ordlee
N O R D E N
this is ordlee
ordlee is an ethical translation company, proudly based in Estonia.
ordlee specialises in creative commercial and literary translation in Danish, English, Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish.
ordlee is run by two established and innovative wordsmiths with an ambition to challenge the market.
Interested in how we want to shake things up? Sure thing... have a look below.
the things we do
Take a look at what we do here at ordlee, who for, and how we're doing things differently.
CREATIVE COMMERCIAL TRANSLATION
Translation is at the heart of what we do. With our close-knit team of dedicated and experienced translators, we give your text the attention it needs to look its best.
But here at ordlee, translation is only half the story – where needed, we adapt and mould your text to suit its new target audience in its new language. We might change the idiom and style, maybe even the names of places and people, or even remove things that are acceptable in the culture of the source language but offensive in the new language. Quite simply, we do whatever it takes.
Here at ordlee, we go beyond translation and understand that there isn't a one-size-fits-all approach. So get in touch with Richard Green, our Director of Commercial Translation to find out more about how we can support you and your business.
EDITING, PROOFREADING & QUALITY CONTROL
Nobody's perfect, despite what we may think. A finger can easily slip. A comma can easily be missed. This is why we have hawk-eyed editors to pick holes in everything. And that's no bad thing.
Our editors will not only check that spelling, grammar, and punctuation are nothing short of perfection, they will also make suggestions for improving the style and idiom of a translation to make it shine at its creative best.
Maybe you're already quite proficient in one of our languages and have written a text yourself and you just want to double-check that everything's alright? No problem. One of our editors will happily review your text to make sure it's in tip-top condition and give helpful and constructive pointers and advice for your writing. Just get in touch to discuss your requirements.
LITERARY TRANSLATION
It's just books, innit?
Not really. It's actually so much more. Be it fiction or non-fiction, poetry, or even a picture book, literature opens doors to other cultures and worlds. Literature offers immersion and escape. Literature goes beyond mere words. Literature is art.
Now how do you put that into words?
That's where ordlee comes in with our team of wordsmiths who are passionate about the written word. We build close working relationships with our authors and writers, because only then can we fully begin to transpose their thoughts, concepts, and ideas into a new language and reach new audiences.
Get in touch with Iggy Solunac, our Director of Literary Translation, to find out more.
How is ordlee different?
The translation industry is, like many others, becoming increasingly digitalised. In translation, this is often to the detriment of creativity. Here at ordlee, we're bringing back the personal touch with dedicated contacts for our clients and translators.
Unique to our industry, ordlee combines the techniques of literary translation and the efficiencies of commercial translation to provide human-led creative translation that is digitally streamlined in order to strike the perfect balance between quality, efficiency, and creativity.
Above all, ordlee is ethical. We aim to be open and transparent in all that we do, which is a rarity in our industry. We charge honest prices to our clients and pay fair prices to our linguists. We provide the software they need to do their job, and we support them professionally and personally when things get tough. We also welcome new translators into the profession and provide extensive mentoring to make them the best translators they can be, even if they decide to pursue a career elsewhere.
So who does ordlee work for?
We primarily work with other SMEs in the creative and culture sector, as well as large Nordic inter-governmental organisations., investment banks, and other translation agencies who need additional Nordic translation resources.
On the literary side, we've partnered with boutique publishing houses who understand what we're about and what we're trying to achieve.
Go on, then... how much is this going to cost me?
Money. Always a difficult subject, isn't it, so we like to keep things as transparent as we can.
We charge our clients honest and fair prices, while paying our team an honest and fair price for the work they do. On average, our clients pay between EUR 125 and EUR 150 for the translation of 1,000 words into English from a Nordic language, and as much of this as possible is passed on to the linguists. For short and simple texts, our clients can expect to pay a little less. For something more complex and challenging, or for something urgent, they can expect to pay a little more. Also, the software that we use for much of our translation work often enables us to give a competitive discount based on how repetitive the text is. After all, why should our clients pay for a word twice when we only translate it once?
Here at ordlee, we never set out to profiteer, but to run a translation business that's ethical and fair for everyone.
Richard Green
Managing Partner
Director of Commercial Translation
Meet Richard – or "Gordon" to his friends – a commercial translation specialist, working in Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, and English.
Richard's translation career started in 2009 as a freelance translator, which soon grew into the well-regarded and successful UK-based translation company The Nordic Word.
Unable to grow the business further under his own steam and increasingly frustrated by mounting practical complications following Brexit, Richard enlisted the help of Iggy (see right) and together they've formed a solid partnership to build a new, ethical translation business in Estonia.
At ordlee, Richard will continue to expand the company's network of commercial clients as Director of Commercial Translation.
Interests: long walks, aviation, gardening, cars, travel, and Eurovision... wow, what a weirdo
Fun fact: Richard can recite nearly every winning Eurovision song, its artist, and the year and city in which it won... but he can't remember what he had for breakfast
What others say: "Not much fun at parties."
