Working languages:
German to English
Danish to English
Swedish to English

Peter Woltemade
Ph.D. in German from UC Berkeley

Copenhagen, Kobenhavn, Denmark
Local time: 11:28 CEST (GMT+2)

Native in: English Native in English
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Account type Freelance translator and/or interpreter
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Affiliations This person is not affiliated with any business or Blue Board record at ProZ.com.
Services Translation, Interpreting, Editing/proofreading, Website localization, Transcription, Training
Expertise
Specializes in:
Poetry & LiteratureCinema, Film, TV, Drama
HistoryLinguistics

Rates
German to English - Rates: 0.40 - 0.70 DKK per word / 120 - 160 DKK per hour
Danish to English - Rates: 0.40 - 0.70 DKK per word / 120 - 160 DKK per hour
Swedish to English - Rates: 0.40 - 0.70 DKK per word / 120 - 160 DKK per hour
English to Danish - Rates: 0.40 - 0.70 DKK per word / 120 - 170 DKK per hour
English to German - Rates: 0.40 - 0.70 DKK per word / 120 - 160 DKK per hour

All accepted currencies Danish kroner (dkk)
Payment methods accepted Wire transfer, Check, Money order, PayPal, Skrill
Portfolio Sample translations submitted: 9
Translation education PhD - University of California at Berkeley
Experience Years of experience: 29. Registered at ProZ.com: Oct 2011.
ProZ.com Certified PRO certificate(s) N/A
Credentials N/A
Memberships Danish-English Network of Literary Translators, Emerging Literary Translators' Network in America, Emerging Translators' Network
Software Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, OmegaT, Anaphraseus, Wordfast
CV/Resume Danish (ODT)
Bio

Peter Sean Woltemade, Ph.D.

 

Academic degrees earned

 

Ph.D. in German literature, University of California at Berkeley, 2005

Master of Arts in German literature, University of California at Berkeley, 1999

Master of Arts in Scandinavian literature, University of California at Berkeley, 1998

Fil. mag. in Literature, Uppsala University, 1995

Bachelor of Arts in English, Ohio Wesleyan University, 1984

 

Relevant experiences

 

I am an American/German dual national and grew up in the United States in a bilingual household, visiting Germany frequently. Owing to this background, I am a native speaker of English with a very high level of fluency in written and spoken German.

As an adult I have lived in Germany for several years (1984-88, 1993, and 2003-04).

I have completed extensive coursework at the University of Freiburg (Breisgau) in the fields of medieval and modern German literature and Volkskunde. I have also lived in Uppsala, Sweden for several years during the periods 1988-93 and 1994-95. At Uppsala University, I completed coursework at the Department of Scandinavian Languages (including not only courses for non-Swedes but also courses for native speakers of Swedish, e.g. in Old Norse) and the Department of Literature.

Subsequently I completed a Master of Arts degree in Scandinavian literature and Master of Arts and Ph.D. degrees in German literature at the University of California at Berkeley. In the course of my studies at the University of California I completed a graduate-level course in translation with Professor Winfried Kudszus of the Department of German for which I translated part of Ernst Jünger's memoir Das Wäldchen 125 into English and received a grade of A+, the highest American grade.

I came to Berlin in 2003, when I was at an advanced stage in the writing of my dissertation, as a Fulbright Graduate Fellow; I was matriculated for an academic year at the Freie Universität and worked with Professor Ingrid Kasten there.

I was the recipient of a Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship from the U.S. Department of Education for study in Copenhagen, Denmark, during the 2004-2005 academic year. Since 2004 I have lived in Copenhagen.

While at the University of California I taught Swedish to undergraduates and German to undergraduates and graduate students and also co-taught an intensive summer German course which was enrolled in by individuals from the Berkeley area who were not necessarily degree-seeking students at the university.

I have also worked with one-on-one language tutoring in English in Germany and in Swedish in California.

During the period 2005-2011 I was employed teaching upper-secondary-level English to teenagers and adults at Danish gymnasia and adult education centers (details are in the resume that can be downloaded from this page).

I have been tested and approved for translation and other linguistic services by various major translation agencies, including Linguistic Systems, Inc., of Cambridge, Massachusetts (Swedish to English, German to English, and Danish to English), Lingo24 of Aberdeen, Scotland (Swedish to English), Lingtech of Copenhagen (Danish to English), and SDL (German-English machine translation post-editing).

