George Trail Translation Services (French and German to English)

"Communication needs the right words." (George Trail)

Postal address: 10 Hillary Drive, Crowthorne, Berkshire, RG45 6QE, UK
Work number: (UK) (0) 1344 773948
Mobile phone: (UK) (0) 7522 241240
georgetrail @ googlemail.com (preferred contact method)
Skype: george.trail1

Freelance translation services (English, French, German) from a translator with a degree in Modern Languages (French and German, University of Kent) and a record of in-depth study of the art of translation during a MA Translation Studies (Portsmouth), and multi-faceted professional experience. I can boast diversity: my list of completed projects to date includes:

* Creative material (several textbook articles on Vietnamese history, press releases, product descriptions, tourism materials)
* Scientific/technical material (a patent, instructions, technical drawings)
* Business and legal material (terms and conditions, formal correspondence involving authorities, material related to international legislation)
* IT material (personal computer material, software)
* Medical material (several medical reports for the British Ministry of Defence).

The kinds of material I have most frequently translated include: textbook articles, press releases, presentations, advertising, contracts, reviews and reports (including interviews), instructions and similar technical materials.

Good rates and I'm willing to work flexibly (including weekends if necessary) in order to respect the deadlines (if valid) of translation projects given to me. I will also consider other kinds of work, such as proofreading; contact me to discuss it. My have an excellent command of English, as confirmed by my oDesk account.

CAPACITY: 3000-4000 WORDS / DAY.

REFERENCES
Feel free to ask me about references in given areas, such as those above.

EDUCATION AND TRAINING

• Degree (with Honours) in French and German (this included a Year Abroad at the University of Poitiers, France), from the University of Kent.
• I gained in-depth experience of the art of translation during a MA Translation Studies (Portsmouth).
• I consider myself best suited to the translation of: newspaper and similar articles, textbook articles, contracts / leases / reports / formal correspondence, instructions; I've also had some experience of subtitling using Melissi software.

"They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel." (Carl W. Büchner)

AREAS OF INTEREST

• Newspaper and magazine articles / articles from manuals
• Other documents of an informative nature, such as reviews, contracts, leases etc. (especially instructions and reports)
• Tourism materials
• Literature / brochures
• Subtitles for films, entertainment, documentaries etc.

MY APPROACH TO MY WORK
I will guarantee to take pride in my work. Translation is not just about replacing words with words (anyone can do that!). But producing professional quality translation goes beyond inventing phrases for individual instances: it's up to the translator alone to convince the reader of the message of the original, particularly if it's supposed to be of an authoritative nature.
I'm a hard worker, with a good eye for detail; and I don't overlook the need for initiative (especially where research is necessary!). Rather than trying to justify that what I write is congruent with what I have interpreted, I focus on producing good translations that will not force the reader to "work things out" (even if it is correct and reflects the right message logically). In short, I remember my priorities as I focus on producing a new document whose message remains faithful to the original while not overlooking subtle linguistic nuances in the target language. I definitely have traits of creativity and ingenuity, and find that this helps enormously.
As funny as 'bad' translations can be to those who read them, it's an undeniable fact that failing to acknowledge certain things can result in misunderstandings or worse!

"The experienced translator has no substitute." (Babylon.com - See below.)

PACKAGES USED
I do my work using MS Office. I've been using it for many years and currently use it on a laptop.

PRICE INFORMATION
My standard rates: 50-70 Euros / 1000 words (for my main market is Europe). You can contact me to discuss other rates.
THIS IS A LINK TO A CURRENCY CONVERTER.

I charge per word in the original text by default. It's easier. Having said that, I'm used to people sending me things to translate in PDF format, but I know that there are PDF to Word conversion tools. This doesn't mean that I won't consider projects with a "per line" or "per page" based fee, but you have to understand that I would want to see the material first. Everyone knows that not all written material has the same number of words of characters per line, or the same number of lines per page!