Specialist translation
I translate and check every text myself, using your approved terminology, your translation memory and your reference material. We agree the review path before I start.
Enterprise documents · English–German
Five versions later, the term remains the same.
English into German for company documents that keep growing. You work with one person – from the first quote to the final check, across every version.
Since 2011 I have translated for more than 150 companies. My main focus is instructions for use (IFU), labelling and regulatory medical device documentation in the MDR/IVDR context; this project experience also includes several world leaders in medical technology, diagnostics and pharmaceuticals.
Terminology drift
A term outlives the project it came from
Terminology drift may not be apparent in a single translation. The risk emerges later – with the third change notice, the second product variant or the manual due three years after the IFU.
Wherever many hands work on one document set, there are handovers, and every handover is a point where a term can shift. That is not a question of how careful anyone is. It is structural: whoever opens a document for the first time cannot know the decision that was made two versions ago.
By their own account, large language service providers work with networks of thousands of translators – for many languages at once, that is the only way it can work. A single German document set, by contrast, stays consistent only where responsibility does not change hands.
The examples on this page were created solely for illustration. None contains client material or reproduces the unedited output of a particular translation system.
English source text
single-use device
unchanged across all versions
Revision A
„Einwegprodukt“
common usage, but not the wording of the regulation
Revision B
„Produkt zum einmaligen Gebrauch“
a description instead of a term
Kept consistent
„Einmalprodukt“
the wording of the MDR, Article 2(8)Three names for one defined term make reliable change control harder and increase the review burden. Your reviewer can no longer search the document set to confirm that a change has been applied throughout and must assess every occurrence individually.
Tools and continuity of responsibility complement one another: terminology databases and translation memories make decisions retrievable; I check that they fit the context at hand. Where earlier terminology and documented decisions are agreed for the project and available, I carry them forward to subsequent assignments – even after a long interval.
The standards-related requirements and steps I cover are explained on the home page under Two standards, a clearly defined scope.
Two kinds of engagement
Where I come in
Your existing agency or LSP contract can remain unchanged. Either service can be limited to specified English–German content.
Independent review
You already have a translation and want to know whether it meets the agreed requirements. I check it for meaning, omissions, terminology, consistency, numbers and units against criteria we agree beforehand. This allows you to begin with a single assignment.
Specialist teams & procurement
What the quotation commits me to
Quotation
It sets out the scope, delivery date and fixed price. I generally send it by the next business day, often within a few hours. Before committing to a project, I check its scope and deadline against my current workload. If I cannot be certain of meeting a deadline, that is stated in the quotation rather than in a later update.
Direct contact
Specialist teams and procurement speak to the same person – the person who also translates the document.
Review
Terminology, queries and your own in-house review run through one review path that we define before work starts.
NDA
Confidentiality, NDA and permitted AI use are settled before you send me the first document.
Your contact
One person takes responsibility
I began translating legal texts in 2011. For many years, my main focus has been medicine and medical technology – particularly IFU, labelling and regulatory documentation. I translate exclusively into my native German.
I use the agreed project environment – if you prefer, your own CAT or translation management system, with the access you provide. I can work with bilingual files, translation memories and terminology assets in the exchange formats supported by your system, including XLIFF, TXLF, TMX and TBX; if you do not specify an environment, I use my own, with locally maintained terminology databases. Self-checking, consistency checks and decisions arising from queries are documented and traceable.
I flag what sits outside the default scope up front: revision by a second person (the four-eyes principle). You name the reviser, from your specialist team or a third party of your choosing, and I incorporate the feedback. I do not pass your documents on myself; confidentiality agreements routinely forbid it.
Common questions
What we clarify in advance
Can translations produced by another provider be reviewed?
Yes, and it is often the best way to begin. The review covers substantive deviations and omissions as well as terminology errors, inconsistencies, and incorrect numbers or units. We agree the criteria, reporting format and query process before I start. That way you see how I work on an assignment whose scope is fixed beforehand.
How are NDAs, confidential files and AI/no-AI requirements handled?
NDA, confidentiality and permitted AI use are settled before I open the first sensitive file. I am also prepared to sign a data processing agreement (DPA) provided by you. On request I handle your project entirely without AI. Your reference and instruction documents stay local. File transfer follows your IT and security requirements. Where you specify no platform, I send your documents encrypted, with the password provided over a separate channel.
Which details are needed for a reliable quotation?
Please provide the document type and subject area, intended use, volume, file format and deadline. If available, also include terminology, reference material or a translation memory, the required review scope, and your NDA and AI requirements. If information is missing, I ask rather than guess.
How is collaboration with specialist teams and procurement organised?
Both speak to the same person. Procurement receives the scope, fixed price and delivery date in writing; the specialist team has a direct subject-matter contact for terminology and queries. Before the project begins, I align the requirements of procurement and the specialist team.
How much capacity is available, and what happens if work is interrupted?
Around 2,500 words of specialist translation per working day, and up to 5,000 words in full post-editing. Since 2011 I have met every delivery date I have agreed to. If I am ever unable to work, you hear it from me straight away and we set a new date; your document does not go to anyone else without your knowledge.
How is professional indemnity insurance handled?
If you require professional indemnity cover, it is in place before the assignment begins, at the sum insured you specify.
No confidential files needed
Start with a clearly defined assignment
A short project description is enough to begin – one document, one deadline, your requirements. I do not need confidential material for that.