I am a frequent participant in continuing professional development activities. I participated in the 2013 International Translation Day symposium at the British Library, the workshop in support of Danish-to-English literary translation at University College London on 4 November 2013 (for which I received financial support from the Danish Agency for Culture), and the three literary translation master classes at the offices of the London Review Bookshop in March 2014.

My translation of an excerpt from Karl-Heinz Ott's novel Endlich Stille appears in the November issue of The Brooklyn Rail.

 

 

 

Examples of my one-on-one language tutoring

 

I tutored Dr. Thomas Kaeding, a recipient of a Ph.D. in physics from the University of California at Berkeley, in Swedish.

I tutored Darlene Hobie, a San Francisco resident, in Swedish.

I tutored a Berkeley resident in German.

 

Examples of my translation work during the period 1995-2010

 

I translated from German to English a study analyzing the effects of various measures, such as roadway narrowing, intended to reduce driving speeds and increase safety in populated areas.

I translated Tarthang Tulku's book Skillful Means: Patterns for Success from English into Swedish for Dharma Publishing of Berkeley, California.

I translated DROPS knitting pattern magazines from Scandinavian languages into English for a retailer client in California.

I translated extensive tape-recorded interviews with welfare workers in Bremen, Germany and Malmö, Sweden for Christopher J. Jewell. These interviews laid the groundwork for his book Agents of the Welfare State: How Caseworkers Respond to Need in the United States, Germany, and Sweden (Palgrave Macmillan, 2007).

I translated the user interface of the program Project KickStart from English into Danish for Experience in Software.

I translated the promotional brochure for Brøndby Gymnasium, a private school in Brøndby, Denmark, from Danish into English for hard-copy and web use by the school.

 

Linguistic services clients and projects during the period 2011-2015

 

My agency clients during the period 2011-2013 have included Linguistic Systems, Inc.; Day Translations, Inc.; Transenter; Crimson Life Sciences; Educomm Communications; Right Translators; Alter Eco Translations; SEVA Translation Services; High Quality Translations; Alchemy Translations; EstEnter Translations; Globale-Kommunikation; Compass Languages; Transcription Global (now Language Insight); SDL; Lingo24; Baxter Downs Business Language Solutions; Wolfestone Translation; MeinSchreibservice.de; Ecrivus International; and Stealth Translations.

Projects during 2011 and 2012 have included

translation of a 2000-word technical (automotive) text from German to Danish;

proofreading and correction of a sales representation contract translated from German into English;

translation of a workplace survey from Danish to English (back translation) and subsequently commenting on the relationship between the Danish text and its English source text;

translation of audio interviews from German to English (optical field);

translation of newspaper articles from German to English;

monolingual transcription of German-language video advertisements for shoe-care products and shoe inserts;

translation of user interface menu text for smartphones from English to German and Danish;

translation of a secrecy agreement from German into English;

translation of a technology company's annual report from German into English;

proofreading a translation from English to Danish of assembly instructions for a weightlifting machine;

translation of an article on a new treatment for keratoconus from German to English (ophthalmology, 3695 words in source text);

translation of user interface menu text for a workout application for Mac iOS from English to Danish;

Truth transcription of audio files in Danish;

translation of the website of a vacation apartment in Berlin from German into Danish and Swedish;

translation of an extradition request from English into German;

translation of instructions for laboratory work in the field of semiconductors from German to English;

translation of a text on software architecture produced by a company in the packaging sector from German into English;

post-editing machine translation from German into English;

translation of bacon recipes from Danish into German;

translation of railway franchise details from German into English;

translation of a text on procedures to evaluate the functioning of thermal energy metering from Danish into English;

proofreading of a translation from German to English of materials promoting packaging solutions for the storage and retail display of various food products;

translation of the Swiss university diploma and university transcript of a veterinarian from German to English;

translation of a dealer contract for electricity meters from German into English;

translation of promotional materials for floor treatment products from Danish to English;

proofreading the translation of a contract for medical services from German into English;

translation of recipes from German into English;

translation of a marriage certificate from Swedish into English;

transcription and translation from German to English of audio files related to a safety investigation following an aircraft mishap;

proofreading a translation from German to English of promotional materials for a company engaged in pipeline construction;

translation of a divorce decree from German into English;

