Work with Sarah Torfs!

I’m a freelance translator with a soft spot for creative challenges.

More than word-by-word translations

If your project contains even a touch of human originality, I bet you want the translation to reflect that. Why else would you be here, looking for a professional in the year 2024, right?

But what does that mean?

If your source text were a box, I would analyse it inside and out to make sure I found all its (hidden) layers. And then I would try to recreate the box with all its layers in a new surroundings. That means:

• recreating wordplay, rhyme and idiomatic expressions;
• localizing names and cultural references;
• rewriting strings with strict character limits;
• finding workarounds to make strings gender-neutral;
• and solving any other specific challenge your source text might pose.

It’s all about context

As you will understand, translating is about more than changing the words, sentences or paragraphs on a page from one language to another. For the best results, it is essential to take the entire box into account: the context. Some examples:

• the user interface of an e-learning, software package or website (i.e. the locations and roles of buttons, images, headers, tooltips etc.);
• the gameplay mechanics and background stories in video games and board games;
• the locations where standalone words or sentences will appear.

How can you help?

You can make sure the translation you pay for meets all your expectations by:

• providing reference material: background information, links, test files, or even just … a copy of the source text in its original format (pdf, website, screenshots etc.);
• being available to answer questions;
• avoiding rush deadlines;
• hiring a professional translator (and if possible, a reviewer too). ;)