PLEASE READ THIS if you are looking for translation services:

I retired on 1st September 2010, but I continue to work on a part-time basis for a limited number of selected clients who tell me they cannot do without my services, so I am NOT currently looking for new business, except on a "one-off" basis. However, if you contact me after visiting this page, I shall be happy to provide you with a quotation or further details, but please do not ask me to provide you with information already given here or in my CV.

I am NOT interested in proof-reading, correcting or reviewing other translators' work, or rewriting translations produced by Babelfish.

I founded Normandie Traductions in December 2003, after a long career in European industry (senior positions in marketing and sales, and general management).

I have lived in France since 1978, with my French wife and daughter. We speak French at home. I am fluently bilingual.

KudoZ points: I obtain these by answering colleagues' questions when I have the time: I have always had a full workload, and if I had amassed 5000 Proz points in my years of membership it would tell you more about how much - or little - work I have done in that time than about my skills in solving translation problems, but if you take a moment to look at my KudoZ answers you will be able to assess my approach to the 200 or so questions to which I have contributed. Some of the best Proz translators have amassed very few Proz points because they are too busy to spare time answering Kudoz questions. Currently I am rarely available to contribute to Kudoz questions. Mundus transit et concupiscentia eius...

Proz Certified PRO certificate: I have not, and will not, apply for this "qualification", which has no value in the real world. I have seen too many Proz members with this certificate, which is obtained through peer assessment, displaying woeful ignorance of either their source or target language when answering Kudoz questions or contributing to forums. In my opinion this raises doubts about the validity of peer assessment in this context. I consider my clients' assessment of my skills far more pertinent, and their despair when I announced my retirement speaks for itself.

Invoicing currency: I am in the Euro zone, and I bill in Euros. I am a semi-retired freelance translator, not an international corporation, and I am not prepared to take the exchange rate risk of invoicing in other currencies. If you are not able to pay in Euros, please don't bother to contact me, because I will not be available for you.

To summarize: If you wish to benefit from my immense skills and experience, you will have to work for it, and it will be on my terms. Bon courage ...