Free English to German Translation Service for Non-Profit Organizations
Do you work for a non-profit organization, which is in need of a free translation? I offer a limited number of free English to German translations for charitable purposes.
Whether I can offer you a free translation depends on various factors:
- What is your charitable cause?
I will only offer my free translation services if I am interested in supporting your cause. Issues that interest me include children's rights, animal welfare, historic/heritage preservation and nature preservation. Please send me an e-mail and describe your organization, your cause and why you need a free translation. - How much lead time can you give me?
My paying customers take precedence over my not-for-profit work. Thus, you will need to give me some leeway with the delivery of your free translation. If you are in a hurry with a fixed deadline in mind, my free services might not be for you. You may consider hiring me for paid translation work instead. - How many words do you need translated?
The fewer words, the better - for the simple reason that it'll be easier to squeeze a 1,000-word project into my day-to-day schedule than a 5,000-word project (which is, by the way, my limit for free translations). If your translation project is over 5,000 words in length, I cannot offer you my free services. - English-German website translations only
My free services only extend to text/copy that is published online. The reason for that is that I need your translated copy to link back to my website (see item 5), which – obviously – you can't do if your text isn't available online. If you need a translation for "off-line" purposes (e.g. a print brochure), please consider my paid services. - What's in it for you - and me?
You get an accurate, eloquent German translation (that is faithful to your English original but doesn't read like a translation) and I get ... credit. In return for my free translation services, I’ll ask you to link back to LighthouseTranslations.com from your website, using a link text that I provide you with (something along the lines of "Free English to German translation by Annika Neudecker").
If you think you have an English to German translation project that might fall into my "free services category", please do not hesitate to contact me. I'd be happy to discuss your project. If you're thinking of using a free online translation tool, please read on ...
Free Online Translation Tool vs. Human English-German Translator
If you were thinking of using one of those all-singing, all-dancing free online translation tools, I suggest you don't. Your point is, after all, to be taken seriously by your readers. Using a free translation tool can achieve precisely the opposite effect: a German reader sitting in front of his computer screen, laughing so much he ends up falling off his chair. (I'm sure you wouldn't want to be responsible for that ...)
Many people don't realize that they are not doing themselves any favors by having their website machine-translated (i.e. using a free online translation tool). They tend to think,“Well, even if it's a bad translation, it's better than nothing.”
Let me assure you that a bad translation is not better than no translation at all - and I'd like to prove this to you. Just take a look at the following paragraphs ...
I made up the following English copy for demonstration purposes:
We are a cosy, family-run bed & breakfast near Inverness offering charming and spacious first-class accommodation. Our turn-of-the century cottage (with beamed ceilings and an open fireplace) is set against the backdrop of beautiful and mythical Loch Ness. You won't have to go far for monster hunting!
Then I used an online translation tool to translate the above text into German. This is the result:
Wir sind ein cosy, family-run Bett & Frühstück nahe Inverness, das reizend und geräumige erstklassige Anpassung anbietet. Unser Häuschen DrehenVon-dcentury (mit gestrahlten Decken und einem geöffneten Kamin) wird gegen den Hintergrund von schönem und mythischem Loch Ness eingestellt. Sie won' t müssen die Monsterjagd weit anstreben!
You don't speak German and don't know if this a good translation or not? No problem: I have used the same translation tool to translate the above German text back into English, so you can get a rough idea of what your German readers would be reading. Here is the result:
We are cosy, family run bed & Breakfast close Inverness, which offers attractive and roomy first-class adjustment. Our little house DrehenVon dcentury (with radiated covers and an opened fire-place) is adjusted against the background by beautiful and mythischem hole Ness. It won' t must aim at the monster hunt far!
Yes, indeed - this is the back translation of the above "bed and breakfast" paragraph. Amazing, isn't it? The tool didn't even translate all words (you can see some English words in the English to German translation as well as some German words in the German to English translation).
As you can see, there is almost nothing left of meaning or value. The mangled translation is far removed from the original English copy. I seriously doubt that any bed & breakfast owners would want to tell their potential (German-speaking) visitors that they have "radiated covers", when what they actually wanted to advertise was "beamed ceilings"! Offering "first-class adjustments" (as opposed to "first-class accommodation") near "hole Ness" might also not be the best way to market one's business ...
Did you find the above amusing? Me, too. Though, come to think of it, it is very sad just how many of those abysmal translations there are floating around on the net. Being a source of hilarity is the last thing a company or a not-for-profit organization, working hard for a worthy cause, wants to portray to its German readership.
Are you working for a non-profit/not-for-profit organization? Contact me today to discuss your free English to German translation project.
Do you run a normal (for profit) business? E-mail me to hire me for paid translation work.
