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ANABEL Associates |
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FAQs
To all our clients: Thank you for an excellent working relationship and for helping us to achieve and maintain our first-class reputation. The purpose of this page is to give you some help in working with us and other translators.
Please Note: Our hours are from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday to Thursday Friday: 9:00 a.m. to Noon Here are some questions we have been asked, and our replies: |
| 1. Who was ANABEL? | |
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We do not translate from French into English. |
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| 2. How do I order the service? | |
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ALWAYS phone us first, at 613-833-0057, or send us a description of what you need by e-mail to We want to let you know right away if we are able to do the work. Also, GIVE US your word count when you call. It helps us to determine how long a request might take to be completed (SEE: #4 below for more on word count).
Once you have become an established customer, we can handle your work via e-mail, phone
or fax, but calling ahead is always a good idea. |
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| 3. How do you determine the cost? ( by word? by page? ) | |
| Typically translation costs are determined on a per/word basis. Why? Because the amount of work on a page can vary greatly depending on length of text, font
size, graphics, etc. Costs can also fluctuate depending on technical difficulty (legal, financial, hi-tech terminology - not all translators work in these fields), requested deadlines (ie. short, over-night, weekend), revisions, proof-reading, etc. And incidentally - not all translators are equipped to handle non-wordprocessing software such as Powerpoint or Excel. The current rate in the Ottawa area varies from as low as 12-cents a word (for an inexperienced translator) to as high as 30-cents a word or more by some companies. Our rates are competitive and reasonable for straightforward, non-technical translation and we believe that we are on the lower end of the scale in this area.  Back to top |
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| 4. How long does a translation take to complete? | |
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The time it takes to complete a translation again depends on word count, technical difficulty and how we can fit your job into our current work load. To give you an idea - on average a translator can handle about 1500 to 2000 words a day. The reality is that most translations are required after the original language piece is finalized, so deadlines are typically tight. Lead time is very important... the more lead time the better.
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| 5. Do you offer discounts on volume? | |
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Sorry, we do not offer discounts for volume. But we do offer a high degree of integrity and hard work. We are a small company, extremely busy, and work hard to maintain the good reputation we have developed. Frankly, good translators earn their pay and any honest translator will tell you that the financial benefits come down on the side of the client. Why?
Because of our quality and reputation
Also because of our high standards and a current need to meet the official criteria of
certain government clients, we rarely find other translating associates who measure up... so much so that we have
stopped advertising for associates. |
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| 6. Is our software compatible!? | |
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Please let us know the version of software you are using, before you send attachments. We currently use: WordPerfect Office 2000 and Microsoft Office 2000 (which includes PowerPoint and Excel). We can return translations only in these formats. (NOTE: We can read PDF files but we do not work in PDF and will return the translation in Word or WordPerfect. We are not able to manipulate graphic or photo files.) One of the easier file formats to exchange is “rich text format” (.rtf) which is a universal format readable by most word processors and computer models. A close second is plain text (.txt) also known as ASCII. These alternates can be used if we have exchange problems. If we cannot work in compatible software or same versions, we will return your completed translation in a useable text format. A French document can be up to 10 or 15 per cent more text than the original English, so allow for that latitude when designing your layout. The easiest way for us to deal with your translation is to receive it as a file attachment. This way, where possible, we can return the translated document in the same format as the original.
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| 7. Does size matter when sending attachments? | |
| Absolutely! If your documents are excessively large, we prefer to receive them in an archived or “zipped” format
for easier transmittal. Some Internet Service Providers (ISP) have a limit on file sizes. You can save time and file size by removing graphics before sending us e-mail attachments. If you must send large attachments, please consider some form of compression software. WinZIP is an excellent archival utility for PCs, and is readily available for free download via the Internet.
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| 8. Do you need a contact person? | |
| Yes, please give us the name, phone number, department and address of a contact person for the work
project. If we have a question about terminology, or problems with compatibility, we have to get back to you as
quickly as possible. We also need the information to complete our invoicing after the job is done.
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| 9. Why not post your rates? | |
| Rates vary depending on the required deadlines, degree of difficulty, etc. Certain contractual
agreements also dictate our costs and charges. We charge a premium for short turnaround, evening and weekend requests. While translation is usually charged on a per-word
basis, revision, proofreading, and other communication services are charged on an hourly basis. Our rates are competitive
and reasonable. In general, rates for straightforward translation services are based on an amount in cents-per-word. So it is easy for you to estimate the cost. Simply count the number of words and multiply them by the cents-per-word cost. We usually go by the word count taken by the software. Back to top |
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| 10. What about virus protection? | |
| We use the latest anti-virus software and update the newest virus warnings/protection on
a regular basis. ANABEL Associates has set up a Virus Alert page and we urge you to have a look at it.
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| 11. What can you tell me about "Netiquette"? | |
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There has been much written about Internet etiquette... behaviour in the use of e-mail and designing Web pages. ANABEL Associates has included some of the more important Netiquette guidelines (You can also check out our Netiquette page).
B) When addressing more than one person, or a list of people, address the message to yourself, then include all the other addressees in the "B.c.c.:" portion of the message headers. This way the receiver will only see his/her name at the top of the incoming e-mail.
C) Please advise your correspondents when you have an e-mail change-of-address. D) The best thing to do with spam (unsolicited and unwanted e-mail) is to erase the message without opening it. If you open the message you run the risk of setting off a virus if the message contains an attachment. Do not reply to the spammer, or take up any offer to unsubscribe. Doing so will only confirm that they have found a legitimate e-mail address and the junk will continue. You may wish to report offensive junk mail to your Information Service Provider and ask your ISP what the best method is for handling junk mail. E) When sending messages, do not use only upper case letters.
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| 12. What if I have other questions, comments or suggestions? | |
If you have any other questions, comments or suggestions, send e-mail to:  or call: (613) 833-0057. Back to top |
ANABEL
was the name of out beautiful Golden Labrador Retriever,|
then if you do not hear from us
through return e-mail, follow up with a phone call (Internet e-mail does not always get through).
