Photo credit: Adobe Stock (Disko Bay, Greenland).
Photo credit: Adobe Stock (Disko Bay, Greenland).
For as long as I can remember besotted with words, with chiselled language, with clarity of speech, and after two English prizes in lycée (sixth form), I was however dissuaded
from following this path—being of humble origin—in favour of a supposedly safer and more profitable course of study, and graduated as ingénieur de gestion
Ingénieur de gestion (Bachelor and Master of Science degree in Business Engineering), HEC Management School, Liège University, Belgium
Curriculum (as of 1997)
Languages: Dutch, English, Spanish | Law: Constitutional and European Law, Law of Contracts, Business Law, Advanced Business Law, Social Law, Tax Law |
Finance: Finance 101, Accounting & Finance, Cost Accounting (or Activity-based Costing), Managerial Accounting, Corporate Accounting, Financial Analysis,
Company Financial Management (Seminar), Financial Audit, Company Financing, Asset Management & Financial Modelling | Economics: General Economics/Economics for Industry,
Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, Political Economics, Government Economics | Mathematics: Mathematics for Economists and Managers, Statistics, Probability Theory,
Advanced Mathematics, Advanced Probability & Statistics Theory, Financial Mathematics, Operations Research, Mathematics for Financial Transactions | Sciences:
Physics, Chemistry, Physics & Chemistry Laboratory, General Chemistry/Chemistry for Industry, Chemical Engineering, Physics for Industry | Social sciences: Psychology, Sociology, Philosophy |
Technology: Electricity, Electrotechnics, Electronics, CAD & Materials Technology, General Machine Tools & Productics, Energy Technology, Technology: a State of the Art |
Computer Science: Computer Science 101, Data Base Management Systems, Data Analysis, IT Systems Analysis, Information Systems Design | Management: Logistics & Manufacturing,
Human Resources Management, Enterprise Role Play, Business Strategy (Seminar), Theory of Organizations, Preparing to be a Manager (Seminar) | Marketing: Marketing 101,
Market Research, Strategic Marketing Management | Environment: Environment & Industrial Ecology, Entrepreneurship & Environment.
in 1997. Shortly after, a Flemish IT consultancy offered me three months of paid accelerated training in programming,
a valuable skill set which I was eager to acquire.
This led me to fulfill a series of missions in Brussels for various Flemish IT consultancies, first within the banking industry and later at the ministère des Finances (more or less equivalent to HM Revenue & Customs, minus social contributions). I gained Java certification in 2004 but somehow felt like I was going round in circles: my job was just not fulfilling anymore.
John Hayes Prize 2022 for excellence in translation
Certificat Voltaire, Expert Level (99th percentile)
At that point, I had been reading mostly English literature for ten years and my ever-present love of languages finally took over. I set up as a freelance translator in 2005, with my English teacher’s voice echoing in my mind, when he was advising me, many years ago, to become a translator. I gained the CIOL's DipTrans in 2008.
After more than 19 years practising this beautiful and enlightening craft in the service of demanding businesses and their corporate communication, but most of all in the service of IGOs, NGOs, associations, and other entities working for social justice and social progress, I was no longer comfortable with the prevailing approaches of the translation market: virtually systematic and indiscriminate use of machine translation and AI (including, increasingly, among publishing houses), too often with disregard to quality, to the added value of human translation, and to the working conditions of translators.
This led me to put an end to my career as a translator, and to explore new professional avenues.
My obsessions are clear writing and on point communication. My ideals are social justice and social progress, which largely hinge on institutions, corporations, international cooperation, and human development being fair, equitable, sustainable, and respectful of human rights.
My academic background and career path also naturally led me to specialize in asset and wealth management, as well as in commercial law, litigation and arbitration.
Below is a selection of translation samples, so you may form your own opinion on the quality of my work.
Sample #1 (French translation, from English): La réglementation sur le commerce et les droits humains après l’adoption des Principes directeurs des Nations unies : redevabilité, gouvernance et efficacité
Sample #2 (French translation, from English): Répartition de la diversité génétique humaine selon Lewontin : cadre théorique et impact
For clarity's sake, please do try not to say ‘race’ anymore, but rather ‘so-called race’. Did you know that a similar wording (‘prétendue race’) is used in the French Penal Code, for example in article 225-1, which defines the various types of discriminations?
Wording ‘so-called race’ is also used, albeit not systematically, on www.racepowerofanillusion.org, a great resource for English speakers.
Sample #3 (French translation, from Dutch): Les journées de la traduction font sortir les traducteurs de l'ombre : « Mon nom en couverture ? Je ne dis pas non. »
#NameTheTranslator #LesTraducteursExistent
Code de la propriété intellectuelle (French intellectual property act), article L112-3: ‘Authors of translations, adaptations, transformations or otherwise rearrangements of intellectual works benefit from the protection herein enshrined . . . .’
For the non exhaustive list of what constitutes intellectual work per French law, see article L112-2.
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Please note that as of April 1st, 2024, I no longer provide translation and related services.
‘The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter – 'tis the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.’ – Mark Twain
Did you craft your message with the utmost care? Then rest assured I will translate it to French with the utmost care as well – with the utmost respect both for your intended meaning and for the right way to convey it natively in French, so your target audience does not perceive it as ‘almost right’.
For a free quote, simply send the documents to be translated or the videos to be subtitled for assessment to . You may rest assured that confidential material will be treated accordingly (for example, embargoed press releases).
For contents of a general nature or pertaining to my specialisms as described above, I provide you with, depending on your specific needs:
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Certificat Voltaire, Expert Level (99th percentile)
[1] Text expansion is frequent and normal when translating from English to French (usually 15 to 25%). This is true for all romance languages. Translation from English to German or Dutch (germanic languages) may even cause text expansion up to 35% or more. This also means that translation from Dutch to French usually leads to text contraction.