translation of documents related to the sale of a used mobile crane from German, Norwegian, and Dutch into English;

translation of forms for reporting various types of workplace mishaps from English into German;

translation of a letter from a lawyer regarding a restitution claim presented to the German Entschädigungsbehörde (Restitution Authority) from German into English;

translation of a legal document related to the collection of an unpaid business debt from English into German;

translation of text from a school transcript from the UAE from English into German;

translation of a German business school diploma from German to English;

translation of a cease-and-desist letter from an employees' organization from German into English;

transcription and translation into English of a Swedish television news report;

translation of terms for a custom dictionary of terms to be used in workplace (factory) incident reports from German into English;

proofreading a translation of a patent application for a wheelchair seat shell from German into English;

translation of the curriculum vitae of a robotics specialist from German into English;

proofreading of a translation of website commands for an E-Learning environment from English into Danish;

translation of a right-of-use agreement and a purchase contract for land and buildings from Swedish into English;

translation of text from a customer survey regarding a customer service department from Swedish into English;

translation of the annual reports of the chemicals company Permascand AB for 2009 and 2011 from Swedish into English;

editing a translation from Danish into English of notes detailing the palliative care given to a patient suffering from a brain tumor;

editing a translation from Danish into English of notes detailing the care given to a terminal lung cancer patient by the oncology department of a Danish hospital;

proofreading a translation from English into Danish of letters concerning a telephone customer satisfaction survey used by an automobile leasing company, and proofreading of the translation from English to Danish of the survey itself;

translation of a birth certificate from German to English;

a final linguistic inspection of translations from English into Danish, German, Norwegian, and Swedish of 20 sets of instructions for use for medical devices;

translation from German to English of technical documentation related to Citrix server farms;

translation from Danish to English of promotional materials detailing two Arctic cruises (two projects comprising over 4000 words each);

translation from English to Danish of reseller terms for printer supplies;

translation of message templates related to the repair of Samsung electronic devices from English into Danish and German;

translation of operating instructions for a laser cabin from German to English;

editing a translation of a letter from the Danish Data Protection concerning new Danish data privacy legislation from Danish to English;

translation of a patent application in the biochemical field from German to English;

translation of comments on a draft stock purchase agreement from Danish to English;

translation of a letter from the Swedish Central Ethical Review Board from Swedish into English;

translation of customer feedback to an automobile-leasing company from Danish to English;

proofreading of a translation from German to English of biochemical patent claims;

translation of American divorce and custody court papers from English into German;

translation of an employment contract with an accompanying secrecy agreement from German into English;

translation of terms and conditions for an online payment gateway from English to German;

translation of text in operating instructions for a laser for a rotary indexing table from German into English;

translation of beef jerky recipes from German to Danish;

translation of text in operating instructions for a marking machine for a hydraulic accumulator from German to English;

translation of a certificate from the Heinrich Heine University of Düsseldorf documenting the awarding of the Magister degree;

translation of notes from an inventory inspection from Danish into English;

translation of text related to customer self-repair of Hewlett-Packard devices from English to Danish;

translation of sales restrictions applicable to printer parts from English to Danish;

translation of Swedish responses to a customer questionnaire used by a company that produces doors and door automation technology from Swedish to English and translation of Danish responses to this survey from Danish to English; and

translation of documents submitted to a German court of law in connection with a dispute related to a corporate takeover (27747 target words).

This year I edited a Ph.D. dissertation in English in the field of sociology written for Copenhagen Business School. This dissertation included three articles to be published in peer-reviewed journals; one of these articles has already been published, in Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies.

From February to May 2012 I translated a website for those who have bought or are interesting in buying home solar energy systems from German into Danish and Swedish on an ongoing basis.

In addition to the above projects, I have done "backediting" of translations of instruction manuals for medical devices and other documents related to such devices into Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, and German (backediting is the term used for a proprietary process used by Crimson Life Sciences that involves checking translations to determine whether they are accurate and free of syntactical and punctuation errors and whether anything has been added or omitted). To date I have carried out over eighty such backediting projects, the largest of which comprised over thirty thousand words. I have often worked with several target languages for a single project.

I have answered linguistic questions as a component of QA for translations of the medical-device-related texts mentioned in the last item above.

 

 

 

 

Keywords: german, danish, swedish, english, norwegian, macintosh, computers, arts, literature, patents


Profile last updated
Jan 6, 2015