Work focus - Automotive engineering - Daimler Chrysler
As the deputy "team lead" of the English translation team for the "smart" car (smart.com), my remit covers both translating and proof-reading. The vast scope of subject matter involved here ranges from technical specifications and in-house training manuals to marketing and advertising materials. Terminological and stylistic consistency is a crucial factor when working for such a global undertaking. This is ensured by the use of the very latest translation management software - TRADOS Workbench and TRADOS Multiterm.

Work focus - Business/Banking - Sal. Oppenheim
Sal. Oppenheim jr. & Cie. KGaA is one of Europe's leading private banks (Oppenheim.de), its core areas of activity being asset management and investment banking. Oppenheim regularly enlists my services to translate comprehensive company profiles - generally extending to 100 pages or more - in connection with the planned sale of business enterprises. This is highly confidential and exacting work, involving vast transaction values and ultra-tight time schedules . Speed, accuracy, a good understanding of the world of business and a command of "business-speak" are of the essence.

Work focus - Business consultancy - Roland Berger
Roland Berger is an international business consultancy headquartered in Germany (Rolandberger.com). True to the claim in its mission statement of "turning visions into reality", the company has an annual output of around 30,000 PowerPoint slides requiring translation into English! A typical feature of such presentations is a lack of context - the consultants and their clients generally know precisely what they are talking about and tend to condense everything into a few pithy phrases. This calls for an ability to "think between the lines".

Work focus - Computing
The scope of my work in this field ranges from the more conversational style of staff magazines to the nitty-gritty of highly specific manuals covering such arcane territory as fuzzy logic and neural networks.

Politics/legal - Federal Ministry of the Interior
My work for the Federal Ministry of the Interior (bmi.bund.de) requires meticulous background research, as it is ultimately intended for the international political arena . Apart from translating speeches for such luminaries as Federal Minister of the Interior Otto Schily, I have also been entrusted with translating such weighty pieces of legislation as the Federal Data Protection Act and the highly contentious Immigration Act.

Marketing/Advertising
Marketing and advertising are among the most challenging areas for a translator, calling for an instinctive understanding of national mentalities, sensibilities, mind-sets and humour and the ability to "transport" these from one culture to another. My work in this field ranges from the sobriety of analyses distilled on marketing managers' spreadsheets to the linguist's playground of promotional copy and advertising slogans.

Work focus - Agriculture/Ecology - E.T. Ecoagricultural Technosystems GmbH
E.T. Ecoagricultural Technosystems GmbH is committed to applying technological know-how to improve the natural resources of soil and water according to the principles of sustainability. As an internationally operative company, it requires technical reports and manuals to be translated, along with papers setting out its rationale and explaining the science behind its developments.

Work focus - Agriculture/Ecology - Dennerle GmbH
This internationally operative company is an aquarium specialist with a product range extending from fertilizers through fish food, aquascapes, aquarium lighting and equipment such as filters, algae removers, etc. My remit here is to communicate the intricacies of these products and the 'appliance of science' in this field to an international clientele.