Welcome to Christine’s blog on translation and languages!
About me:
I work as a freelance translator and terminologist in Luxembourg. I translate from German, Spanish and English into French and Luxembourgish and specialize in sworn, legal and business translations. I studied translation and terminology at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, and law at the University of Paris, France. I am also a sworn translator before the Superior Court of Justice of Luxembourg.
My professional website is www.christineschmit.com.
Apart from languages, I also have a passion for travel and I maintain a trilingual travel blog, Polyglot Travel, in English, French and Spanish.
My languages
I have always been a language geek and my goal is to become fluent in at least 10 languages, or more if I can, and dip into as many as possible. I confess that I like collecting language diplomas.
Luxembourgish: native language. The first language I have learned and the one I speak with my parents. I translate into Luxembourgish.
French: native language. Second language I have learned since childhood, together with German. French is the language I feel most at home in, the one I write and think in most of the time. I translate into French, am a sworn translator for French, studied translation into French at the University of Geneva and French law at the University of Paris. I speak French, as well as Spanish, with my husband.
German: near-native level, fluent. Second language I have learned since childhood, together with French. I translate from German, am a sworn translator for German and studied translation from German into French at the University of Geneva. I have a German grand-mother and live about 20 minutes from the German border.
Spanish: fluent. I started learning Spanish at age 16 and hold the highest level of the Instituto Cervantes’s official Spanish diploma, Diploma de Español como Lengua Extranjera (DELE). I translate from Spanish, am a sworn translator for Spanish and studied translation from Spanish into French at the University of Geneva. I spent a semester as an exchange student at the University Pontificia Comillas in Madrid, Spain. My husband is Mexican and we speak a mixture of French and Spanish together.
English: fluent. I started learning English at age 15 and hold the Certificate of Proficiency in English from the University of Cambridge. I translate from English, am a sworn translator for English and studied translation from English into French at the University of Geneva. I spent 3 months in Ontario, Canada, as an exchange student and attended a summer school in English and translation at the University of East Anglia, in the UK.
Latin: 6 years in secondary school in Luxembourg. I used to have a high level, but since I never use Latin anymore, it has become quite rusty.
Italian: intermediate level. Learned entirely by self-study. I plan to pass the 3rd level of the Università per Stranieri di Perugia’s Italian exams (CELI) by 2010 (that’s the level required to study in an Italian university).
Russian: low intermediate level. I studied Russian for about 3 years with interruptions, first at the Centre culturel A.S. Pouchkine in Luxembourg, then at the Institut de Formation pour Adultes in Geneva, Switzerland. I passed the Moscow State University’s Test of Russian as a foreign language at the preliminary level. I plan to resume studying Russian later and obtain the first level TRKI certificate (level required to study in a Russian university). I would love to spend some time studying in Russia, either in Moscow or Saint-Petersburg.
Esperanto: I have recently started studying Esperanto on my own and would like to reach the level of being able to read books in Esperanto.
I have some passive knowledge of Dutch, Portuguese and Catalan and want to reach an advanced level in all three languages in the future. (For me, an advanced level is when I am able to read books in the language and understand the natives when they are talking among themselves without difficulty).
Update May 2009: I have just signed up for a six-month online course in Dutch!
About Polyglot Blog:
I started Polyglot Blog in October 2008 as a collection of Internet resources for translators, interpreters and language enthusiasts in general. My aim is to gather as much information as possible about translation, interpreting and languages such as translator training, translator and interpreter associations, publications for translators, software, online glossaries, resources for language learners and much more to come. I try to keep the information as up to date as possible, so check back often for new links and information!
I can be reached at christine [at] polyglot-blog.com. Feel free to let me know about broken links or suggest new websites or information to be included in the blog.
Thank you for visiting Polyglot Blog!
