graphic, an HTML file, a database dump, or an application-specific document.

• For each type of content, what are the expected • minimum and maximum volumes? For example, 150 to 200 .doc files, 3,500 to 4,000 pages, or 60,000 to 80,000 words?

Share the responsibility

Let’s not forget that your objective is to avoid that nasty meeting with your manager.

So far, you’ve obtained as much information as possible about the scope of the project, you’ve taken care to express volumes as ranges rather than numbers, and you’re pretty confident that the minimum and maximum boundaries are realistic.

As you were gathering the information from your colleagues in various departments, perhaps it struck you: while responsibility for the localization budget weighs on your shoulders, its fate rests totally in your colleagues’ hands. Knowing from experience where localization resides on their priority lists, you should be a little nervous.

Why not share some of that responsibility with your co-workers? In a short e-mail, explain how their work impacts localization and its budget, summarize the information they have provided, and formally ask them to confirm these assumptions. Copy your manager and theirs. Your work will get more attention, you will gain some peace of mind, and the accuracy of your data is likely to get a boost.

With the project scope now formally summarized, you are ready to contact vendors and get an idea of the corresponding cost range. Before you do so, however, remember to formally ask your manager to confirm that the project scope is as good as it can get. There’s no reason your manager shouldn’t get a bit of the responsibility, too!

Talk to the vendors

Even if you’ve been managing localization for the past 10 years, you should always talk to the vendors before finalizing a budget. After all, if they are going to do the work, they might as well stick their necks out like everybody else.

Since the final project materials are unavailable, we are not talking about a quote at this stage. We want a cost range corresponding to our scope range. If formalized, our request would be a Request for Information, not a Request for Estimate (or Quote or Proposal).

Ideally, samples of the different types of localizable content should be provided. These materials don’t have to be part of the actual project, as long as they are representative of the file structures and formats.

For larger budgets, soliciting the input of multiple vendors will definitely help improve the precision. However, you should take care to state clearly the intent of the request: “I want your advice to establish my budget.” This is not the moment to get everybody excited by lowering estimates to look good.

With the feedback from the vendors, we can now finalize the budget. It should correspond to the maximum side of the estimated cost range, plus whatever security margin you think necessary and justifiable.


Making equation a reality

If your colleagues haven’t blown their volume estimates, there is no reason at this point why the “budgeted = quoted” equation won’t hold. In fact, because of the competitive pressure you will exert during the quoting process, you are more likely to end up slightly under budget and be a hero (unless you commit one of the other capital sins: late delivery or bad quality).

If your colleagues have blown their volume estimates, the fact that you formalized the scoping process will temper any impulse to shoot the messenger.

Whether or not you uphold the second equation, “quoted = invoiced,” is determined entirely during quoting. The fundamental principals for achieving this are very simple:

• make sure the quote covers all the required work and deliverables.

• what is quoted is what you pay

Read the quotes

It is always a good idea to read a quote attentively. You’d be surprised how often the numbers don’t even add up. If you initiated a vendor selection process, and you are getting multiple quotes, reading them is vital. No two vendor quotes look the same; comparing apples to apples is very difficult, unless you take the time to analyze the information.

To determine whether you are getting comparable levels of service, try to match the line items between quotes. If you can’t find a match, call the vendor and find out why. For example, if one quote lists “translation” and “editing” as separate line items while another lists just “translation,” does this mean that the first vendor has all translations reviewed by an independent editor, while the second vendor doesn’t? Perhaps it simply means that one vendor likes to be explicit while the other one considers editing standard practice.

Another approach is to list and compare all the deliverables. Will you receive every type of content in the expected format? Will you receive the glossaries and translation memories? Will you receive tested files? How many rounds of error corrections are included? Is there a warranty period?

To avoid any misunderstandings and unforeseen invoices, no quote should be accepted unless it explicitly describes every service and deliverable.

No open ends

Assuming you deliver final source content and make no changes to it, there is no reason to have any variable or conditional component in a quote. Every line item has a fixed price. If a service is charged by the hour, the total number of hours should be explicitly stated and frozen. What is quoted is what you pay.

If you need to start a project for scheduling reasons, but you don’t have all the content, split the project into subprojects, and have each part quoted when the corresponding content is available.

Don’t update versions in the middle of a localization project. If you have no choice, negotiate the amounts due for the work already performed, close out the active project, and then start a new project based on a fresh quote.

