Sworn Translation in Eskişehir

Two things define the character of the requests that come from Eskişehir: the city’s long-established identity as a university town and the engineering ecosystem built up around aviation and rail systems. Between them they send two very different kinds of text to the translation desk – one academic and administrative, the other highly technical. Translating a thesis abstract and a maintenance procedure one after the other in the same week is nothing unusual with Eskişehir files.

The paperwork of a university city

In a city with a heavy flow of students, the need for translation rises and falls with the calendar. When applications for exchange programmes open, it is academic transcripts and student certificates that come to the fore; after graduation it is diplomas and recognition files; and for academic staff it is lists of publications and letters of assignment. The problem met most often with these documents is that course titles and the marking system are carried over in a form the receiving institution will not understand; at this point we prefer to set an explanatory rendering alongside the literal translation.

Engineering texts are a line of work in themselves

Files in aviation and rail systems are not the same thing as general technical translation. In procedural texts the order of the steps, the levels of warning and the expressions that signal obligation are the meaning itself; the difference between “shall be done” and “may be done” finds its consequence in an inspection report. On work of this kind we ask the client for the existing term list; where there is none, we build one during the translation and hand it over with the delivery, so that later revisions proceed on the same glossary.

Period	Documents that cluster	Language to the fore
Application periods	Academic transcript, student certificate	English
After graduation	Diploma, recognition file	English, German
Throughout the year	Technical procedure, specification	English
Throughout the year	Student enrolment and residence papers	Arabic

Demand for Arabic has its source in education

The need for translation into and out of Arabic in Eskişehir comes largely from international students. At enrolment it is the secondary school diploma and the mark sheet that are asked for, and afterwards the documents attached to residence and scholarship applications. In these files it is critical that the spelling of the name matches the passport exactly; the smallest difference in transliteration can send an application back. We have listed the languages in which we provide sworn translation on the languages page.

The texts that come out of R&D projects

Industry and the university being concentrated in the same city produces one further type of document peculiar to Eskişehir: the project file. Applications to international research programmes, partnership agreements, work package descriptions and interim reports reach the translation desk regularly. These texts are neither wholly academic nor wholly commercial; they are a third kind, with conventions of their own. Because vague wording loses marks in an application addressed to an evaluator, clarity is the quality watched most closely in the translation.

Industrial property belongs under this heading as well. In texts relating to patent and utility model applications, the claims are sensitive at the level of the single word, because they determine the scope of protection directly. The aim here is not to produce an elegant text but to widen the scope by nothing and narrow it by nothing. On work of this kind we note separately, when we deliver the translation, any wording we were unsure about, and we recommend that it be confirmed with the attorney handling the application.

Project files also come with a reporting cycle. Interim and final reports, expenditure documents and correspondence with the partners are translated at set intervals over the life of the project. That regular flow requires the pool of terms to be held steady throughout; if the concepts used in the first application change in the later reports, the evaluator can be left with the impression that a different piece of work is being described.

Collaboration agreements between industry and the university come under this heading too. The clauses that settle who will own the intellectual property, the right to publish and the confidentiality obligations are the parts that demand the greatest care in translation. Wording left indefinite in those clauses can turn, once the project is over, into a dispute that is hard to resolve.

There is no branch in Eskişehir; every step, notarisation included, is completed at the office in Ankara. In courier terms Eskişehir is one of the provinces closest to us, so even on jobs that call for certification the wet-signed copy usually reaches your address within one working day. On most student and academic files no printed copy is needed at all, and the electronically signed version goes straight to the institution.

What being close to Ankara gains you

In courier terms Eskişehir is one of the provinces closest to us. That makes a difference above all on jobs requiring notarisation: once the approval is completed in Ankara, the wet-signed copy usually reaches your address within one working day. On most student and academic files no printed copy is needed at all, and the electronically signed version goes straight to the institution. To enter the page count and see the delivery date, you can use the quote form.

The information here summarises the process; the notarisation and apostille steps are completed in Ankara. For the conditions that apply, consult the authority’s current list of required documents.