Welcome to University Translators Services

University Translators Services (UTS) is an LLC partnership located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Our agency was originally formed  by a group of Ph.D. students from the Linguistics Department at the University of Michigan in 1987 in order to offer easy access to professional linguists for language translation and interpretation. University Translators was the first multi-lingual translation/interpretation agency in Ann Arbor, Michigan and Washtenaw County. We proudly celebrated our 20th anniversary in 2007. We continue to provide language translation and interpreting services to the citizens and businesses of our local community as well as to numerous service and manufacturing companies based in the US, Asia, Europe and South America. Our non-corporate clients include city, county, state and federal courts, hospitals, law enforcement and social service agencies, as well as our national universities and non-profit organizations. We can provide you or your organization with all aspects of written translation and oral interpretation; including translation into and from ALL languages, proofreading, stylistic/technical editing, localization, video narration, linguistic consulting as well as multi-lingual desk top publishing. The translators and interpreters that comprise our staff include linguistic professionals certified by the various international translation and interpretation associations including the American Translators Association (ATA) and the National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators (NAJIT). Besides having a certification in written translation and/or oral interpretation all our linguists are degreed specialists in business, law and/or the various technical sciences. Your project's translator or interpreter will be a certified bilingual linguist who is highly experienced and/or degreed in your respective field.  We only work with tested and certified translators. Please explore our website; you will find it is quite different from the web sites of other agencies; we keep it simple and clear and we do not hide information on pricing.

Quotations are always free of charge and submitted within 24 hours.

Please let us know if you would like to take advantage of a FREE 200 word sample translation.

If you have visited us on the web please let us know how you found us and we will apply a 10% discount to your first order.

Services

Written Translation

The price structure ranges between 25¢ and 40¢ per word for written translation into and from all Indo-European and Asian languages depending on the target language and subject matter. Written translation projects are subject to a $80.00-$90.00 minimum charge per language. We do provide rush service for translations that are needed in less than four to five business days. Delivery, when feasible, in three business days is subject to a 25% surcharge, delivery in two business days is subject to a 50% surcharge, and delivery in one business day or same day, when feasible, is subject to a 100% surcharge. High word volume projects (i.e. 5,000 or more words) are subject to discounts following review. You can fax a hard copy or email a PDF file of your document for quotation, however we prefer if you provide us with the original electronic source files if they are available.

Oral Interpretation / Sign Language

The price structure ranges between $85.00-$100.00 per hour for on-site “non-technical” consecutive interpretation as well as telephone interpretation depending on language. Technical interpreting rates are subject to quotation. The basic price structure for technical, on-site whisper or simultaneous interpretation (which requires equipment) is $100.00-$200.00 per hour depending on language and grade level of interpreter. Please call us for a quotation for technical, whisper or simultaneous interpreting. Requests received three business days in advance of assignment, weekend and holiday rates are subject to a 25% surcharge, requests received two business days in advance of assignment are subject to 50% surcharge. Requests received one business day in advance of assignment or same day requests are subject to a 100% surcharge.

Computer Aided Translation (CAT) Software (e.g. TRADOS) is utilized for clients who have on-going updates to proprietary documentation that requires consistency in terminology and style. The texts you provide in electronic form are analyzed with translation memory tools. The analysis indicates the percentage of the text that matches documents previously translated. Based on the analysis we are able to inform you about existing repetitions and matches before starting a new project. We will apply a discount for the repetitions and matches to your cost quotation.

Editing / Proofreading

Projects that require additional proofreading and editing by an independent translator are charged at 6-12¢ per word or per hour depending on language, subject matter and the extent of editing required (e.g. proofreading, copy editing, and/or cultural localization).

Formatting / Layout / Output for Publication / Linguistic Consultation / Web-site Testing

Formatting, Linguistic Consultation or any type of Quality Assurance Testing is charged by the hour. Depending on language, desktop publishing software and requested delivery schedule the rates range from $75.00-$100.00 per hour. We offer typesetting and formatting of text for all languages in all software applications for Macintosh and PC platforms including InDesign, PageMaker, Illustrator, QuarkXPress, FrameMaker, PowerPoint, MS Access, MS Publisher and Excel.

Software and Web Site Localization

We work with a specialized team of localization translators and editors to translate and localize your proprietary software or web site for a new market. We provide localization service from start to finish including glossary creation, translation of all user interface text. We also provide translation of accompanying documentation, including release notes, training material, user guide, etc. Our staff can also participate in the final Quality Assurance (QA) testing.

Video Narration

The general costs for translation of scripts for video narration is 40-45¢ per word depending on language, subject matter and the extent of editing required (i.e. time synchronization, technical and/or stylistic editing, cultural localization). On-site voice-over narration is charged at $100.00-$200.00 per hour depending on the grade level of narrator required. Local voice-over narration is subject to a 4-hour minimum per day.

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