Urgent Translation
'Our great strength is that we are in The Hague'
Urgent Translation not only provides good translations (fast, cheap and guaranteed), but also has them legalised if necessary, so that the customer can use them officially.
DATE
05 April 2020
TEXT
Herman Jansen
IMAGE
Fleur Beemster
Urgent Translation
'Our great strength is that we are in The Hague'
Urgent Translation not only provides good translations (fast, cheap and guaranteed), but also has them legalised if necessary, so that the customer can use them officially.
Wwhat do you do when you have to create a story for BOIDR about a Hague-based translation agency that then gets to translate this story - and all the other texts - for the first English version of this magazine? Do you deliberately keep it simple or do you challenge the translating native speaker with complicated subjects, rare expressions and other ambushes?
Mission impossible
But while meeting with translation consultants Jeffrey and Alicia PosthumaAs the owners of Urgent Translation, translation and legalisation, it is immediately clear: their own translators and the many freelance translators, all qualified, are so specialised and experienced that no assignment will ever be labelled 'mission impossible'. English, Spanish and Chinese are in great demand, but all other languages are no problem either. Neither translated from nor into Dutch. So Asia or Africa, here we come.
'Our agency's tremendous growth warranted its own front door'
In a handsome building at 72 Javastraat, corner of Nassauplein, Urgent Translation's team has only been in place since 1 September. Away from the years of 'invisibility' of a multi-office building elsewhere in the city. "The enormous growth of our agency warranted its own front door," Jeffrey Posthuma explains with a satisfied smile. "An art gallery sat here for many years. And we respect that past by also hanging art on the walls, in this case work by Harry Gijsberts, the brother of one of our translators."
36.8 per cent cheaper
Jeffrey and Alicia - both only 31, parents of three young daughters and remarkably relaxed when dealing with colleagues and clients - know only too well where their agency - "on average 36.8 per cent cheaper, with a rating of 9.5" - really excels.
Jeffrey: "A beautiful translation is rightly considered important, but it is even more important that such a translation can also be used officially and achieve its purpose. Our great strength is that we are located in The Hague, close to the authorities where we can have translations legalised quickly and directly for use abroad. We work safely, quickly, cheaply, without urgency, officially and with a guarantee.
Electric bikes
"We have two electric bicycles and an electric scooter with which we can smoothly ride with translated documents and other papers to, for example, the Courts, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and/or consulates for a stamp or a signature. You can't just arrive in many countries with a driving licence, diploma, birth certificate, marriage certificate, bill of sale or other business agreement in your own language or with an ungalised translation attached."
Translation error
And because most of Urgent's translators are also sworn translators, this means officially recognised documentation. Alicia: "As a translation consultant, we mediate between clients and translators and also select the right translator for each assignment. For example, one specialises in legal translation work, another in technical manuals, yet another in medical translation work. They all have to be first-quality." A 'medical' translation error could cost someone their goddamn leg during an operation, for example.
'I'm leaving'
Everything that goes wrong in the popular TV series 'Ik Vertrek' precisely because the main characters prefer to trade their good jobs without enough money, preparation, knowledge of their dream country and the foreign language for a ruin without a catering licence is at odds with Urgent Translation's good work.
Painful things
Instead, they ensure that their clients encounter no problems at all abroad thanks to the very best advice, translations and stamps. Jeffrey: "Translation is also sometimes about painful things: a court case, a death certificate in or for a foreign country, invoices or doctors' reports after a skiing accident."
Who are their customers? Anything and everything, it turns out. "The government, freelancers, business, organisations, individuals, events. Also the Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort and La Vuelta when it starts in Utrecht. The Hague is Sports Capital of Europe in 2022, the bid book has been translated into English by Urgent Translation."
'What's the cost of having your menu translated? That's an investment of five desserts'
Novels and film scripts also pop up among all the work. And menus. For example, from beach club Bora Bora (Scheveningen). A smart move.
Jeffrey Posthuma: "Many entrepreneurs underestimate the power of a translation. They put a lot of money into marketing but don't see that a translation is a perfect investment that ensures a much bigger reach, an extra fifth on average. And what is the cost of having your menu translated? That's an investment of five desserts. No marketing department achieves such an effect in such a short time for so little money."
Moscow
"We ourselves notice very well that our website is also there in English. Then, when people who want to go from Spain to Moscow approach us, you sometimes think: how will they find us? You forget your huge reach. And on Google we are very findable, so if you search for a translation agency, you will find us immediately." But there are translation tools on Google, right? As it turns out, those are not perfect. Jeffrey: "Google Translate doesn't make anyone happy."
'It's like a puzzle: from one word or phrase you find a clue to another word or phrase'
The latter can confirm sworn translator Ammerins Moss-de Boer from Friesland. She pays a social visit to Javastraat 72, while she usually works from home, 'in a village above Leeuwarden'. She specialises in both legal and medical translations (into English and Frisian, and vice versa).
"I love diving into texts that seem complicated and then dividing them up and pulling them apart. It's like a puzzle: from one word or phrase you find a clue to another word or phrase."
Tracker
Additional problem: not all documents make sense. "And a writ (deed of report from a bailiff, ed.) is completely impossible for an ordinary person to read. Also, as a translator, you sometimes have to dive into the middle of a file and miss the context. Very tricky are abbreviations of old subjects and diplomas or of schools that no longer exist. And abbreviations in the army, on diplomas from all kinds of missions. Often, as a translator, you are a sleuth, you learn to google very well. Sometimes you spend half a day for one A4 sheet."
