On this page I provide details of my credentials as a professional translator working from German to English. Further references are available on request but in the meantime I hope that the information provided below will assure you of my abilities in this area.

Having worked in several different walks of life over the past 30-odd years from the military to the computer networking industry and having spent time living abroad and in the UK, I have amassed considerable life experience that serves me well when it comes to understanding the texts I am asked to translate. In addition to this general experience I have several specific language and translation qualifications, which I outline in the following.

My most recent qualification and, if I may say so, the most prestigious, is the post graduate level Diploma in Translation (FHEQ Level 7) awarded by the Chartered Institute of Linguists upon successful completion of the relevant exam on the 20th of June 2010. This award specifically qualifies me to translate from German into English. This diploma says as much about a candidate's ability in English as in the source language as it places high demands upon the target text in terms of register, style, grammar and spelling as well as the appropriate use of technical jargon and idiom.

To read more about this qualification please follow the link below, which will take you to the appropriate section of the Chartered Institute of Linguists' web site. To return to this site please use the arrow keys on your browser:

This diploma is awarded by the Goethe Institut, London, on behalf of the Ludwig Maximilians Universität München. It certifies the successful candidate's abilities in speaking, reading and writing German to a level approaching that of an educated native speaker, i.e., to the sixth and highest level (C2) of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFRL).
NB: to put this in context, most BA honours degrees in modern languages currently offered at British universities only prepare the student to the fifth level, C1, of the CEFRL.
To read more about this qualification please follow the link below, which will take you to the appropriate section of the Goethe Institut's web site. To return to this site please use the arrow keys on your browser:

I am a member of the Chartered Institute of Linguists, which is not only a prestigious confirmation of my proven abilities as a linguist and translator, but also means that I am subject to a code of conduct and disciplinary procedures, designed to ensure the highest possible standards in the translation industry as well as providing clients with an independent means of arbitration and redress in the event of disputes. For details of both the code of conduct and the disciplinary procedures, please click the 'Code of Conduct' button on the left of your screen. Alternatively you can browse to the following links and return to this web site using your browser's arrow keys:

In addition to my specific language qualifications I am currently completing a BA honours degree in history and a Diploma in Classical Studies at the Open University. I am on target to have achieved both of these awards by the end of 2011. Not only am I finding that participation in these courses is leading to a marked improvement in my competence in academic writing but the specific content of the courses I am taking is proving invaluable in terms of my ability to understand source texts whether these be taken from the fields of academic historical discourse or historical literature, which is reflected in the quality of my translations.

Having begun my working life with stints in the Australian and British Armies, I have since moved into IT consultancy and project management and have worked in this field for the past 20 years or so. During this period I have worked in England, Germany and Holland and have been involved at all levels of management up to Associate Director. My work has given me a deep insight into, and many years practical experience in the production of, most types of commercial documentation and the full procurement cycle including the drafting of procurement and service contracts, invitations to tender, tender responses and project and technical documentation; all of which I have written, proofread and edited in both German and English.

My business activities, even when I have been based in Britain, have often involved protracted periods during which my main focus has been on the German-speaking regions of Europe whereby German was used for most documentation and spoken transactions.

From a technical point of view I have been most involved in consultancy relating to data networking, fibre and copper cabling and communications room design and fit out. I have worked closely with architects and construction companies and have been personally responsible for the design, procurement and implementation of highly complex, multi-million pound projects in industry sectors such as banking, higher education and law.

As well as giving me specific abilities and knowledge of both commercial and technical documentation and its translation, my industry and commercial experience, even going back to my military days, has provided me with a profound understanding of many of the aspects of what 'makes the world' tick, as it were, which is an invaluable asset when it comes to translating. Even literature with its focus on plot, language and cultural allusions, usually plays out in a commercial world or at least presupposes an understanding of commercial and political constraints, without which a full understanding of the work and therefore an ability to render it faithfully in translation, would be impossible.

Having been posted to Germany with the British Army I subsequently married a German and lived in Germany for a total of 10 years, half of which were as a civilian. Throughout that time German was our house language and having raised two sons in Germany I was given privileged aspects to many aspects of German culture, which operate during the formative years of the average German, such as early schooling, literature and television as well as what one might call child culture. This is the kind of cultural exposure unachievable by the purely academic student of German and Germany. It is augmented by an exposure to all aspects of contemporary German culture from shopping to dealing with officialdom to understanding family and international dynamics in what was then still a divided and occupied country. Many aspects of German literature and modern journalism must appear to be obscure or confusing to any translator not having experienced a similar level of exposure to contemporary German culture.

I currently live in England but maintain close links to Germany through frequent visits, both personal and business related; German TV and films; closely following current affairs by way of newspapers and magazines and of course masses of reading covering 18th, 19th and 20th century literature, some of which I access through audio books. In terms of my current academic studies, most of the history books in my library are in German and I routinely translate and quote from them in order to present a balanced view point in my essays.

Although I am only officially qualified to translate from German to English and am primarily offering this as a service, I have in the past translated from English into German when this has been specifically requested. In addition to German I am able (but not officially qualified) to translate from Dutch into English and German and have a particular interest in related languages such as Low German and the various branches of the Frisian family. Essentially, if something is written in any form of West Germanic, I can understand and therefore translate it.

I have also dabbled in various other languages solely for my own interest but would be unable to offer any services in connection with them. Nevertheless it may round out this presentation of my linguistic credentials if I briefly indicate some of the avenues down which my wandering mind has led me.

In terms of the level of competence I have been able to achieve thus far, and the likelihood of my being able to reach fluency with sufficient effort at some point in the future, I would say that the Scandinavian languages and Norwegian (Nynorsk) in particular are the primary candidates. I can usually decipher most Scandinavian texts although I claim no more than a 'party trick' ability to converse in them with native speakers.

I have a similar level of ability in Italian although in this case my speaking ability, which I would describe as no more than 'holiday Italian', slightly outstrips my reading competence. I am scheduled to begin a Latin course as part of my classical studies with the Open University, which may well reignite my interest in Italian although I confess to a greater affinity with the Germanic languages than with those stemming from Latin.

My most prized 'linguistic possession' to date is a small smattering of Turkish gained during a semester of night school in Germany sometime around 1992. This is so long ago and my access to the language has been so limited since that time that I have retained no more than a handful of polite greetings and similar banalities. Having said that, Turkish is a beautiful and important language and, given the opportunity, I would certainly like to be able to pick up where I left off all those years ago and try to develop a high level of fluency in this language. Maybe someday.

In this section I have tried to outline my competence in German and linguistics in general and to explain how I have come to be a professional translator working from German into English. I have discussed my specific linguistic qualifications as well as other relevant academic pursuits and have talked about my exposure to German culture and society. I have included a brief summary of my non academic career to date because I feel that it is important for a translator to be able to demonstrate a general understand of contemporary economics, business, society and politics, all of which are crucial to an understanding of many source texts and to translator's ability to render a given source text, with a minimum of translation loss, into the target language.

I would be happy to provide documentary evidence of all qualifications referred to above as well as a fully detailed version of my current CV.