Q: Is Spanish Caravan Translation a translation agency?
A: No. It is simply a trade name operated by James Coil, an independent contractor doing business in Portugal.
Q: Does Spanish Caravan Translation outsource translations or collaborate with any “partners”, “team members”, “associates”, etc.?
A: No. All Spanish Caravan Translations are personally created by Dr. Coil, an ATA-certified translator in the “Spanish into English” category.
Q: That last answer refers to “Dr. Coil”. Are you a medical doctor?
A: No, I’m a Ph.D. doctor.
Q: Alright, so no free medical advice I guess. Anyway, this website mentions legal translations — are you a lawyer?
A: No. I have a B.A. in Legal Studies and a Professional Paralegal Certificate, plus a few years of experience working in the legal field and several years as a translator specializing in legal documents from Spain and Latin America, such as court documents, notarial deeds, contracts, expert testimony, and various types of certificates.
Q: So all you offer is legal translations?
A: No. I also offer similar types of translations such as corporate documents, personal documents like certificates and transcripts, and all kinds of governmental documents from Spain and Latin America. I will also consider any other types of documents on a case-by-case basis, since my professional background is quite broad and I spent years as a general-purpose and academic translator.
Q: Are your translations “powered by AI”, or whatever?
A: No. I don’t use any form of computerized translation. However, I can arrange to make use of “translation memories”, which might allow you to receive a discounted price in some situations if contents from your earlier translations can be reused.
Q: Do you provide “certified” translations?
A: Yes. For a small additional fee, a Certificate of Accuracy bearing the signature and individual seal of an ATA-certified translator (James Coil, certification #514058) can be provided. This may be useful if you are submitting translations to American or British authorities, or to document the qualifications of your project’s translator.
Q: What if Spanish Caravan Translation is not available to handle my translation project within the time period I require?
A: Then unfortunately, you may have to find another source for the translation services you need, since Spanish Caravan Translation does not outsource translations or collaborate with other translators. Please see the Advice page for some tips on finding translation providers.
Q: You say that Spanish Caravan Translation offers “maximum discretion”. What does this mean?
A: Since much of my translation work is legal translation, I tend to be subject to confidentiality agreements that can be fairly extreme, and I have also been subject to court suppression orders, been added to insider trading lists, subject to background checks, etc. I also have to comply with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and potentially the HIPAA legislation in the USA. So, I ultimately realized that it would be best (and easiest) to simply not reveal the names of any of my clients (except to the tax authorities in Portugal, as required by law), or mention any projects I work on. This may not be good for marketing, since I don’t provide references or testimonials from clients or add their logos to my website, but it does allow for “maximum discretion”.
Q: I’d like to have my translation reviewed by a second qualified Spanish-to-English translator. Is that possible?
A: Yes, but you will have to arrange it yourself. After receiving my translation, simply select another translator from your preferred source (see the Advice section of this website for some tips), and tell them that you have received an excellent professional translation and would like to have a second translator review it.
Q: I’m a younger person and I don’t trust older people who don’t use emojis. Are you sure you’re trustworthy?
A: Yes. 
Q: This website seems very simple, but also kind of unique. Did you make it yourself?
A: Yes.
Q: It’s been said that a leader is not someone who tries to be the best, but instead, someone who tries to make everyone else better. Are you a leader?
A: No. I try to be the best.
