The people behind 101

 

WLF Think Tank is an ad hoc organisation, a virtual body of experienced practising translators that has met as the WordLink Forum at frequent intervals since 1995 to discuss the state of the profession. Its members include keynote speakers at translation conferences, teachers of translation and prominent exponents of the profession on three continents. Among those who contributed content to 101 Things a Translator Needs to Know are:

Paul Boothroyd (M.A. Oxon, MITI) read modern languages at Oxford, trained in service industry marketing, and from 1984-1991 was Head of Language Services with translators’ cooperative InTra eG, in Stuttgart. In 1991, together with his wife Monika (Dipl. Übers.), Paul founded Bauer-Boothroyd Übersetzungen, a niche operation based in Schorndorf, southwest Germany. BBÜ works for blue-chip clients in German-speaking countries, translating between English and German and specialising in automotive, management, marketing, HR and sustainability material.

Carmelo Cancio is a French-to-Spanish and English-to-Spanish translator and consultant based in south-west France. In 1990 he founded Cancio Communications, specialising in creative translation with a focus on new technologies and corporate communications. Carmelo holds a Ph.D. in Spanish and a master’s in English philology, and currently teaches translation at Université de Toulouse-II. He is an active member and former vice-president of the French translators’ association, SFT, a founding member of Asetrad (Spain), a sworn translator with the Cour d’Appel in Agen, the author of La traduction professionnelle en France, and a regular presenter of workshops for professional translators.

Steve Dyson (BSc, Physics & Maths, Melbourne) is a French-to-English translator specialising in technical journalism. An early innovator, he has long promoted and applied best practice in English-language technical writing and communication to promote the products, services and corporate image of French industrial clients. He has compiled and published glossaries on satellite-based remote sensing and naval defence. Steve is based in Lisbon, Portugal, and in south-west France.

Chris Durban has translated financial and business texts from French to English for demanding corporate clients for over 35 years. An active member of ATA, ITI and SFT, she was awarded ATA’s Gode Medal in 2001 and was president of the French translators’ association for several years. Chris has written client-education materials such as Translation, Getting it Right, now available in 15 languages, and also The Prosperous Translator, a compilation of business advice for translators. Co-organiser of SFT’s summer school for financial translators and “Translate in the Catskills”, she was an adviser to the European Commission’s Optimale programme, and is a frequent speaker at workshops and conferences.

Andy Evans studied modern languages at Westfield College London and the Sorbonne. In 1980 he joined the European Commission’s Luxembourg translation service, where for 25 years he specialised increasingly in economics, financial, statistical and, ultimately, high-level political translation. In 2003 he was appointed Chevalier de l’Ordre de Mérite civil et militaire d’Adolphe de Nassau. He was a founder member of ITI and currently chairs its Professional Conduct Committee. From 2005 to 2014 he represented ITI on the Council of FIT, the International Federation of Translators. Before all that he was a taxman.

Janet Fraser has a first degree in translation and interpreting, an MA in Sociolinguistics and another in Modern German Studies. She began her career as an in-house translator and then worked as a multilingual journalist before moving into an academic post training translators. Since 2010 she has been freelancing as a translator, examiner and editor. Janet is also actively involved in the professional scene and regularly gives talks, workshops and webinars. A lifelong linguist, her proudest language-learning experience was mastering ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs for a Diploma in Egyptology.

Catherine Anne Hiley was born to English and Canadian parents, grew up in Germany and studied in London, Berlin and Vancouver, graduating with a diploma in Fine Arts from the Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weissensee in 2007. In 2008 she moved to Scotland where she became a member of Edinburgh Printmakers. Catherine is currently based in Edinburgh, where she works as a freelance illustrator and printmaker. She maintains a website at www.cahiley.com

Ian Hinchliffe worked as a butcher, greengrocer, bus conductor, bookkeeping clerk and merchant navy purser before discovering the allure of translation. A former Head of Corporate Language at IKEA he was also the copywriter for IKEA’s UK catalogue from 1989 to 1999. Ian has a Ph.D. in Scandinavian Languages and has lectured in Swedish and Translation Studies at universities in the UK and Sweden. In 2004 he received the Erik Wellander Prize from the Swedish Language Council for his co-authorship of Swedish: A Comprehensive Grammar. He is a founder member of the Swedish Professional Translators’ Association (SFÖ).

Inga-Beth Hinchliffe (BA Hons, German & Swedish, UK; Cand. Mag., English, Norway) is a translator and owner of the translation company AB Språkman in Sweden. Inga-Beth has worked with languages and translation for her entire adult life, as a foreign correspondent, copy editor, teacher and translator of marketing texts, children’s books and works on theology and biblical history. She was Executive Secretary of the Swedish Professional Translators’ Association (SFÖ) from its inception in 1991 to 1998 and has been a long-standing member of SFÖ’s Professional Standards Committee. Inga-Beth has also written two popular vegetarian cookbooks.

