Granted, We All Know at Least Some German


When it comes to reliable quality translations and related services, however, there is no alternative to the training and experience of a professional language expert. I have specialized in the following areas: marketing and advertisement; art, architecture, and design; software; logistics; general business, technical, and law as well as Web sites.

Education and Work Experience
M.A. in English (including linguistics, translation theory, literature, and American cultural studies) and Art History from the University of Tübingen, Germany, 1997. During the academic year 1993-94, I studied at Temple University in Philadelphia as an exchange student. Since the beginning of my career as a language expert, I have completed a wide variety of projects, some of which I invite you to review, and further improved my linguistic skills through continued education (see below) and professional conferences. Before I started working freelance full time, I got first-hand work experience in a number of positions that help me look at a language project from the client's perspective.

Some of these positions are:

  • Museum of Modern Art, New York: Internship (1998), working on 20th-century art in the Museum's Department of Prints and Illustrated Books.
  • Philadelphia Museum of Art: Cataloguing Assistant (1998), cataloguing European prints in the Museum's Print Department.
  • Borders Books and Music: Bookseller (1997-98), responsibilities in all of the store's departments.
  • Hauptstaatsarchiv (State Archive), Stuttgart, Germany: Research Assistant (1992-97), working on special project Emigrants from Württemberg 1750-1900, planning and establishing guidelines for processing ca. 50,000 traced emigration cases.
  • Modern Electronics, Stuttgart airport: Sales Assistant (1991-93), working independently as sales representative in store with international customers.
  • Health Department, Stuttgart: Civil Service (1989-90), working in a team with three social workers, a psychologist, and a psychiatrist in an outreach program for mentally ill people.

Personal Information
My native language is German. I lived in Germany until 1996, when I immigrated to the United States (status: dual citizen). I currently live in Philadelphia and enjoy frequent visits to Germany. To keep up with cultural and linguistic developments in Germany, I stay in touch with friends and family, read German newspapers, and visit the country frequently. My spare time is filled with all kinds of activities, among them motorcycling, running, theater, gardening, and hiking.


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Affiliations


Continuing Education/Certifications

  • ATA conference (November 2007): San Francisco, California
  • Institut für Fremdsprachen und Auslandskunde bei der Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (May 2007): 2-week training
  • DVTA seminar (November 2006): Translation and Computers
  • ATA conference (November 2005): Seattle, Washington (speaker)
  • ATA conference (October 2004): Toronto, Canada
  • Institut für Fremdsprachen und Auslandskunde bei der Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (May 2003): 2-week training.
  • ADÜ Nord (September 2002): TRADOS Workshop for experienced users (Karl-Heinz Freigang)
  • Succeeding in Voice-over (Spring 2002): Seminar at community college (Ted Feldenkreis).
  • ATA conference (November 2001): Seminar Advanced Topics in English>German Translation (Peter Schmitt)
  • Language Services Associates (October 2001): Seminar on legal and telephonic interpretation
  • Health Promotion Council of Southeastern Pennsylvania: Medical interpreting course (April 2000): Bridging the Gap (certified medical interpreter)

Resources
Today, translators and interpreters rely on much more than a pencil and a few good dictionaries. Up-to-date office equipment and an extensive library go hand in hand with language services that reflect the latest in technical and linguistic developments. The following is an overview of my resources:

Hardware Software

IBM-compatible computer
Macintosh computer
Scanner
Color printer
Fax machine

Microsoft Office
QuarkXPress
Adobe Acrobat Writer
Dreamweaver
TRADOS
SDLX

Reference Materials
An extensive library of mono- and bilingual dictionaries, as well as a large number of complementary printed and electronic resources, such as glossaries and literature in a variety of fields. Listing all these works here would take up too much space and would not be fun to read.

It's Who You Know
When all other sources fail, personal connections can turn into life savers when it comes to highly technical or new terminology. Instead of re-inventing the wheel, it is better to contact a friend at a museum for help in identifying the title of a particular work of art. Likewise, a brother-in-law who is an engineer in Germany can be more valuable than all the dictionaries in the world when making a decision about the latest terminology conventions in that language.