A certified translation C.V., of sorts

- OLIVER RODWAY - CERTIFIED TRANSLATOR* Website: www.translationscertified.uk Email: oliver@translationscertified.uk My sister and I had an interesting childhood, being taken to India, China and Latin America by our backpacking father - although we laughed at his efforts to speak the local lingo. I began studying languages myself in middle-school and after a gap-year of odd jobs and hitchhiking around much of the world, I obtained a bachelor's degree from University College London. My love of foreign cultures saw me living abroad for the next 16 years (and counting), immersing myself in the lifestyles and languages of Latin America, Asia and Europe. With my newly acquired degree in hand, I made ends meet through work as an ice-cream man, labourer, fruit-picker, archaeological digger, human rights observer and barman before finally beginning my career as a translator while volunteering for a charity in Barcelona. With this experience behind me, I began carrying out paid translation work for various British agencies (members of the Association of Translation Companies), where I specialised in medical texts thanks to my scientific background. After years of combining this agency work with life in the sun (with interludes in London, Yorkshire and New York), I became rather disillusioned with the way the translation industry works. Along with an initially small group of other translators, I went on to form an organisation of freelancers that works directly with clients rather than relying on agencies acting as the usual middlemen. In this way we were able to offer our high-quality translations at reasonable rates, getting a fairer price for both ourselves and the clients. Thanks to this change, an increased hourly rate of pay allowed me to free up more time for activities other than paid work, which included a return to translating as a volunteer for good causes. Since our organisation concentrates on certified translations, which we carry out according to the UK government guidelines, we began providing these pro-bono for asylum seekers and others in need. Certified translations are of central importance to the asylum process, since most refugees currently come from non-English speaking countries and they need to provide documentary evidence to back up their claims. They also tend to be fairly expensive, and asylum-seekers often come from poor backgrounds and are generally forbidden from working. I mainly carry our volunteer translations from French and Spanish into English, but given the current state of world affairs, most of the requests we get are for translations from Arabic. I don’t read Arabic (unfortunately - maybe one day), so I tend to do most of my pro-bono work as a project manager and proofreader. I love translating but I try not to let it take up too much of my time, although I should be able to fit you in if you need a certified translation! I currently live in Andalusia with my wife and two huskies, and enjoy reading widely, blog-writing, dog-walking, cooking and craft ales. Thanks for reading and feel free to get in touch if you need me. oliver@translationscertified.uk

Update: June 2021 - Although I still work for various ATC members (see above), I am also now a Language Services Member of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting. This gives a lot of extra weight to my certified translations. I guarantee they will be accepted by all UK institutions, or your money back. (I've yet to have anyone take me up on this). See my certificate below! *Note. The concept of the "certified translator" does not strictly exist in the UK, since it is the translation itself that is certified, not the translator. However, I use this term as it what many clients search and ask for. Although UK translators cannot be "certified" themselves, I do have the necessary credentials to provide certified translations that will be accepted by all UK institutions.