About us
LAFER is a collaboration of translators, specialised in the subtitling of videos. It originated from services rendered to the Reiki-Community, particularly to https://reiki-conciliation.org/rtalk.
René Vögtli is the source of the project in collaboration with Adriano Fattizzo (Webdesign, Consulting).
The translators vary from task to task; they are credited for their work in the videos.
If you have a video either for internal and confidential use (e.g. records of meetings), or for release in public, we offer the following services:
- Creation of a transcript in the video’s source language.
- Translation from the source language into one or more desired languages.
For other services, please feel free to contact us and we will see what we can do.
We use various online translation- and transcription services (DeepL for example). Thereafter, one of our collaborators with fluency in the respective language will check the translation or transcription thoroughly and correct the auto-generated work.
We are close to https://www.captionfy.com with whom we are continuously working to improve LAFER’s team platform and streamline our work-flow.
Mainly through volunteer work and the use of IntrinsiCoins. Sponsors for individual video translations help, too.
As much as they want. Sometimes a translator wants to be paid in hard currency. Many volunteer. Other translators participate in IntrinsiCoins.
Much of the work is done by volunteers (in families, associations, etc.). Ideally, these efforts are intrinsically motivated, unconditionally and out of love. As a symbolic ‘measure’ or as a ‘token of appreciation’, IntrinsiCoins was invented. One hour of such volunteering equals one IntrinsiCoin.
IntrinsiCoins may – eventually – be a currency for those who participate under the above premise. For now, it is an experiment in which some of the LAFER team partake.
Currently (2022) there is no profit. Although profit in and of itself is not a goal, we would be happy to make one and to distribute it amongst LAFER collaborators..
Lafer is a coinage derived from the phonetics of the word ‘lover’ and the ancient German verb ‘lafern’, which is akin to the modern ‘to chat’.
Our Service
Currently we are translating in the following languages:
Čeština
Deutsch
English
Español
Français
Italiano
Nederlands
Norsk
Português (Brazil)
Português (Portugal)
Română
Русский
中文
日本語No need to worry. We have a wide network of contacts around the world. Just contact us with your request and we’ll see what we can do.
We adapt our pricing to our client’s needs and resources. As a rule of thumb: 30 minutes of video transcribed and translated into one language costs about € 150. Every additional language costs € 88.-.
A 30 minute video in English and 5 translations, for example, would take 3 weeks – such is a rule of thumb.
No and no. We specialize in closed captions (CC) for videos.
Interpreters translate spoken language orally and sometimes simultaneously which is essentially beneficial in meetings. That is hugely different, though, to translators who translate the written word which subtitles are.
LAFER’s collaborators, however, do include professional translators who specialize in documents or have been trained in the difficult task of a simultaneous translation. If these are the services you require, we are happy to make the introduction for you.
Privacy and legal rights
Unless otherwise specified, the owner of the video that we transcribe and translate is the proprietor of the work we provide. LAFER does not claim intellectual property for translations.
During the translation process, the subtitles are only seen by the LAFER translators. If you would like extended confidentiality, we can look at this together first and find a suitable solution.
More
Auto-translations already give excellent results. And it is only a question of time before these programs will likely have self-learning capabilities and be of such high quality that, for most translations, the human touch will no longer be necessary. However, for the kind of videos that demand the finesse and the empathy of a human heart and mind, well, here we are!
Technology will make LAFER’s workflow ever more efficient. But the beauty of language and the quest for wisdom will continue to be nurtured by the people collaborating in LAFER.
Great! Simply fill in the “Translation request” on the contact page or send us an email directly to hello@lafer.cc. We will get in touch with you as soon as possible.
Amazing! Feel free to fill out the “Translator application form” on the contact page and we will get in touch with you as soon as possible.