Translation

I translate:

• external communications media (annual reports, sustainable development and CSR reports; press releases and press kits; websites, presentations, videos and brochures; sponsorship activities)
• internal communications media (magazines and newsletters; intranets; newsflashes; graphic standards, etc.)

A French company wanting to translate its communications media into English faces a paradox. Despite its French identity, culture and thought-processes, it has to find an English voice.

The idea is not to translate word-for-word. French customers may be flattered if they can still perceive their original texts through the mists of translation, but the genuine English reader may struggle to understand.

As a translator, I often take a much more radical attitude. I first identify the core message, then find ways of re-creating it in a new medium. You may hear people talk about “adaptation” and “transcreation”. I just see it as my basic approach to translation, day in and day out.