Conclusion

The localization budget may be under your responsibility, but you don’t really control it. Your role is to minimize the risks. Internally, you do so by communicating and sharing the responsibility. Externally, you do so by engaging only in welldefined, fixed-price projects. Keep this up, and you can forget about embarrassing meetings. Leave those to your manager and your manager’s manager.

Published - January 2009

ClientSide News Magazine - www.clientsidenews.com

Corporate Blog of Elite - Professional Translation Services serving ASEAN & East Asia

Educating the Customers, Redux: Time

By Brett Jocelyn Epstein,
Swedish to English translator, editor, writer,
Swansea, Wales, UK,

brett@awaywithwords.se
www.awaywithwords.se

Some readers may remember my article in the October 2006 issue of the Translation Journal that discussed educating customers about what translation is and how much it costs. Well, it turns out that there's another matter that we translators need to bring up with our customers: time.

Have you experienced the situation where you received a text from a customer and then were casually, or perhaps sheepishly, informed that it was needed back—perfectly translated and/or edited, of course—within just a few hours or days? And how often has such a text been especially long and/or complicated? And has a customer ever promised to send you a project by a certain date, failed to meet the deadline, sent you the text days or even weeks later, and then nevertheless expected you to be done with your part of it by the date originally agreed upon? And how frequently has such an event occurred during a particularly busy period (annual reports season, for example), when your work has been carefully and tightly scheduled?

It is natural to feel, when something like this happens, that our customers do not respect us or our time, that they have no understanding of what our job entails, and that they do not care if we have to work from eight a.m. until two the next morning several days in a row just to get their assignment done on time. And thinking that a customer does not respect or show consideration for the highly trained professional he or she has entrusted with an important document can cause frustrated and angry feelings and potentially even affect the translator so much that the job is not done as well as it could have been. Sometimes, translators have even been known to warn their colleagues not to accept work from a certain client, since it is "always late." In other words, it's a lose-lose situation all the way around.

So why do customers do this? Why do they jeopardize the quality of the work and their relationship with the translator? In my experience, the major reasons are 1) that the customer does not know what is really involved in translation, and thus cannot properly schedule the time needed for a thorough translation job, or 2) the customer him- or herself can not schedule his or her own work properly and then passes off the stress and pressure of a looming deadline to the translator, or 3) the customer assumes self-employed workers are simply sitting around, waiting desperately for the next job, and can take anything at any time. A subset of the last cause of this problem is that customers sometimes seem to assume that they are your only customer—or at least your most important one—and that even if they have not sent you the work by the time you agreed on, there is no reason to believe that you might now be busy with someone else's assignment.

How, then, can we translators tackle this delicate matter of time? To begin with, we can offer the customers more information before they even have hired us. The easiest step is something I recommended in the last article: provide detailed information on your website or in your other promotional material about what translation is and what is involved in your work. If you can, describe past assignments in general terms (because of privacy issues, you do not want to be too specific about what the job was) and mention how long it took you to do every stage of each project. For example, you can write: "5000 word contract. Half of the text was a general description of the companies and their products, and the other half was complicated legal language. I did a good rough draft in six hours of full-time work, and then I spent forty-five minutes researching terms. I revised the translation for three hours, edited it for two, and finally spent another two and a half hours comparing the source and target texts." Perhaps if many translators began adding to their websites a section about time, along with those on their professional backgrounds and rates, customers would take notice. Maybe they would learn something, too.

Similarly, when you are first offered an assignment, do not write back with information about your rates only. Those who are not translators have no way of guessing how much time or effort a job could take, which is why it is very helpful if you can be as detailed as possible. Say how many hours you anticipate each step in the translation process to take. Write whether the assignment will require you to go to the library or a bookstore to get specialized information, or collaborate with another translator or other professional. If you can see a rough draft of the document or get any more information about it, look it over and let the customer know if you think there will be any significant problems that will cause you to take a longer time than usual (for example, if the text is poorly written, or if it will be sent to you as a PDF rather than a Word document). And be sure to tell the customer what your schedule is like. Customers do not need to know all about your family obligations or your medical appointments, but it is certainly appropriate to tell them if you know (or expect) that you have a big job coming in, or if you will be on vacation, or if there is anything else that will affect your working time and ability. I usually give my customers specific information, such as, "I will be out of town for the next two weeks, but I will be checking my e-mail. So you can send me the assignment and I will print it out and study it while I am away. But I will not start translating it until this date, so you can expect it on that date. If the assignment has not arrived by this date, then I will not be able to finish it by that date."

