ACTIVITY: International Service was set up in 1987 in Gallarate, in the heart of the industrial triangle 40 kilometres from Milan and four kilometres from the Malpensa 2000 intercontinental airport. We have therefore been operating for more than ten years all over Italy as a service agency specialised in the linguistic sector and in translations in particular. The lines of interest range from purely commercial texts to legal, financial, technical-scientific and editorial texts. In this context, we handle translations, linguistic proof-reading and copy-writing of periodical publications (above all in the medical-scientific field), as well as complete volumes and works (medicine, informatics, various types of magazines). The recent release of EEC standards regarding export have pushed us into the front line for that which concerns technical manuals. In direct collaboration with our clients and with specialised technical firms, we handle the translation of operation and maintenance manuals in all of the European languages. The translation of advertising and/or tourism texts also makes up our daily routine. As a matter of fact, since we find ourselves just a few kilometres from the beautiful and quaint towns on Lake Maggiore, we often work with tourism agencies and tourist bureaus for the translation of yearly programmes and special events announcements. Our network of collaborators extends throughout Italy and the major European countries, and this lets us assure an efficient, quick service that is always highly accurate. We have chosen to work only with mother tongue personnel and, whenever possible, we select translators who are specialised in the various sectors so as to guarantee our clients that the translations are as faithful as possible to the original text. All translations are supplied both on paper and on a floppy disk, usually in the Word for Windows format. We also have a modem for quick transmissions throughout Italy and an e-mail address. Furthermore, for those who have communications problems, International Service offers its clients an international secretarial service that operates just like a real