Academic Text Services

Sen in Zoutewoude, 2006
Zoutewoude, 2006

I am an experienced translator, working exclusively from Dutch to English for commercial purposes (although I have a reading knowledge of French and can cope with incidental citations and terminology in several other languages).

I have a BA with first class honours in English Literature from Otago University, New Zealand, and approximately two-thirds of a Bachelor of Theology from the same university. I also have a doctorandus degree (cum laude) in Islamic Studies (Masters Equivalent) from the University of Leiden. From 1990 to 1996 I worked as a Dutch to English translator and academic editor in Maastricht. Since then I have been working as a freelance translator in Den Haag and now in Leiden.

In Maastricht I was working mainly in various branches of economics and development studies, my main customers in Maastricht being the Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA) and the University of the United Nation's Institute for New Technologies (UNU/INTECH). Since moving to Den Haag and Leiden I have done major translation projects of database material for NUFFIC, several government reports, and some books relating to the history of the Netherlands. I have also worked in more technical fields such as specifications for electrical machinery and apparatus, plumbing, heating and other building systems, and the usual range of contracts.

A selected list of the books and booklets I have translated commercially (literary and academic translations are treated separately) is available here.
Books are only a small part of my work, but they are accessible to potential customers since both the Dutch and English editions are likely to be in Dutch public or university libraries. Almost all of these publications have involved working closely with the authors, and I am mentioned in the acknowledgements of most of the books and theses.

Rates

My standard rate (for 2007) is 11 cents per word, counted in the source document, for plain electronic text. Book-length translations attract a discount, urgent short translations are charged at a higher rate. Contact: sen.sonja [at] Casema-DOT-NL