You would like to get married, but your partner does not have sufficient knowledge of the German language, but speaks English? There’s no need to break up. I will gladly accompany you to the registry office and translate the legally relevant text for you on the most important day of your life.

Of course, this also applies to other areas, such as the recognition of paternity, purchase contracts, banking transactions or marriage contracts. It can also be an appointment with a doctor.  Or maybe you need someone to call your bank on the Bahamas for you to cancel the last transfer? Book a room at the Mark Hotel, New York?  No problem. Wherever you speak English, I can offer you my services in these and many other areas.

What do I have to do?

Send me an email or give me a call and tell me exactly what you want. I’m sure we can find a way for you to buy your house or have your prenuptial agreement notarized.  Fast, reliable and at a fair price, without hidden costs.

My fee

75€/hour

I count travel time to and from the destination as working time. It is extrapolated to the next half hour.

Example: Interpreting = 40 minutes; each 35 minutes travel time = 70 minutes. Total 110 minutes extrapolated to the next half hour = 120 minutes.

Total amount = 112,50€ plus the legally applicable VAT.

My questions for you?

• What type of assignment is involved (conveyance, transfer of authority, visit to the doctor…)?
• What’s the deadline?
• What is the time required according to your estimation?
• Are follow-up assignments planned (e.g. preliminary discussion of naming rights before a wedding)?

Are you looking for an interpreter for other languages?

Also in this case you are right with me. I am networked with interpreters of most common languages, such as Spanish, French, Polish, Italian, Russian, Japanese, Turkish and Arabic, and can provide you with the right contact person free of charge.

Interpreting

A term that remains rather unclear in the German language. I like the English version much better because it describes the nature of this activity: Interpreter. We interpret. Of course, we try to translate as accurately as possible, but this is only possible to a limited extent. On the one hand, there is not always an exact match in the target language, on the other hand, the speed does not allow it, and one must not forget that emotionality plays an important role.

Nowadays, people are used to everything being fast-moving. It is also expected of the interpreter that the translation bubbles out of him just as quickly as with the translation programs that can be found on the Internet. Unfortunately, this does not work in the spoken language, even if I would like to do so myself. You may have noticed it yourself when you listened to a speech by Donald Trump, or Barak Obama on the news. The interpreter’s translation always sounds a little different from what you perceive yourself. One part is due to speed, because we have to be fast to stay in the flow, another part is caused by the differences in the structure of the language. If you look at an English sentence, the structure is quite simple. Subject, predicate and object follow in a more or less fixed order. The man is reading a book. The sentence gets longer. The man is reading a book which he bought in a book shop yesterday. Longer than that. The man is reading a book which he bought in a book shop yesterday after he had returned earlier from work. The German theorem is quite identical. Der Mann liest gerade ein Buch, welches er gestern in einem Buchladen gekauft hat, nachdem er früher von der Arbeit heimgekehrt war.

But now look at these two sentences:

Der Mann, der neben mir wohnt und dessen Frau letzte Woche einen Preis gewonnen hat, wurde, nachdem er tagelang nicht  zur Arbeit erschienen war, was bei vielen Kollegen auf Unverständnis gestoßen war, gestern , nach einer langen durchzechten Nacht, in der Kneipe, die sich gegenüber der Tankstelle befindet, gesehen.

The man who lives next to me and whose wife won a prize last week was seen last night, after not coming to work for days, which had met with incomprehension among many colleagues, after a long night of drinking in the pub opposite the petrol station.

As you can easily see, the English sentence shows quite early what happens to the man. The German sentence, with the full verb at the end, leaves the listener or reader in the dark as to what will happen to the man.

Admittedly, this sentence is constructed, but take a look at legal texts, letters from the authorities, or listen to prosecutors bringing charges. You will find that my sentence seems quite simple to you afterwards.  For simultaneous interpreters, this means that they start translating without knowing exactly where they are going. This leads to the conclusion from the context to the end and to the incorporation of the English verb even before the German template is there.  This is how it happens that the translated text occasionally deviates, but of course the meaning must not be lost.  If the translation reads “contemplate” instead of “look”, this is quite legitimate, but one should not make “seriously hurt” into “jokingly networked”.

As you can see, every profession has its own characteristics, and even the second oldest profession in the world is no exception. But communication is the key skill of the 21st century in a globalized world. Be there and take every opportunity to train your own language skills, or rely on the ability of a language mediator.

I look forward to your order.