Professional interpreting background

I have spend the past three years helping French-speaking patients in the US communicate with their English-speaking medical staff (including doctors, nurses, and administrative staff). Everyone has the right to be clearly understood and to completely understand what is being said when it comes to their personal health in order to maintain their autonomy.  I am passionate about protecting this right.

Too often, semi-bilingual amateurs are asked to step in to "translate" for patients, when a professional interpreter is instead the essential choice to ensure an accurate flow of information.

Language

I am a native English speaker from the US who has always had a passion for languages (including my own native English). At a young age, the French language drew me in. This drove me to pursue years of tireless study and practice, eventually taking certification exams from the French National Ministry of Education to validate my achievements.

Professional translation history

I have spent fifteen years in business and am therefore particularly familiar with human resources, marketing, accounting, contracts, and operations management.  I know the importance of using consistent and clear messages in documents, brochures, and other communications with clients and staff. 

I also spent four years in IT with a technology company where I managed network infrastructure, oversaw the deployment of new computer systems, helped implement and improve security protocols, and used my knowledge of the programming languages C and C++ to help improve internal proprietary software.

Lastly, early in my career I worked for three years as an accountant where I helped establish a new general ledger and prepare financial statements.  I brought this knowledge into the business world and was later tasked with overseeing company finances.

Other Areas of Interest

In my free time, I enjoy reading (especially classic literature, both in French and in English), and I am also a passionate lover of history, consuming countless hours of podcasts and reading the works of numerous historians each year.

I am also an amateur coffee connoisseur, roasting my own beans and attending annual coffee conventions.

Volunteer Work

It is important to me that those who are less fortunate or who are suffering a crisis still have access to professional interpreting services. It's why I am a volunteer translator for UN Volunteers as well as for Translators without Borders, and I have also worked with local organizations.

Software

For interpreting, I work with Zoom, Teams, and Google Meet, in addition to some proprietary platforms.  I am happy to use yours!

For translation software, I have formal training and regularly use SDL Trados Studio 2019 and MemoQ 9.3 as my primary CAT tools, and I also have experience with Smartcat and OmegaT.  Additionally, I have years of experience with all of the Microsoft Office applications and am also quite familiar with HTML and CSS.  If you have a specific piece of software in mind, let's talk about it; I am happy to try to accommodate your needs. 

I look forward to working with you.