Also, sometimes you need to be blunt with a customer. If you have previously had bad experiences with a certain client or if the project in question is coming during a particularly busy season, warn the customer in advance. Say, "I am looking forward to this assignment, but I want you to know that if it does not reach me by the time we agreed upon, I will not be able to do it." You don't need to explain to customers what else you have going on or you shouldn't hint to them that you will be nice and make an exception for them and accept jobs that are sent a day or two late; all you need to do is civilly give them this warning, which hopefully will spur them on to get the work to you as planned.

But the advice above only addresses what you can do before you have gotten the text to be translated. What happens if a customer sends you the document after the date you have agreed upon? Or if a customer asks you translate something in an unreasonable amount of time?

To take the second question first, you need to, as stated above, explain exactly what is involved in the work and why you need more time. If the customer still insists—and often this is because he or she was late doing his or her own part in it—you can decide if you do in fact have the time to get it done, even if it means a few extra-long days and nights for you. Naturally, however, you will not work so hard for free, and you will charge a rush fee. Standard rush fees range from an additional 50% to 100% of the cost. Whether a client is willing to pay for the rush work is another question, which won't be discussed in-depth here, since the issue of money was addressed in the previous article. I can just briefly remind you that your time is valuable and that you should not suffer, and be paid poorly to boot, when a customer has not planned the project well.

If you see that a document has not come to your e-mail in-box by the date you had expected it, it is appropriate for you to write to the customer and ask what is happening. It may be that the text is finished and ready to be translated, but somehow it just wasn't sent to you. It could also be that the customer found another translator or the job was postponed or canceled and you weren't notified. I usually write something like, "I am just checking in with you about the translation assignment. I would appreciate it if you can let me know the status of the project." It is also appropriate to add a reminder about your time limits or scheduling conflicts, as applicable.

As for what to do when the job finally arrives, this depends on your relationship with the customer, the size of the assignment, and how late the assignment is. If it is a client who has never been late before and/or someone from whom you earn much of your income, you might want to gently mention the lateness, but not get into a big discussion about it. If the text is short or easy enough that you can still get a translation done, you can let the tardiness go. This time, anyway.

Sometimes, however, you may have to turn down an assignment to get the point across (if it doesn't cause financial hardship for you to do so, of course). Yes, you may have originally accepted the job, but if the customer has not kept his or her part of the agreement and has not sent you the work as promised, tell the client so. It's enough to politely say, "I am sorry, but I carefully schedule my time and as you did not send me the document as agreed upon, I can no longer accept the job. I hope you find someone else." In most other circumstances, I recommend finding a colleague when you can not do a certain assignment, but in the case of delay on the customer's part, it defeats the purpose if you do so. The customer will then just assume that she or he need not be on time, since there's always another available translator, should the first one be too busy. If you are feeling particularly feisty, you could even mention that you had to turn down other jobs in order to make yourself free for the one that did not appear, and that as a result, you have lost money and potential future clients. Unfortunately, some people just do not consider how their actions affect others, so if you make it very clear to the customer how his or her thoughtlessness and/or inability to stick to a schedule has caused problems for you, this could really have an impact.

Regrettably, I suspect that there will always be customers who procrastinate when it comes to taking care of their own responsibilities, and that there will always be those who do not value the work others do and the time it takes. In the past few weeks alone, for example, a colleague gave me a translation assignment that she could no longer do it because it had arrived late, and I also edited an entire book in just a few (very long) days, because the customer had not planned well for the editing process. But I believe that we can eliminate some of these situations by educating our customers more. Once they begin to truly understand how much time our work takes, which they can only do if we explain the process to them in detail, and once we have begun teaching them that they can not send us documents late and/or expect assignments done very quickly, which we can do by warning our customers and/or refusing jobs and/or asking for rush or late fees, they will start both planning their time and their projects better and treating us with more respect. And isn't it time that happened?

Brett Jocelyn Epstein is a Swedish to English translator who has translated articles, menus, websites, stories, and other works. She is also an English teacher, writer, and editor, and she has a BA in literature and creative writing from Bryn Mawr College and an MFA in fiction from Queens University.
Please visit her website at >www.awaywithwords.se for more information.

This article was originally published at Translation Journal (http://accurapid.com/journal).

Corporate Blog of Elite - Professional Translation Services serving ASEAN & East Asia