When developing your code, you should never hard-code user-facing strings - i.e. embed them directly into the source code.

Why?

Hard-coding slows down the localization process tremendously. Either you will have to extract the strings to pass them on to your translators, which is a slow, error-prone, and expensive process, or it forces translators to read through source code to identify segments that require translation, risking both omissions and inadvertent changes that will interfere with the website’s functionality.

If you ask me to translate a document for you, I could ask you a lot of questions to make sure the document is fully aligned with your expectations.

But I won’t.

Just let me handle it.

You expect a quality translation, the Dutch equivalent of your English copy, and I will deliver that. Without any hassle.

Unless your text contains an error, or something is really unclear, I will not bother you while I am translating your text.

Lately, I’ve been offering potential clients a short test translation to see if my style fits their company.

In times when machine translation and AI are so easily available to everyone, it is all the more important to give potential clients the opportunity to see what I can offer them.

AI is not suitable for the translation of customer-oriented texts. High-quality translations are invaluable for the success and reputation of a company.

As a human translator, I can offer much more.

Sometimes people ask me if I ever get bored, sitting behind my computer all day, “just typing away”…

Of course not! One of the greatest things about being a freelance translator is the variety of the job! And you would be surprised to know how interesting many texts are… I learn new information all the time.

For many years now, translation agencies have been trying to push MTPE – the post-editing of machine-translated text – onto freelance translators, while freelance translators have been pushing back.

There seems to be a huge gap between the mindset of project managers, who – understandably – argue that MTPE is the new way forward, that we should embrace new technologies, that machine translation will help us translate faster.

And that is true.

But let me tell you why we, freelance translators, are not keen on accepting MTPE : the rates we are offered, do not reflect the work that is required.

If you want to reach the entire Dutch market, meaning all 24 million speakers of Dutch living in The Netherlands and Belgium, you need to hire a Flemish translator!

Why?

Because Flemish translators - i.e. translators who speak Belgian Dutch - can write in a neutral version of Dutch that is fit for use in both The Netherlands and Belgium.

And that is a result of the history of the evolution of the Dutch language.