As another year comes to an end, here I am once again, writing Christmas wishes and trying to come up with something new. It is not easy, as our translation agency has been on the market for more than 17 years, and theoretically the this is the seventeenth time I have published this kind of wishes.
Outside, there is snow and frost; cities and towns are decorated. In your homes, the final preparations are likely underway, and the aromas of various dishes and delicacies are wafting through the air. What more could one wish for?
Slow down, reflect, find peace of mind, and take advantage of these few days off to gain strength for the coming year. This is what I wish you on behalf of Berlineo.
Brief summary of the year
I would like to take this opportunity to write a few words about our translation agency in the context of the past year. It is particularly noteworthy that the volume of certified translations from Ukrainian carried out by Berlineo increased year-on-year by more than 200%. The reason for this is obvious and needs no explanation.
With regard to the numerous contracts carried out for Ukrainian citizens, it should be mentioned that misunderstandings sometimes occur due to certain cultural differences. Sometimes, the source of these misunderstandings is the ignorance of the consumer's obligations and rights. Throughout 2023, we had several tense situations, so there is no talk of an overwhelming number of unpleasant incidents.
Nevertheless, we decided that we would write two blog posts addressing two perplexing issues. One of them concerns how to deal with a case where there is an error on the printout of the certified translation. The second issue will be mentioned later in this post.
The significant increase in orders from international individual clients is not limited to Ukrainians alone. The increased influx of migrants from the Middle East, Asia and Africa caused by the geopolitical and economic situation is reflected in the daily number of requests for certified translations.
And although groups of future drivers from the Urban Transport Company in Poznań can sometimes create quite a stir in our cosy office in Dolna Wilda, our customer service is always up to the task and never sends anyone away empty-handed. This is appreciated by our customers, and they express it by providing feedback on our profile on the popular search engine.
Thank you for your feedback so far, and we encourage all our customers to add their rating and share their experience with other users.
Finally, I will revisit the second type of misunderstanding mentioned earlier. This refers to situations in which, after the service has been provided, the client discovers that they do not need a translation of a particular document.
It happened that, upon receiving the translation, the client demanded a refund of the fee paid. I described such a case in a post entitled I do not need a translation of this document. I invite you to familiarise yourself with its contents.
This topic brings up another issue worth discussing. Sometimes clients ask us what documents are needed for a particular official matter. Of course, serving hundreds of clients a year, we are familiar with what is being translated in the context of administrative formalities of one kind or another, and we always offer advice.
However, it should be borne in mind that official and binding information on the required documents and translations is provided by the competent authority. It is you as the client who must know what you want or need to translate.
Outlook for the future of the translation industry
At the end of this year, there was a significant buzz about achievements in the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Article headlines heralded redundancies and the replacement of white-collar workers with algorithms, whose productivity was expected to exceed that offered by humans.
The AI was to program, write newspaper articles, create graphics, as well as produce translations of a quality similar to that offered by qualified translators. We keep our fingers crossed for the developers responsible for the AI development work and hold them to their word.
We look forward to the day when AI is mature enough to be used in the daily work of an interpreter. I would like to mention that you can find images that have been generated by AI on our blog. Some of them are really great.
Meanwhile, at Berlineo, we are preparing to implement some changes. This involves the use of machine translation in combination with a so-called post-editing service. You can find out more in the New Year's announcements, and soon in our offerings.
