Why Lingara
Six things that show up in every file we deliver — and the reasons they matter when the document is in front of someone who has to act on it.
Return to HomeIn short
A summary of what every Lingara engagement comes with — irrespective of language pair, document length, or subject area.
No general-purpose desk. Files go to a translator with working background in the field.
Terminology choices are written down on file one and held across every file after it.
Every draft is reviewed by a second linguist against the source before delivery.
Tables, footnotes, headings, and bilingual columns are returned in matched typographic measure.
We quote the time the work takes — review included — and tell you when a deadline is too tight.
Encrypted storage in Hong Kong, a written NDA per linguist, and a removal schedule after delivery.
Expertise
Every translator on our roster works in a defined subject area. Legal documents go to translators with a working background in law. files go to translators who read the literature in the field. We do not move a contract from one desk to a manual desk on a quiet day.
When a new pair or subject comes up, we tell you that openly and find the right hand for it from our network — rather than handing it to someone in-house who is "close enough."
Tools
We use translation-memory software where it helps — to keep terminology consistent across long files and to surface previous renderings of recurring phrases. We do not run files through machine translation and edit the output.
The reason is plain: machine drafts shape the linguist's reading of the source. The translator stops asking what the sentence means and starts asking whether the machine got it right. The result is technically correct prose that has lost its author's voice. We draft from the source.
Service
Quote requests reach a real desk. Replies arrive in working hours. Mid-file questions — about a clause, about a preferred rendering, about a footnote in the source — are sent and answered by name.
For retainer clients, the same project lead handles every file across the year. For single-document work, the lead translator on your file signs the delivery memo.
Pricing
Our quotes are written, itemised, and final. Standard documents are HKD 880 per file up to 3,000 words. Bilingual reviews are HKD 2,400 per file. The Subject-Specialist Programme is HKD 7,500 as a 12-month retainer covering a defined volume.
We do not invoice for "additional review hours" after delivery. Review is in the price.
Outcomes
The point of a written glossary is that the third report you commission reads consistent with the first. The point of a paired linguist is that the voice doesn't shift between Q1 and Q4 deliverables. The point of two-pass review is that the file you sign off on is the file the second reader signed off on too.
Across our retainer clients, the most common note we hear at year-end is that their bilingual document set finally reads as a set rather than as twelve separate translations. That is the outcome the method is built for.
Side by side
Without naming names — a fair sketch of how we sit alongside the more common ways translation work is bought.
What only Lingara does
For documents intended to function in two languages in parallel, we deliver them set in matched typographic measure — column-by-column, paragraph-by-paragraph — so the bilingual reader can read across.
For longer engagements, you receive a static job page with named stages and timestamps — assessment, drafting, review, formatting, delivery. No mystery about where a file is.
Every file leaves with a one-page memo from the lead linguist — noting what was tricky, where a glossary call was made, and any phrases worth your eye on a re-read.
Retainer clients keep a living glossary file, updated quarterly. Years in, the document set reads as one body of work — not as a stack of unrelated translations.
In numbers
9
Years on Mody Road
17
Working language pairs
3,200+
Documents delivered
94%
Retainer renewal rate
Hong Kong Translation Society — institutional member since 2019.
International Federation of Translators — affiliated linguists on the resident roster.
Studio process aligned with the requirements set out in ISO 17100 for translation services.
For larger engagements, we are happy to translate a short representative passage so you can read the studio voice before committing.