Hugh Keith studied modern languages at Oxford and trained as a teacher at York University. After teaching at a German university and a school in London he joined Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, where he discovered the world of translation and interpreting. In 1992 Hugh hit mid-life crisis, broke free and became a freelance translator working for the German market and running English workshops for professional translators and interpreters (www.xchange-services.co.uk/workshops). He has been external examiner at a number of UK universities and served on the ITI Conference Committee and as Convenor of the ITI Scottish Group.

Terence Lewis, MITI, entered the world of translation as a brother in an Italian religious order, entrusted with translating the founder’s speeches into English. His religious studies also called for a knowledge of Latin, Greek and Hebrew. After some years in South Africa and Brazil, Terence returned to the UK and worked as a lexicographer, playwright and translator of texts as diverse as Mongolian cultural legislation (for Unesco) and a book by a minor French existentialist. He also wrote a Dutch–English machine translation application since used to translate documentation for some of the largest engineering projects in Dutch history. For the past 15 years he has devoted himself to the study and development of translation technology.

Bill Maslen studied French and German at Oxford and Tübingen, then made an abortive attempt to become a sculptor and opera singer before embarking on a career as a conference interpreter. Exhausted by the stress, he worked as a senior manager for two international translation companies before setting up The Word Gym in 1990 – a language consultancy specialising exclusively in transcreation and multilingual copywriting for major corporate clients and marcomms agencies across Europe. Bill himself writes and translates for French and German clients, advises them on linguistic issues, and enjoys speaking at conferences. He is currently building a team to develop the ultimate computer-assisted translation and authoring system.

Terry Oliver has a joint BA in German and Geology from Keele University. In 1971 he joined Unilever Germany as a staff translator, later becoming head of department. Since 1984 he has worked as a freelance technical translator (German–English), covering a wide range of content with an increasing focus on the law and technology of environmental issues. A member of BDÜ since 1980 and ADÜ Nord since 1997, he served as chairman of the latter from 2001 to 2005. He was a member of the German committee for European Standard EN 15038 and of the ISO working group on translating and interpreting. Elected to the Steering Committee of FIT Europe in 2002, he was its secretary from 2005 to 2008.

Nick Rosenthal, MITI, has worked as a technical translator from French and German since 1986. He studied languages at Salford University, and then worked as a management accountant for a large multinational company before founding SalfTrans, a specialist translation and localisation company, in 1988. Nick has a broad vision of the translation industry, with a particular interest in training and professional development. Nick chaired the Board of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI) from 2011 to 2013.

Ros Schwartz is an award-winning literary translator and a prominent figure in the Translators’ Association of the Society of Authors. A freelancer since 1980, Ros has translated some 60 works of fiction and non-fiction, particularly novels by contemporary Francophone writers. She runs numerous workshops, is a frequent speaker on the international circuit and publishes articles on translation-related issues. Ros was Chair of the European Council of Literary Translators Associations (CEATL) from 2000–2009 and is Chair of English PEN’s Writers in Translation programme. In 2009 she was made Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

Rannheid Sharma (MCIL, DipTransIoLET, MEI) is an English-to-Norwegian technical, pharmaceutical and medical translator. Having initially worked in other fields, she was smitten by the computer bug and started working as a software/hardware localiser, before going fully freelance in 1986. She is an experienced teacher and examiner of Norwegian at all levels and has also taught translation studies. Rannheid has been actively involved in the work of the Chartered Institute of Linguists. She chairs the London Society and used to write its newsletter. She is a board member of the Institute’s Educational Trust and is passionate about mentoring.

John Smellie (BA Hons, Bradford University) worked in-house for an industrial equipment manufacturer in Paris before going freelance in 1984 and later running a successful translation business with offices in Paris and Toulouse. He moved to California in 1997 and currently owns and operates E-Files, Inc., an independent group of translators, editors and business writers providing local content and marketing communication support to the aerospace, defence and high-tech industries worldwide.

Lois Thomas started working life as an accountant but soon discovered this was not for her. She gained a degree in Occupational Psychology specialising in work group dynamics and qualified with the CIPD in Human Resource and Industrial Relations Management. Having headed up the HR function in a diverse range of businesses – from government to international manufacturing and professional organisations such as the Royal College of Physicians – she joined Bill Maslen at The Word Gym as Operations Director in 1992. Her background in work group dynamics has served her well in multilingual project management and in her external consultancy/training work for the ITI.

WLF Think Tank would also like to thank its other members for their valuable insights and input over the years, especially Cate Avery, Graham Cross, Niki Watts and Tom West.

In addition, the authors gratefully acknowledge the debt they owe to numerous experienced and insightful colleagues in the worldwide translation community who, through their books, blogs and conference presentations, have shared and inspired many of the ideas now collected in 101 Things a Translator Needs to Know.