Richard Green
Managing Partner
Director of Commercial Translation
Meet Richard – or "Gordon" to his friends – a commercial translation specialist, working in Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, and English.
Richard's translation career started in 2009 as a freelance translator, which soon grew into the well-regarded and successful UK-based translation company The Nordic Word.
Unable to grow the business further under his own steam and increasingly frustrated by mounting practical complications following Brexit, Richard enlisted the help of Iggy (see right) and together they've formed a solid partnership to build a new, ethical translation business in Estonia.
At ordlee, Richard will continue to expand the company's network of commercial clients as Director of Commercial Translation.
Interests: long walks, aviation, gardening, cars, travel, and Eurovision... wow, what a weirdo
Fun fact: Richard can recite nearly every winning Eurovision song, its artist, and the year and city in which it won... but he can't remember what he had for breakfast
What others say: "Not much fun at parties."
Richard Green
Managing Partner
Director of Commercial Translation
Iggy Solunac
Managing Partner
Director of Literary Translation
Say hello to Iggy. Serbian by birth and now living in bonny Scotland, Iggy is a widely-travelled and well-liked polyglot, specialising in literary translation to and from Danish, English, Norwegian, Swedish, and Serbian with a raft of publications to his name.
On the commercial side, Iggy worked for 15 years as a senior project manager for one of the largest translation agencies in the UK, leaving in 2020 to pursue a different path.
Disappointed with typical practices in the translation sector, Iggy joined forces with Richard (see left) to embark on a new venture, shake up the market, and do things differently.
Alongside the day-to-day running of ordlee, Iggy will develop the company's literary translation arm as Director of Literary Translation.
Interests: books, classical music, books, opera, books, more books, travel, and books
Fun fact: Iggy's surname derives from the Greek, meaning "from Thessaloniki"
What others say: "I've never known anyone with as many anecdotes as Iggy. You name it, Iggy's got a story about it."
Iggy Solunac
Managing Partner
Director of Literary Translation
Iggy Solunac
Managing Partner
Director of Literary Translation
Say hello to Iggy. Serbian by birth and now living in bonny Scotland, Iggy is a widely-travelled and well-liked polyglot, specialising in literary translation to and from Danish, English, Norwegian, Swedish, and Serbian with a raft of publications to his name.
On the commercial side, Iggy worked for 15 years as a senior project manager for one of the largest translation agencies in the UK, leaving in 2020 to pursue a different path.
Disappointed with typical practices in the translation sector, Iggy joined forces with Richard (see left) to embark on a new venture, shake up the market, and do things differently.
Alongside the day-to-day running of ordlee, Iggy will develop the company's literary translation arm as Director of Literary Translation.
Interests: books, classical music, books, opera, books, more books, travel, and books
Fun fact: Iggy's surname derives from the Greek, meaning "from Thessaloniki"
What others say: "I've never known anyone with as many anecdotes as Iggy. You name it, Iggy's got a story about it."
the partners in crime*
*not really criminals, but it makes us sound interesting
Meet the duo behind ordlee, Richard Green and Iggy Solunac.
the translators
At the very heart of ordlee is its network of talented freelance linguists.
Ordlee's translators are hand-picked for their quality, dedication, and work ethic. With all our linguists, we aim to build long-term working relationships based on mutual respect and trust, not contracts.
As part of our ethical approach, we agree rates collectively with our core network of English translators – this ensures that everyone knows they are being paid the same fair price for their work and helps to eradicate any sense of competition or hierarchy.
Furthermore, we provide all our linguists with the software they need for free and we're always on hand if they need help or support, professional or personal.
The core linguists of our network are listed below. We're always keen to hear from anyone who's interested in working with us in any of our languages. Just get in touch.
DANISH
Marlene
Lotte
Svend
Søren
SWEDISH
Anders D
Anders S
Erik
Fredrik
FINNISH
Jenni
Pauliina
Nothing to see
here
NORWEGIAN
Steinar
Torstein
ENGLISH
Anna
Anne Marie
Ed
Elisabetta
Iggy
Megan
Michelle
Rhys
Richard
that's all for now
There... we think we've covered all the important stuff, but if there's anything else you'd like to know, please don't hesitate to get in touch below.
Get in touch with ordlee
There are several ways you can get in touch with us here at ordlee:
- E-mail: hello@ordlee.com
- Phone: +372 712 0220
- Live chat: (button at bottom-right)
- WhatsApp: just hit the icon
If you need to post anything to us, here's our address (don't come knocking, though... the lights are on, but there's no one home):
Ordlee OÜ
Ahtri 12
10151 Tallinn
Estonia
(Alternatively, we once had some success with a carrier pigeon. It landed in Helsinki... close enough.)