Our Services

Translation

We make an effort not to rely solely on translating tools but to read and understand the text to accurately reflect the communication's original message, tone, intent, and content. Our goal is to translate texts so that they read as if they were the original, meaning we write sentences that flow as well as the original and keep ideas and facts correct.

Considering cultural, regional and other differences between the source and target languages, we carefully translate expressions and phrases to preserve the actual meaning and not merely convert it literally. Unfortunately, an online tool such as Google Translate cannot read with understanding and should be avoided for translating content of any importance.

Translators tend to be investigative individuals with systematic, rational, analytical and logical traits. It sure sounds like an accurate description of the Jargon Junction translators standing by to convert your text from one language to another seamlessly.

Our translators specialise in translating from Afrikaans to English and vice versa but have successfully translated short pieces to foreign languages.

‘Translation is that which transforms everything so nothing changes.’ Gunther Grass

Editing (Content- and Copy-Editing)

Editing can be an all-encompassing process of checking the overall quality of the document's content. Still, it can be performed as two separate specialist functions focusing on either the content or the copy. Content editing aims to eliminate inconsistencies, factual errors and contradictions and improve story development, while copy-editing corrects simple mistakes like spelling, punctuation, capitalisation, grammar and tenses.

At Jargon Junction, we set out to do both types of editing on all work unless our clients specify that they require either content- or copy-editing.

Our editors ensure that the structure of your writing continues to flow logically and coherently through the use of sentences, paragraphs, chapters, and chronology. The editing step ensures that your work is free of grammatical mistakes, punctuation and other language errors and clearly presents ideas and information to the reader. As editors, we can rewrite whole lines, sentences or paragraphs if we deem it necessary to improve the overall flow and quality of the text.

Grammatical and other structural errors reflect poorly on the writer – for example, authors, students, businesspeople – and negatively impact their credibility and authenticity. Our goal is to make the writer look good. When your writing leaves our desks, you can use it for its intended purpose with confidence and pride.  

Proofreading

As the final step in editing written work, proofreading is the safety net to catch any typographical errors and mistakes in grammar, style, spelling and punctuation that the writer or editor have missed.

Even when documents do not pass through an editing step, it is still essential to have a pair of fresh eyes carefully examine the written piece in its entirety. This ensures that our clients have peace of mind that their documents are ready to be utilised with no uncertainties about the quality of the content.
Proofreading is not limited to large documents and fiction but is vital in finalising business documents, marketing collateral, academic submissions, and more. Anything that can be written should be proofread.

How we go about proofreading
At Jargon Junction, we proofread an electronic version of your written work. Instead of a red pen and proofreading symbols, we use the review tools such as track changes and comments in MS Word to mark any errors. It is a handy way to highlight where we applied changes, and it allows us to explain why we thought it necessary. You will receive this marked-up document and a final 'clean' copy to use.
‘I was working on the proof of one of my poems all the morning and took out a comma. In the afternoon I put it back again’. – Oscar Wilde

Copywriting

We have found that the average person, and not only corporate businesses, need a copywriter's help from time to time to express their thoughts and ideas coherently. Writing does not come naturally to everyone, and too often, people shy away from having to put pen to paper because they don't know where to start or how to write an inspiring piece.

One of our speciality areas is writing speeches for informal or personal occasions, and there is a demand for slightly more formal speeches and speech ideas. Examples of such events include birthday parties, weddings and church gatherings. We aim to help our clients leave a lasting impression by giving their audience inspirational thoughts to take home.

We write to motivate, uplift, promote, support, celebrate, and inform.
Writing is a skill and a pleasure, so our offering does not stop at speeches. We create various short pieces such as business documents, CVs, presentations and essays to your specifications. All we need is a solid guideline and clear expectations of the intended message, and we can get creative.

– Oscar Wilde

Let’s Language! for students

When studying in a language other than your home language and you don’t have the necessary competence or language proficiency, this service is for you to ensure that you don’t lose unnecessary marks on language use.
Teachers and lecturers also make use of this service to ensure that their lesson preparations and instructions, tests and examination papers comply with the necessary language requirements.

We offer this full language service to other business professionals and individuals who need to present high-quality written communication outside the education space. Because we have the skills and experience to translate, proofread, edit and write, we can assist you with documents from beginning to end.