Background

I first became interested in translating when a German Professor of Maxillofacial Surgery ran a workshop for a Europe-wide seminar. To accommodate all the attendants from the various countries the proceedings were in English, as was the workshop handbook. It was when I got to the bit about "rats whiffling their whisklas" that I thought I might offer my services as a translator. The reward on that occasion was a generous case of sparkling Burgundy, a rare treat.
Subsequently I was introduced to the manufacturers of fine surgical instruments and sutures as a person to help with their English documentation, and so I went commercial. I still have a day job, so the rates I charge are much less than from a commercial bureau.

What do I offer?

Translations into English of German and French medical and other scientific and technical texts are my specialty. The English is the Queen's English, using English rather than American spelling.
I am happy to reproduce illustrations with translated captions, and to lay the finished product out so that it closely resembles the original. To produce the best results, however, I need an original of better quality than the average fax, e.g. scanned e-mail file or good photocopy.
The turnaround is usually swift, and return is by regular mail, by fax, or by e-mail, as you wish. (Courier service costs extra!)

Translation style

Is mechanical translation possible? One would think that a scientific paper should be the easiest of styles for a machine to translate. After all, the layout of Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion is nearly universal. Is the content not much the same from a linguistic point of view. Not really--it is as easily possible to write a paper in turgid French or German as in English. Should one then translate it into boring English or something more snappy? Even worse, what if the scientific content is poor? Should I translate it holding my nose? I try to give the reader an impression of the original author's style, where this is possible. Early French scientific writing is the most difficult for the scientifically inclined translator, because it comes in the form of flowery prose (one almost expects it in verse).

Why choose me?

• Accurate translation
• Painstaking proof-reading
• Rapid return
• Any document dealt with (even a short letter)
• Economical rates
• Specialist interests and expertise (see below)

Why not someone else?

Here are some examples of translations by someone whose native tongue is not English (and possibly whose inclination is not scientific).

Example 1

The word should be tracheostomy.

Example 2