I’ve been translating for over 20 years, and this is how it all began: In 1992, I obtained a degree in English Language and Literature from the University of Amsterdam. In 1996, I joined PricewaterhouseCoopers (formerly Coopers & Lybrandt) as a translator/editor in international accountancy department. This is where I learned about accounting and financial translation. In 1998, I decided to try my luck as a freelance translator. This enabled me to spread my wings and add EU policy documents, legal and IT texts to my knowledge base.
I do everything I can to stay abreast of new current affairs and new developments in all of the fields I work in. In December 2008, I was sworn in as a certified Dutch-English/ English-Dutch translator at the Court of The Hague here in the Netherlands. Shorty after that, I was admitted to the Dutch Register of Sworn Interpreters and Translators (‘Register beëdigde tolken en vertalers’ or Rbtv). One of the conditions of being a sworn translator is permanent education (PE), meaning that I am obliged to further educate myself. There are several ways to do this: by taking training courses, intervision, and by participating in other activities, such as events organised by the Netherlands Association of Interpreters and Translators (NGTV). Between 2013 and 2017, I was chairman of the Professional Liability Committee of the NGTV, and in this capacity, I attributed to the establishment of a special professional and business liability insurance for NGTV members. From 2015 to 2017, I was an author/editor for Linguaan, NGTV’s then extensive, printed professional magazine on languages, translation and interpreting.
Sharing knowledge with colleagues; working with proofreaders; research; publications; professional literature; courses; conferences; work for the professional association: all ways in which I can continue to expand my knowledge as a translator and continue to pursue my profession and – perhaps most importantly – keep things interesting!