Embarrassed
Jeffrey and Alicia Posthuma listen with endearment to the lucid contribution of this faithful translator and realise that, even with so many freelancers, Urgent Translation is one big family. It doesn't have to be put in black and white and stamped. Why isn't there also a TV programme 'I Stay'?
text Herman Jansen image Fleur Beemster
Wwhat do you do when you have to create a story for BOIDR about a Hague-based translation agency that then gets to translate this story - and all the other texts - for the first English version of this magazine? Do you deliberately keep it simple or do you challenge the translating native speaker with complicated subjects, rare expressions and other ambushes?
Mission impossible
But while meeting with translation consultants Jeffrey and Alicia PosthumaAs the owners of Urgent Translation, translation and legalisation, it is immediately clear: their own translators and the many freelance translators, all qualified, are so specialised and experienced that no assignment will ever be labelled 'mission impossible'. English, Spanish and Chinese are in great demand, but all other languages are no problem either. Neither translated from nor into Dutch. So Asia or Africa, here we come.
'Our agency's tremendous growth warranted its own front door'
In a handsome building at 72 Javastraat, corner of Nassauplein, Urgent Translation's team has only been in place since 1 September. Away from the years of 'invisibility' of a multi-office building elsewhere in the city. "The enormous growth of our agency warranted its own front door," Jeffrey Posthuma explains with a satisfied smile. "An art gallery sat here for many years. And we respect that past by also hanging art on the walls, in this case work by Harry Gijsberts, the brother of one of our translators."
36.8 per cent cheaper
Jeffrey and Alicia - both only 31, parents of three young daughters and remarkably relaxed when dealing with colleagues and clients - know only too well where their agency - "on average 36.8 per cent cheaper, with a rating of 9.5" - really excels.
Jeffrey: "A beautiful translation is rightly considered important, but it is even more important that such a translation can also be used officially and achieve its purpose. Our great strength is that we are located in The Hague, close to the authorities where we can have translations legalised quickly and directly for use abroad. We work safely, quickly, cheaply, without urgency, officially and with a guarantee.
Electric bikes
"We have two electric bicycles and an electric scooter with which we can smoothly ride with translated documents and other papers to, for example, the Courts, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and/or consulates for a stamp or a signature. You can't just arrive in many countries with a driving licence, diploma, birth certificate, marriage certificate, bill of sale or other business agreement in your own language or with an ungalised translation attached."
Translation error
And because most of Urgent's translators are also sworn translators, this means officially recognised documentation. Alicia: "As a translation consultant, we mediate between clients and translators and also select the right translator for each assignment. For example, one specialises in legal translation work, another in technical manuals, yet another in medical translation work. They all have to be first-quality." A 'medical' translation error could cost someone their goddamn leg during an operation, for example.
'I'm leaving'
Everything that goes wrong in the popular TV series 'Ik Vertrek' precisely because the main characters prefer to trade their good jobs without enough money, preparation, knowledge of their dream country and the foreign language for a ruin without a catering licence is at odds with Urgent Translation's good work.
Painful things
Instead, they ensure that their clients encounter no problems at all abroad thanks to the very best advice, translations and stamps. Jeffrey: "Translation is also sometimes about painful things: a court case, a death certificate in or for a foreign country, invoices or doctors' reports after a skiing accident."
Who are their customers? Anything and everything, it turns out. "The government, freelancers, business, organisations, individuals, events. Also the Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort and La Vuelta when it starts in Utrecht. The Hague is Sports Capital of Europe in 2022, the bid book has been translated into English by Urgent Translation."
'What's the cost of having your menu translated? That's an investment of five desserts'
Novels and film scripts also pop up among all the work. And menus. For example, from beach club Bora Bora (Scheveningen). A smart move.
Jeffrey Posthuma: "Many entrepreneurs underestimate the power of a translation. They put a lot of money into marketing but don't see that a translation is a perfect investment that ensures a much bigger reach, an extra fifth on average. And what is the cost of having your menu translated? That's an investment of five desserts. No marketing department achieves such an effect in such a short time for so little money."
Moscow
"We ourselves notice very well that our website is also there in English. Then, when people who want to go from Spain to Moscow approach us, you sometimes think: how will they find us? You forget your huge reach. And on Google we are very findable, so if you search for a translation agency, you will find us immediately." But there are translation tools on Google, right? As it turns out, those are not perfect. Jeffrey: "Google Translate doesn't make anyone happy."
'It's like a puzzle: from one word or phrase you find a clue to another word or phrase'
The latter can confirm sworn translator Ammerins Moss-de Boer from Friesland. She pays a social visit to Javastraat 72, while she usually works from home, 'in a village above Leeuwarden'. She specialises in both legal and medical translations (into English and Frisian, and vice versa).
"I love diving into texts that seem complicated and then dividing them up and pulling them apart. It's like a puzzle: from one word or phrase you find a clue to another word or phrase."
Tracker
Additional problem: not all documents make sense. "And a writ (deed of report from a bailiff, ed.) is completely impossible for an ordinary person to read. Also, as a translator, you sometimes have to dive into the middle of a file and miss the context. Very tricky are abbreviations of old subjects and diplomas or of schools that no longer exist. And abbreviations in the army, on diplomas from all kinds of missions. Often, as a translator, you are a sleuth, you learn to google very well. Sometimes you spend half a day for one A4 sheet."
Embarrassed
Jeffrey and Alicia Posthuma listen with endearment to the lucid contribution of this faithful translator and realise that, even with so many freelancers, Urgent Translation is one big family. It doesn't have to be put in black and white and stamped. Why isn't there also a TV programme 'I Stay'?
