My Profile:

I am a qualified translator (English/German > Italian) based in Italy and UK.

My Education:

I graduated in Modern Languages and Literature with 1st Class Honours at the Bologna City University (Italy) after getting a Certificate in Translation and Interpreting from German and a Certificate of Simultaneous Interpreting from German at the Istituto Superiore per Interpreti e Traduttori (Bologna, Italy).

My Specialization Fields:

I specialise in Marketing, Multimedia (incl. web sites and e-learning programs), IT, Telecommunications, Business Intelligence, Industrial Automation, Tourism, and more.

While working for SDL International (UK), from 2003 to 2006, I completed extensive translations and editing work for Kodak, Gallup, Siebel, Plantronics, Nike, and more, mainly translating their web sites (FAQs, newsletters, questionnaires, e-learning, T&C, help, banners) and marketing materials (press releases, promotions, packaging, collateral), as well as internal corporate communications and HR documents. I was also involved in the translation and review of several Microsoft videgames.

As a Freelance Translator I have been working on the translation and post-editing of documents for Microsoft, Google, RIM (Blackberry), HP, EMC Documentum, Juniper (telecommunications), Tandberg (videoconferencing), Red Hat (open source software), OPEN MIND Technologies (CAM-CAD software), HR Access, Infor, QlikView, aconso (Business Intelligence), United Airlines (transport), Best Western (hospitality), Daimler and Ford (automotive), as well as manuals for industrial automation systems for Cinetic Landis (grinding machines), ACI (air control), Donaldson (filtration systems), Aprovis Energy Systems (steam generators), Soudronic AG (sealing machines), and more.
I also translated HR documents and financial articles for Credit Suisse, Continuous Improvement manuals for Quest Worldwide Consulting, Global Compliance Procedures for Smith & Nephew, e-learning texts for Nike Global Talent Division and Corporate Visions, videoscripts for Nestlé, videogames for Microsoft Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, NDS, Sony PlayStation 2 und PC, and more.

My Software:

I own SDL Trados Studio 2009, SDL Trados 2007 Suite Freelance, SDL MultiTerm 2007 Desktop SP3, Across 5.0, Star Transit XV Professional (with utility for NXT), Alchemy Catalyst 9.0, Idiom 9.0.1, OmegaT, SDL Passolo 2007, MS LocStudio 4.6, Wordfast 5.2, LocEditor 1.0, along with other CAT tools and DTP programs, and I am proficient in using them.

My Career:

After cooperating with the Queriniana Editore Publishing House (Italy), I worked for five years as Project Manager at Logos S.p.A, a large translation company based in Italy, where I was the main contact for Philips Medical Systems. This experience allowed me to fully understand the customer's need for a fast and accurate, well-managed translation process.

In 2003 I moved to Great Britain in order to join SDL International, a major localization company, where in 2005 I was promoted Senior Translator.

Since July 2006 I have been working as a Freelance Translator.
From October 2007 to May 2008 I worked as External Translator at Nintendo of Europe (Frankfurt, Germany).

My References:

For the translation of the software for the videogame Blinx 2 (Xbox), I received the following comment from the Microsoft quality evaluation vendor Keywords ITALIA (http://www.keywordsintl.it):

"Outstanding translation. The sample checked reveals a high level of accuracy (strings checked within their context), the terminology used is consistent with Blinx 1, the register, tone and style are highly suitable for the game audience. No grammar errors found."

MERIT
Overall Quality Rating
Outstanding 9 X

On 16 December 2009 I received the following spontaneous recommendation from a client on my account on LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com/myprofile?trk=hb_tab_pro):

"Margherita provided high quality marketing and technical translations for our agency in the software industry field. Her marketing translations skills were particularly appreciated because few are able to have the technical knowledge of the field and the interpretation skills necessary to write language-appropriate copy."

Year first hired: 2008 (hired more than once)
Top Qualities: Great Results, Expert, On Time

My Passions:

In addition to my working fields, my interests are History, Literature, Art, Education, Psychology, Religion (in particular Biblical Studies) and, in general, every subject related to humanistic studies.
I started my career partecipating to the translation of the Neues Handbuch theologischer Grundbegriffe (Enciclopedia Teologica) for the Queriniana Editore Publishing House (Italy) (my name is in the Credits).
My translation work in order to get the Certificate in Translation and Interpreting from German was a text of the German theologian Rudolf Bultmann (Die Geschichtlichkeit des Daseins und der Glaube, 1930).
My thesis for the University degree in German Literature was about how Cabbala, i.e. the hebrew mystic, influenced the work of the German poetess Nelly Sachs (The saved word: Nelly Sachs between Cabbala and Romantic).
I am currently involved in the translation of Georg Graf, Geschichte der christlichen arabischen Literatur. Città del Vaticano, Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana, 1944-1953. 5 volumes. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_Graf)

My Attitude:

I have been in the localization industry (first as Project Manager, later as Translator) for 14 years.
As a PjM I was for five years the main contact for Philips Medical Systems. I understand the translation process very well including all its tricky bits. My attitude was that of anticipating problems and that paid off in the end, because my account grew considerably. My last project involved around 40 persons (including translators, reviewers, leads, software engineers, DTPers and fellow PjMs).
As a translator I am passionate about my work and have a very thorough attitude with great attention to details (procedures, terminology, etc.). Both as project manager and as translator my focus has always been on quality.