Translation from Dutch and French

Two criteria for excellence

Among the criteria for excellence translation, I would highlight two. First, the result must faithfully convey the intentions in the source text. But, just as importantly, it should not look or feel like a translation. (If you can tell, absent other information such as place names and so on, what language a text was translated from, I think it’s safe to say the translation could stand quite some improvement.)

I strive for excellence in every assignment I take on, whether that’s a government report, a book, an academic article, a speech, or a social-media post. In the years since I did my first book translation in 2008, I have translated a wide variety of material both from Dutch to English and from French to English.

Translation from Dutch to English

Over the years I have translated for businesses large and small, NGOs, Dutch government ministries, universities, book publishers, and individuals. I am sworn in this pair, having taken my oath at the District Court of The Hague in 2019.

Translation of government and NGO reports

I have done a good number of translations for various ministries and departments of the Dutch government, such as the following:

• Advisory Letter from the Advisory Council on International Afairs (Adviesraad Internationale Vraagstukken) to the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, Towards a new direction for the Netherlands in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, issued 23 October 2024
• Country Report of the Netherlands to the Holocaust Remembrance Alliance for the period from 2012 to 2019
• This report by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs evaluating the contribution the Netherlands made to NATO’s Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan
• The 2019 National Prevention Agreement: A Healthier Netherlands

Sworn translations

I have been a sworn translator since 2019. I regularly translate birth certificates, labour contracts, court decisions, certificates of good conduct, and other documents.

I charge the same per-word rate for sworn as for other translations.

Translation for business

I have done numerous translations over the years for ABN AMRO and ING banks, GasUnie, Marktlink, and Nationale Nederlanden, among others.

The materials I have translated include:

• human-resources policies and guides
• intranet and internet pages
• case studies
• job notices
• internal communications
• marketing brochures
• product warranties
• offers of services
• bidbooks
• press releases and other public-relations output
• property valuations
• social-media posts
• new and updated screens in ABN AMRO’s payment-request app Tikkie

I have also translated a rehabilitation protocol and brochures on hip replacement and on planning for operations for Annatommie Medical Centre, and an introductory brochure for Sint Maartenskliniek.

Legal translation

I regularly translate such materials as:

• terms and conditions
• leases
• divorce papers
• employment contracts
• business-to-business agreements
• consultancy agreements
• articles of association
• insurance policies
• property valuations
• court submissions and orders

See below for my work as a legal translator from French.

Translation of annual and sustainability reports

I have translated annual and sustainability reports for, among others:

• the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO)
• Royal Dutch Jaarbeurs
• Vrije Universiteit (VU) Amsterdam
• ABP, the pension fund for employees in the government and education sectors

I have also translated various reports and other materials for the Institute for Sustainable Process Technology.

Academic translation

I have translated articles on a range of academic topics. Translations include:

• ‘On Sylvia Plath’s Poem “Ariel”: Hermeneutics and the Utterly Other’ by René van der Haar, Radboud University
• Guidelines on control of research data generated at Radboud University Nijmegen and Radboudumc
• Paul Motian: Musical Memory by Stevko Busch, published on Gallery of Tones (2016)
• The Incompatibility of Phenomenological Data and Dominant Nosological Systems Like DSM-5: Binswanger’s Psychopathological Phenomenology by Albert-Jan van de Pol and Jan Derksen, both of the Department of Psychology, Radboud University
• Positive Energy in the City, inaugural address (diesrede) by Renée Heller, Professor of Urban Technology and of Energy and Innovation, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences

I have also translated lectures on topics such as sustainability, trends in the humanities, and the role of the moden university.

Among my NL > EN book translations are:

• Dangerous Drugs: the Self-Presentation of the Merchant-Poet Jan Six van Chandelier (1620–1695) by Ronny Spaans (Associate Professor in Nordic Literature at Nord University), Amsterdam University Press (2022)
• Political Science and Changing Politics, edited by Philip van Praag, Amsterdam University Press (2022)

For more details, see Books I have translated or copy-edited.

