mission

HERE TO THE RESCUE

Are you fed up with bad, inaccurate translations? Do you need quality checks with an emphasis on quality? You came to the right place.

Translation is an art, and not everyone is an artist. Scroll down and discover what I can do for you.

Get to know me

About me

From a very young age, I wanted to become a translator and interpreter. Also, a lawyer, a handsome flight attendant, a nurse, a writer, ... a lot of things. Having that many interests, it would take ages to find out what I really wanted in life.

In kindergarten, I received an award and a pack of Play-Doh. For coloring so neatly within the lines. Overjoyed, I shared the fun with my classmates after school. But now I rather color outside the lines.

I was good with words, especially on paper. As a shy child, and probably because of that, I was the first in elementary school to be able to read words and phrases. It fascinated me how merging simple characters of the alphabet opened a new world of possibilities. While other children went outside to play, I spent most of my free time reading and writing poems.

A few years later, my essays were recited by the teacher, as a paragon for the classmates. Soon I started writing for some lucky ones. Just for fun (no internet yet, so there wasn't much else going on), a pack of cigarettes or a few beers (something was going on), benevolent as I was.

One time during a class excursion, the Dutch teacher confided to me that he knew I was the one who had written a certain essay, even though my name was not under it. It could as well have been because the paper clearly expressed my writing style. My friend got a good grade, but that incident marked the end of my lucrative barter days.

Born and raised in Flanders, in the heart of Belgium, Dutch was my mother tongue. Around the age of seven, I learned to speak a second language, English, long before I was taught other languages at school.

Dad was an avid Anglophile. Several times I could join him on a trip to England. He was always on a bargain hunt for antiques and curiosities. I loved the charming ladies in their small but crammed antique shops, they called me "darling" and "sweetheart" and made my little heart melt, while serving us a warm cup of tea with milk.

The first English phrase my dad taught me was: "Two bottles of milk, please". He put some money in my hands and sent me to a British convenience store on my own. That went well, a lot better than that time when he had me ask for a few slices of bread at the bakery!

Around the age of twelve, after thirteen years of marriage, my parents separated. Shortly after, Mom introduced me and my sisters to the new man in the house, he was from the Netherlands. Both varieties of Dutch became part of everyday life since that day. Flemish, Dutch and something in between, that's what you get when a Dutchman tries to speak Flemish.

When the time came to choose a second language at school, English was unsurprisingly my first choice. Although not the obvious one in bilingual Belgium.

The English teacher gave me extra assignments all the time because I was ahead of the rest. Reading English books, summarizing them, answering questions about characters and narrative, kept me interested and prevented me from dozing off.

Around the age of fourteen (the terrible teenage years) I followed Modern Humanities, with orientation Modern Languages. French became the compulsory second language. I wasn't crazy about French and French wasn't crazy about me. The French teacher clearly showed me that. She was the reason I started skipping school. I abandoned my language education and experimented with the fine arts.

A year later, doubting myself with the idea that I wasn't good enough, I opted for a Social and Health Care course. Only because mom didn't let me become a hairdresser. I did mention I had many interests.

Making a career wasn't one of those interests in my early twenties. First children, my greatest wish, then the rest. Two wonderful sons came into being and I devoted all my time to them. In between, I worked in health care, as a single mom.

The internet came and opened new doors. Facebook was a real game changer for me. Literally. By playing online games, I quickly expanded my circle of friends and was once again able to think, talk and write English. I got to know one of those virtual friends better. After a four-year LAT relationship, and a lot of travelling between Belgium and Norway, we decided to tie the knot.

In a picturesque little chapel in Las Vegas, our marriage was officiated by Elvis, not the King, but close enough. Together with Miauwke, who is now fifteen, I moved to Norway to live with my Big-a Big-a Hunk o' Love. My now adult sons continued to live in Belgium. A few times a year we visit them, the family and friends. Other times they come to Norway for a week's holiday.

Finding a job in Norway was another pair of Blue Suede Shoes, so I decided to fine tune my linguistic skills and move on in a direction I had forgotten about. I would be a translator! I never became a flight attendant or lawyer, but I did become a healthcare professional, aromatherapist and Reiki master, even a holistic soap maker, but that's another story.

So here I am. At your service in your language, whether that is Dutch, English or Norwegian. Maybe we can sneak in a few words of French, pourquoi pas! Life is too short to always color within the lines.

At your service

annick@yourlanguagelink.com

Say what?

"hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia"

Fear of long words

No, I just like to keep it

clear and simple

PORTFOLIO

Click on the images

Transcripts

TRANSLATIONS

Have a look at

the Dutch site

Book reports (EN/NO) & ​translation to dutch

Audio

script

SUBTITLe Translation

*ENGLISH TO DUTCH

Not this

image

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TED Translations https://www.ted.com/profiles/41148046/translator

Annick aimee knops * sandervegen 64 * 2100 skarnes * norway *

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Org.nr. no 925 808 245