Plagiarism
If you happen to stumble across phraseology or content that reads exactly like and/or suspiciously similar to mine or to that of other colleagues, it is because a small number of desperate, unscrupulous people find it very useful to plagiarize and/or closely paraphrase wording and content 'borrowed' from professional translators' profile pages when attempting to write their own. Apparently this despicable practice is officially tolerated.




PROFESSIONAL TRANSLATIONS INTO IDIOMATIC UK OR US ENGLISH, TRUE TO THE ORIGINAL TEXT AND WITH CONSISTENCY OF STYLE, REGISTER AND TERMINOLOGY

My specialist areas:

LEGAL: Contracts/agreements of all sorts, including travel and health insurance policies, IP, employment matters, pleadings, statements of defence, counterclaims, rulings, legal correspondence, articles written by law professors, publications in Official Gazettes, terms and conditions, etc.

OTHER FIELDS:
Experienced general marketing specialist in a great number of areas, including consumer-level automotive, tourism, hotel websites, restaurants, brochures, etc. The key to successful marketing translation is being conversant with the product being marketed and being up-to-date with the jargon used.
Property/real estate (including property ads, leases, and general marketing documents)
HR
Health & Safety
Gastronomy (including menus, recipes and cookbooks)
Opera, vocal technique, classical music. Experience translating newspaper and academic articles, bios, critics' reviews, CD covers, etc.)
Speeches (for government officials, university heads inter alia), correspondence, etc.

Back-translations
I also do transcriptions and translate from audio files.

Native English translator (UK and US dual national, translating exclusively into English)

Source languages:
French, Dutch (NL and Bel) and German
Please note: I am one of the relatively few native English translators of Dutch on this site who actually are native English.
I am fully fluent in Dutch from the Netherlands and Belgium and fully aware of the differences.


Objective: To produce professional well-written translations in idiomatic native English that are true to the original in content, register and style.

I rely on my fluency and daily contact with source languages to produce accurate translations of texts into idiomatic native English. This allows me to use dictionaries for ideas or as a guide, not as my sole lifeline. I use appropriate up-to-date jargon for every field and have excellent writing and research skills. However I do not translate 'everything' and if a text falls outside the scope of my knowledge, I prefer to turn it down rather than produce a mediocre result. In other words, I only accept jobs I can actually do. No guesswork, no bluffing.

I am also a very keen researcher, aiming for accuracy by doing the research necessary to obtain the exact term/terminology needed and spare no time or effort in order to produce texts with the highest degree of precision. A full time professional translator who translates a broad range of fields but specialises in legal, I am extremely aware of the importance of translating the intention of the author and not creating a personal interpretation of the text or embellishing it in any way.

Full fluency in all 3 source languages (French/Dutch/German) through actually living in source language countries. All sources languages are ‘A’ languages, meaning my level of speaking, understanding and reading them is the same for all three.

Language background

Native USA/UK (born in US but have spent more years with UK English - at home and at work).

I have a very strong background in grammar and writing. French literature was my major at university (completed studies up to MA level) and I lived in France for over eight years. I learned Dutch in the Netherlands (studying and then working for temp agencies- including translation) and was fully integrated into Dutch life. I lived in Freiburg im Breisgau for 10 years and for a time was enrolled in Albert-Ludwigs Universität. I also had constant contact with French during that time since France was only 12 km away.

I keep up to date with events and (language) developments in source and target language countries thanks to cable TV, with national channels from many countries in Europe and beyond. I feel that being able to stay in daily contact with languages as they are used in the respective countries is a vital element for ensuring the quality of translations. Buzz words come and go and after all, how can one translate a text based on current events, educational, business, political, legal issues and developments, etc. if one has never heard of them?

Phone number, CV and all other personal info available on request.
ADSL internet connection.