Translation of fiction

I have translated the following novel from Dutch:

• Robowok by Alex T. Harper (nom de plume), forthcoming from Ballast Books, 18 March 2025

The author wrote: “Ciarán has transformed my initial effort in Dutch into a really fine read in English. The text is replete with idiomatic expressions and turns of phrase that give it a really natural feel.” For more details, see Books I have translated or copy-edited.

Translation from French to English

In this pair, too, I have translated a broad range of materials: for commercial clients, university presses, academic journals, local governments, the Belgian Trade Commission, universities, book publishers, and individuals.

Translation for business

I have translated numerous articles for Wallonia and Brussels Magazine, copy for Chouffe Beer, press releases for Liege Airport, and web copy for companies in a variety of sectors, from coffee roasteries to security companies and law firms.

Legal translation

I am the translator of The Three Regional Human Rights Courts in Context: Justice That Could Not Be Taken for Granted (link to original), a major addition to the scholarship on human rights law by Laurence Burgorgue-Larsen (Professor at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, member of the Institut de Recherche en Droit International et Européen de la Sorbonne (IREDIES)). It will be published by Oxford University Press in April 2024. For more details, please see Books I have translated or copy-edited.

I am also the translator of the following journal articles:

• ‘Principles applying to procurement contracts that EU institutions enter into’ by Stéphane de La Rosa (Professor of Public Law, University Paris-Est Créteil, Jean Monnet Chair), Chapter 2 of Classification of public contracts in the context of national laws, published by Bruylant (2022)
• ‘Yet another look at the criticism of “government by judiciary”: Debunking the myth‘ by Wanda Mastor, Professor of Public Law at the University of Toulouse 1 Capitole, and member of the Research Institute in European, International and Comparative Law (IRDEIC), in Pouvoirs (July 2021)

 

In addition, I regularly translate such materials as terms and conditions, leases, employment and other business-to-business contracts, court decisions, and articles of association.

Academic and related translation

I have translated Spaces of Communication: Elements of Semio-Pragmatics by Roger Odin, Professor Emeritus of Communication at University of Paris 3, Amsterdam University Press (2021).

I have translated Brutalism in Belgium, 1950–1980, published in October 2024 by Prisme Editions. 

I am also the translator of numerous academic articles, including the following:

• ‘Rwanda: An Effective Development Model, Rising to the Challenge of Its Sustainability‘, written by Jules Porte and published by Agence française de développement (AFD), an agency of the French government
• ‘From one gap to another: Tailoring education to labour market needs’ by François Fecteau
• ‘Have the APB and Parcoursup platforms promoted equal opportunity? The evolution of standards and procedures for access to higher education in France’ by Leïla Frouillou, Clément Pin, and Agnès van Zanten, in L’Année sociologique (July 2020)
• ‘Feminism and Convivialism’ by Elena Pulcini, from the book Convivial Futures: Views from a Post-Growth Tomorrow, edited by Frank Adloff and Alain Caillé (De Gruyter, 2022)
• ‘Critical health: social inequalities and relations of domination in the field of health’ by Maud Gelly and Audrey Mariette, in  Actes de la recherche en sciences sociales (January 2021)
• Hard Times for Developing Countries: Africa’s Financing Needs in Question, published by AFD
• Ex-Post Evaluation of the Impacts of the Tramway Systems of Casablanca and Rabat-Salé – 2020, published by AFD
• Uganda: revising the growth model while preserving debt sustainability by Meghann Puloc’h, published by AFD
• Dependence, independence, interdependence: Rethinking independence by Bonaventure Mvé Ondo (Professor at Université Omar Bongo, Libreville, and Research Associate at Laboratoire des Afriques dans le monde, Sciences Po Bordeaux), in Afrique contemporaine, volume 271–272
• ‘Making abortion safer: a vital necessity’ by Valentins Becquet (Institut national d’études démographiques) et al, published by AFD
• The Internet Giants vis-à-vis Nation-States by Jean-François Soupizet, in Futuribles,  Septermber–October 2021
• ‘Angola: A Vital but Constrained Transformation of the Economic Model in the Run-up to the 2022 Elections?’ by Benoît Jonveaux, published by AFD