Creative Translation Services for Marketing and Corporate Communications

For the past ten years, Germans SMEs and foundations have relied on my English writing skills to communicate with English-speaking markets or their international staff.

German to English Translations and Transcreations

English translations are an efficient way to improve your access to international target groups. But only if you hit the right note so that they read like original English writing.

English copy works best when it embodies the typical Anglo-American tonality, sentence structure and general build—and that can be a far cry from German writing styles! My translations are written for English speakers even if the contents stay true to the German source. While my language choices reflect whether I am writing for native or non-native English speakers, all readers benefit from a clear English translation. Not too formal, not too chummy, and with all the facts of the German original.

The Right English for Your Target Group:

Transcreation: Where Translation Meets Writing

Is the world just waiting to find out about your amazing ideas? Are you planning a multilingual social-media campaign that will spin off your German one? Or do you want to grow your newsletter?

In this case, persuasion is the name of your game. Rather than communicating specific facts you want to engage your readers. And engage them you must. Your readers won’t budge an inch if you don’t move something in them first. Enter transcreation!

The word “transcreation” is a combination of “translation” and “creation.” What it means is this: The first stage is a rough draft that translates the information contained in the German source text into English. After that, the German text has served its purpose. Your creative brief now runs the show and tells me what you want the English creative translation to achieve. Based on your brief, I rework my rough draft, essentially creating a new text that exists solely to meet your goals. More clicks. More sales. More eyes on you.

Always Transcreate

SEO copy
Advertising materials (letters, search-engine ads, brochures, catalogs)
Blogs
Social-media postings
Websites, especially landing pages
Newsletters, customer and employee magazines
Press releases
Internal communication assets

The Secret Sauce: Typical Changes in a Transcreation Process

Researched keywords for SEO copy
Reordering arguments or restructuring the text so that it matches the logical build of English writing
Replacing, deleting, or reinventing puns, jokes, or taglines that defy direct translation into English
Tightening the writing by removing redundant information or taking out parts that are irrelevant or confusing for the target readers
Adding information/context to help readers understand
Simplifying the structure, using lists
Replacing images

Recent Projects

Job: Transcreating a playful and intricate marketing brochure for a German greeting card designer that showcased her design talents in the brochure itself

Target group: : International buyers at trade fairs as the designer was looking to gain customers outside of the German greeting card market

Challenge: Weaving the wordplay involving the company name and the corresponding whimsical design of the brochure into a compelling English version

Job: English translation and adaptation of articles for an in-house communication and knowledge hub for a German food company

Target group: Staff without German skills at plants outside of Germany as well as English speakers at the British plant

Challenge: Meeting the needs of speakers with a wide range of English skills while still making the English versions interesting to read.

The job: Creative English adaptations of illustrations originally created for a book about modern mobility and public transport and featuring quotes from various contributors

Target group: International attendees of lectures and keynotes by the author

The challenge: Finding English adaptions to fit the layout and graphical design of the quotes while translating typically German concepts to make them understandable for people from countries with different public transport systems

Pricing

My pricing is just like your texts—many factors come into play.

Show me what you have. Then we’ll discuss how I can help you. You’ll get a free quote listing a package price for the services you want to book. No strings attached.

What My Clients Say

Else ist kommunikativ und wirkt proaktiv mit, indem sie z.B. Unklarheiten im Text anspricht oder nach Lösungsmöglichkeiten für Probleme sucht.

Else Gellinek ist eine Kollegin, mit der ich immer wieder gern zusammenarbeite. Da ich selbst keine Fach- oder Marketing-Übersetzungen in die Fremdsprache (Englisch) anfertige, bin ich auf zuverlässige Kollegen angewiesen. Ihre sorgfältige Arbeitsweise in Kombination mit ihren hervorragenden Copywriting-Kenntnissen liefert englischsprachige Texte, von denen meine Kunden begeistert sind.

Katja Althoff,

Übersetzt | Lektoriert | Textet – Für die IT-Branche.

Sie bringt die Sachen auf den Punkt, zaubert mit der Zeit, zögert nicht mit genialen Lösungen und liefert einfach richtig gute englische Texte, ob Übersetzung oder Transkreation.

Ich freue mich immer sehr, mit Frau Gellinek zusammenzuarbeiten. Bei Fragen merke ich, wie fundiert sie recherchiert hat, und ich weiß, dass ich mich auch mit herausfordernden Anfragen immer an Sie wenden kann. Ich habe einfach rundum komplettes Vertrauen in sie und ihre Kompetenzen. Vielen Dank!

Stephanie Rössing,

WordsUp, Übersetzungen und Text

Creative Translation Services for Marketing and Corporate Communications

German to English Translations and Transcreations

The Right English for Your Target Group:

Transcreation: Where Translation Meets Writing

Always Transcreate

The Secret Sauce: Typical Changes in a Transcreation Process

Recent Projects

Pricing

What My Clients Say

How can I help you?

Who is Else Gellinek?

Contact

Recent articles

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