- small scale > low overhead cost
When the company started, we consciously opted for a small scale business strategy in order to keep our overhead expenses and our prices as low as possible:
because we cannot expect you to pay steep bills due to our overhead expenses.
A & O 1-Fach Sprachendienst confines itself to the core of translation: knowledge and skills.
That is what you pay for, and that is what you get.

- through careful selection of the translation team for your assignment > high quality:
First we analyse your source document. Depending on the target language and the specific lingo we decide whether we can do the job 100% on our own or not. Of course it takes self-knowledge for such a decision: what am I good at; or is there a freelance colleague within the network, who has other specialities and is a much more suitable candidate for the job?

We select a specialised translator or group of translators for your specific text. In case of a multilingual assignment (teamwork) the co-ordination is in the reliable hands of Gerwin Jansen himself. He will write one of the target texts and will know exactly which problems his team members are going to encounter. A log of all reported translation problems is kept and these problems are discussed with ALL team members.

- through a direct communication with customers & shared responsibility > minimal risks:
"Shared?" you may think...



"Can't you do anything by yourself?"

Our answer is simple: When a project manager asks his translators this question, he either needs a break or a long vacation.
Giving a translator the idea that he should solve all problems on his own, either undermines the self-confidence of the translator or it leads to a dangerous over-assessment of his abilities, which is even worse.

I will explain why an over-assessment of one's own abilities in my honest opinion doesn't belong in a responsible translation agency...
First you must consider this:

THE ALL-KNOWING TRANSLATOR DOES NOT EXIST.

A translator who pretends to be all-knowing, is a threat to himself and society.
An over-assessment of one's abilities is fatal. That goes not only for the translator, but also for the customer. A wrong translation in an operation manual of a machine of a roller coaster for instance might indeed cost casualties.

If a translator who works for A & O 1-Fach Sprachendienst is not completely sure of a certain matter, his basic attitude is: "the customer always knows more than I do". Even if this customer does not have a university degree, it is HIS source text that's being translated. The customer is always closest to the message he was trying to communicate through that source text. Even if the source text was not formulated in a fully correct manner, then the customer (that's you) knows exactly what he actually meant. So, YOU as a customer are very important. We need you.

Direct communication with YOU is an absolute MUST in order to write a good translation.
Therefore our motto is "In case of doubt: contact the customer".
All-knowing translators don't exist, and it's no use pretending you are an exception. More than that: it jeopardises the customer and his buyers.

Working in a responsible manner starts with knowing your own boundaries.
We don't do our job for kudos. Our job is one of responsibility and helpfulness.

Because of this basic attitude of shared responsibility and helpfulness
at A & O 1-Fach Sprachendienst your translation jobs will always be in safe hands.