Translation

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I translate from Spanish, French, German, Italian, and Dutch into English.

I specialize in the arts, media, marketing, and advertising. These require a highly creative approach that the likes of Google Translate will never come close to.

Computers can translate software manuals and weather forecasts, but they don't have the in-depth understanding of foreign cultures and extreme dexterity with their own language that a good translator can offer. Nor can they step aside from literal meaning and produce elegant, persuasive copy that respects the original but looks like it was written in English - in other words, translating ideas, not words.

I also know a lot about art: everything from prehistoric cave painting to contemporary conceptual artists. I've translated books, audio guides, catalogues and display material for many of the world's leading museums, including the British Museum, the Louvre, and the Prado.

I've written copy for many luxury brands, including Bugatti, Cartier, Swarovski, Hermès and Hennessy.

I also have extensive experience of legal, financial and business texts. I trained as an accountant and worked for one of the world's biggest banks before I decided that I preferred words to numbers and became a translator. Basically, I can turn my hand to any subject that's not highly technical.

These are some of the things I most often translate:

Advertising taglines and copy
Websites
Brochures
Press releases
Pitches and presentations
Scripts
Employee and customer magazines
Annual reports
Contracts

I've been working in all these languages for nearly thirty years. In the case of Dutch, I'm one of a small minority of English-mother-tongue translators: most Dutch to English translations are done by people from Belgium and the Netherlands, and while the results are often impressive, you can usually tell the difference.

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