Language background

English/Dutch bilingual, dual national.

I have spent most of my life in the Netherlands and the US and currently live in the UK with my British fiancée. I translate solely from Dutch into English because focusing on a single language pair and direction allows me to deliver only the highest standard of well-researched, fluent texts.

Services

• Translation: I translate a wide range of subjects, from product manuals and user guides to audit reports and articles of association. I produce idiomatic and highly accurate translations that are true to the original in content, register and style. I pride myself on my extensive research of the content and terminology of every source text and by the end of each job I will have created a new translation memory and project glossary of relevant terms and phrases.

• Glossary creation: Many of my clients go on to take advantage of my glossary creation services after seeing the quality of my translation work, and the term bases I create are then used as the basis for their future translations. I now also offer standalone terminology consultancy services to assist clients with the creation of monolingual and bilingual corporate glossaries from their source materials.

• Localisation: I can also assist in localising your UK/US corporate websites and documents.

• Translation workflow optimisation: I have extensive experience with all the major CAT tools, translation memory and terminology tools, and am an expert at solving the complex file ‘prepping’ and conversion problems that all too often slow down a translation project.

Areas of expertise

Technical: logistics, shipping, architecture, construction, building services, printing, IT, software, energy, environment, transport, industrial/civil engineering, infrastructure

Business: annual reports, business correspondence, finance, property, insurance, HR, EU policy, public sector, management, audit reports, standards, tenders, public utilities, health & safety, government procurement

Legal: contracts, IP, employment, articles of association/incorporation, terms & conditions

Professional development

I keep up-to-date with the latest developments in my fields by actively participating in a wide range of online forums, mailing lists and blogs related to translation, terminology, and lexicography, such as the Proz.com forums, various LinkedIn groups, and colleagues’ personal blogs on the latest topics in the industry. I am subscribed to various professional journals, magazines and newsletters, such as the International Journal of Lexicography, Joost Zetsche’s Tool Box Newsletter, and MultiLingual magazine. I am also a member of the European Association for Lexicography (EURALEX), the TAUS Data Association, and I participate in various networks surrounding up-and-coming CAT tools and terminology tools to keep ahead of the game.

Reference library

In addition to my Dutch-English Dictionary For Translators project, Wordbook.nl, I also maintain a comprehensive reference library, comprising industry-standard specialist dictionaries and reference works, as well as subscriptions to all of the most important Dutch-English technical, legal, and business dictionaries.

Online subscriptions include:
– Oxford Dictionaries Online
– Onroerend Goed Lexicon
– Juridisch-Economisch Lexicon
– Comprehensive Dictionary of Industry & Technology
– Koninklijke Bibliotheek (National library of the Netherlands)

Reference works include:
– Notebook Nederlandse en Vlaamse onderwijstermen in het Engels
– Jansonius: Nieuw Groot Nederlands-Engels Woordenboek & Technisch Engels Woordenboek
– Jansonius: Technisch Engels Woordenboek
– Illustrated Dictionary of Mechanical Engineering
– Dictionary of Building and Civil Engineering
– Groot Polytechnisch Woordenboek
– The New Routledge Dutch Dictionary
– Handboek voor de vertaler Nederlands–Engels
– Righting English that’s gone Dutch
– Woordenboek geneeskunde
– Dictionary of Corporate Finance & Investment
– Vlietstra: Dictionary of Acronyms and Technical Abbreviations
– Legal English: How to Understand and Master the Language of Law
– Longman Dictionary of Scientific Usage
– Terminologie Financieel Management

Computer resources include:
– MicroSpell (with custom-made UK & US English dictionary for localisation)
– WordNet 2.1
– Van Dale Groot woordenboek van de nederlandse taal
– Van Dale Groot woordenboek Nederlands-Engles
– Merriam-Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary
– Oxford English Dictionary (Second Edition)

Computer

• Hardware: Fibre optic broadband, business grade Windows PC with 16GB of RAM, solid-state drive, 24-inch screen, external and online backup plan.

• Software: memoQ, SDL Trados, ABBYY FineReader, tlTerm (term base editor), UltraEdit (text editor), Copernic Desktop Search, all versions of Microsoft Office, etc.