Catch up on what’s been happening at nativaComm
Relaunched website online with a new design, all the latest information plus the professional touch nativaComm’s clients have come to admire
Welcome to the new nativaComm website! Relaunched at the beginning of January 2012, it’s full of facts about interpreting and translating plus news from nativaComm. There’s also a profile of Mandy Williams-Wendl, the passionate, professional translator and interpreter who’s made it her business for more than 15 years to provide communication services between English and German.
Lecturer post at Manchester University
In September 2011, Mandy joined the staff of Manchester University as a lecturer in German interpreting and translation on a temporary contract that runs until the end of May 2012. Mandy is providing maternity leave cover and travels back to the UK for two days every fortnight to teach simultaneous and consecutive interpreting and translation. Delighted about the new project, she explains, “I love passing on the tricks of the trade and some of my passion for this wonderfully varied profession to the new generation of translators and interpreters.” But this isn’t the first time Mandy has lectured at a university: she taught interpreting at Cologne University of Applied Sciences (Fachhochschule Köln) from 2004 to 2005 and from 2008 to 2009 as well.
nativaComm – relaunched and relocated!
Having spent over 15 years in Cologne, Mandy and nativaComm relocated to the Rhine-Erft District in September 2011. For those of you wondering where on Earth that is – it’s actually one of the region’s strongest business areas, located just outside of Cologne, to the west of the city. It comprises nine towns, one of which is Frechen, nativaComm’s new home. So it’s not very far at all from the Rhine, which means Mandy can still provide her clients in the Cologne/Bonn/Düsseldorf region with the service to which they’ve grown accustomed – or jump on a train or plane to travel to her clients and their events. And when it comes to written translation, the most important thing is a computer, which can be anywhere so it might as well be in Frechen!
Translation services for the German Pavilion at EXPO 2010 Shanghai
nativaComm’s largest and most interesting project in recent years was without doubt the translation work for the German Pavilion at EXPO 2010 in Shanghai. Having won the contract in a tender, nativaComm was the sole provider of German-to-English translations for Koelnmesse International, the organisers of the German Pavilion, from the first draft in 2008 to various presentations and all of the pavilion website to all of the documents given to the media, press releases, news footage, newsletters and the end-of-EXPO documentation in autumn 2010. The 6,000 m² pavilion in Shanghai, christened “balancity” to reflect the idea of a city in balance, showcased the Federal Republic of Germany and German-made ideas and innovations and was managed by Germany’s Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology. Balancity took visitors on a journey to explore the EXPO theme of a “better city, better life”, culminating in a thrilling show at the end of the tour. All in all, an exciting and creative project for everyone involved – including nativaComm.
Lifelong learning – of patents and power
Language is a living creature with very specific features depending on what it’s being used for. Some subjects are around constantly and have their very own “language”. If the words aren’t right, the translation won’t be either. That can cause problems. Patent terminology is a good example, which is why Mandy attended a patent translation course put on by the German Federal Association of Interpreters and Translators (“BDÜ”) in November 2010. Other subjects emerge from new trends and also bring their own language with them, as is the case with renewable energies. So Mandy attended another BDÜ course, this time focusing on renewable power, where she again added to her specialist vocabulary.