Mrs. Alison GAUNT M.A. (Oxon.)
(Former) Freelance Translator and MITI Rtd

(now retired - this page is maintained for information only)

CURRICULUM VITAE

To go to my home page, which has links to my glossaries,
click on a language:

University of Oxford, Somerville College (1963-1966): B.A. (Oxon.) Honours Modern Languages, German and French;
upper class II with distinction in German. M.A. (Oxon.) 1970.

Secondary education :

GCE "O" level (1959-1960) 11 subjects,
GCE "A" level (1962) French, German & Latin,
GCE "S" level (1962) French.

Other qualifications :

     Full member of ITI (Institute of Translation and Interpreting) from its inception in 1986 up to April 2022. Now a Retired Member.
  Qualified member compliant with ISO 17100:2015

Freelance translation for clients including the Council of Europe, German Bundestag, ILO and (through the Peer Group) for the OECD and World Customs Organization. Up to approx. 2008, work under contract for the EU institutions, directly and through the Peer Group (European Parliament, European Commission, European Translation Centre). Occasional work and special projects for other UK- and foreign-based clients in the public and private sectors, including MAFF, Central Office of Information. Retained since 1998 by the Austrian Transport Ministry to translate specialist Web pages during two Austrian presidencies of the EU.

1972-1981 :

Staff translator, subsequently reviser, in the English translation service of the European Commission, Luxembourg. Subject areas covered included occupational safety and health, coal and steel, statistics, investments. I specialised in medical, environmental and nuclear texts.

Married in 1980 and returned to England in 1981 to start a family.

1969-1971 :

Staff translator with Services Administratifs IOS France S.A., Ferney-Voltaire, France. Legal texts (company bylaws, contracts, share prospectuses) plus general business texts and some technical material.

1966-1969 :

Research assistant and information officer at the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House), London. Compilation and administration of press archives in the major European languages on foreign affairs. Retrieval of information for researchers, journalists and public.
 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

The expertise I built up over 50 years as a translator focused on medicine, chemistry, biology and the environmental sciences, and these were my preferred areas.

Having worked for the European Union for 10 years full-time and another 40 years as a freelance, I also had a sound knowledge of EU affairs and useful contacts there.

Other translation work I did (whilst working full-time 1969-81) included advertising texts for agencies in Geneva and Luxembourg, and business texts for banks in Luxembourg.

My rule of thumb was that I would tackle any subject provided I either knew something about it already or was able to research it in English in the time available, to be sure of doing a competent job. No-go areas for me were those of which I did not possess a basic understanding, e.g. electronics, advanced mathematics or physics!

******************************************

Changes last made on: 30 April 2022