Formerly a staff translator in government service with 30 years of experience, I was offered early retirement by the Ministry of Defence in October 2010 due to "a downturn in the requirement for Arabic" ; ) and am now a full-time freelance translator. During my time as a staff translator in the civil service, 11 years were spent as a German & Arabic translator for the Ministry of Defence in Whitehall where I had to tackle most subject areas but was particularly experienced in defence matters (high level ministerial correspondence, reports on military equipment/exercises) & Middle East politics, translating high level documents (memoranda of understanding, treaties, NBC declarations to UN etc.), historical documents (First and Second World War) and those to do with medical matters (reports from German hospitals & specialists on British armed forces personnel stationed in Germany). The last 10 years of my civil service career were spent as an Arabic lecturer teaching the language to armed forces personnel.

As horse riding has been my hobby for over 40 years (I own a Connemara x thoroughbred and compete in dressage and le trec), I also undertake equestrian translations eg. a horse owner's guide to equine anatomy, import papers, a farrier's handbook etc.. I'm also interested in cooking and have translated cookery books. Travel is a great passion too.

I have now been a full-time freelancer for 11 years and spend 25% of my time on clinical trials (from both German and Arabic). Other frequent subject areas are ski resort/hotel info for various tourism offices, recipes for a Swiss cookware manufacturer, educational certificates, birth certificates, employment references, wills and divorce decrees.

I have translated 16 books, 4 of which have been cookery books for the same publisher and 3 biographies. I charge £100 per thousand words of Arabic (general text)
£75 per thousand words of German (general text)
£85 per thousand words of medical/legal German, £35 per hour for proofreading