Translations and editing/proofreading

How to hand in jobs for translation or editing

To avoid being overrun with work with tight deadlines that all coincide, I have found it necessary to lay down some rules about when and how to hand in jobs for me. If you need my assistance, please take a moment to read the instructions below. First of all, my duties include:

• Translating from Finnish, Swedish and English into Swedish and English. I am not competent to translate into Finnish. Furthermore, I am not competent to translate very technical texts.
• Language consultation (editing/proof-reading/grammar checks) for texts in Swedish and English. Again, I am not competent to check Finnish.
• If you do not understand Finnish and need help with forms or other documents, feel free to consult with me. I try to be at the department every Monday (office D241), but you may also catch me on other days. If I'm not at the department, you can contact me by email.

Instructions

• Please take into account that translating does take some time; ten pages may take up to three days to translate and proofread, for example. If you need an exam to be translated, please give me the text at least two days before the exam (but let me know about it at least a week earlier).
• Jobs that have been agreed on well ahead of time will be prioritised over jobs that are handed in at the last minute. In general, jobs that have to do with general adminsitration or teaching (see schedule above) will be prioritised over individual course pages, for example. However, if you have a text to check or translate and have not agreed on it with me beforehand, you can always ask. You might catch me at a dry spell, with no (pressing) jobs on hand. However, this may not be the case, so be prepared to be turned down.
• Before handing in a text to be checked, please format it so that it is possible to write corrections and comments in the text (spacing 1.5-2, font 11-12 pts). Please print it out. I always return texts on paper, since I think seeing the corrections marked in red ink constitutes a useful learning experience, as does writing the corrections yourself.
• Texts to be translated may be handed in on paper or as e-mail attachments.

For a list of mistakes often made by Finnish-speakers, please see the Finnish version of this page (select language at top right).