Latvian translation services

Latvian translation is priced per word for text and per minute for audiovisual, depending on volume, subject matter and turnaround, with agreeing the name list included as part of the brief rather than billed as an extra step. Send your files and we will come back with a free, itemised quote, backed by our Price Match Promise.

Yes. Native Latvian linguists handle every translation, and a second native linguist independently reviews each text, checking that every personal name uses its agreed Latvian form and declines correctly in every sentence it appears in.

Yes — Latvian translation, subtitling and voice over all come from one team, working to a single glossary and one name list throughout, so a speaker is spelt the same way in the subtitles as in the script.

Because Latvian renders foreign personal names according to how they are pronounced and gives them a Latvian ending, as set out in the Official Language Law and the Cabinet regulations on personal names. The ending lets the name decline like any other noun, which Latvian grammar needs: the same person is Džons Smits, Džona Smita or Džonam Smitam depending on the sentence.

The original spelling can be given in brackets at first mention, which is the usual way to keep a name recognisable. What causes trouble is mixing systems — adapted in the subtitles, original in the script — because the viewer sees both. We agree the approach per project and apply it everywhere.

Yes — audiovisual is our specialisation. We deliver spotted SRT/VTT and timed two-column voice-over scripts, plus translated text when you need it.

We ask. The Latvian form depends on the original pronunciation, and spelling alone is often ambiguous. The Latvian Language Agency publishes a multilingual reference for rendering personal names, which settles most cases; for the rest, a short pronunciation note from you settles it before translation starts.

Standard Latvian is the norm for commercial, corporate and broadcast work, and it is what we translate into. Latgalian, used in eastern Latvia, has its own written tradition and is protected by the Official Language Law as a historic variant of Latvian; material in Latgalian is a separate request.

Most short documents are delivered within 24 to 48 hours. Word count, subject complexity and turnaround all move the date, and your project manager will confirm the timeline at the start.

Less than people expect: the document, script or subtitle file, its word count, what the text is actually for, and the date you need it by. A draft is fine — we would rather quote on what exists than wait for a final version that eats your deadline. A named project manager comes back with an itemised quote, normally within four working hours.

More than half of enquiries get a reply within thirty minutes during office hours (Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm UK time), and the itemised quote normally follows within four working hours. After that you have one dedicated project manager who owns the job from brief to final file — not a ticket queue, and not a different name on every email. If it is easier, call +44 207 095 5730 and ask for them by name.

Yes, and it is one of the commonest reasons people get in touch. Tell us it is for a pitch and you get a figure you can put in front of your own client, itemised so it stands up to being picked apart, with no obligation and no follow-up sales calls if the pitch goes elsewhere. If it lands, the quote still holds and we already know the project.