Background | Subject Areas | My Approach | Related Skills | Rates & Availability | Computer Setup | References | Contact Me Background   Top|Next

• Native English speaker from Dublin, Ireland.
• BSc in Computer Science from the University of Manchester.
• Four years of professional experience at QTranslation (Thailand). (This office has recently become "EQHO Communications".) Initially hired on a part-time basis, I quickly moved to full-time. In later years I took on more project management responsibilities, and then localization engineering and staff training. However I continued to be responsible for designing test pieces and evaluating the results for other inhouse and freelance English editors; helping with the editing workload during busy periods or with particularly technical subjects, and advising inhouse translators. In 2003 I spent 5 months in QTranslation (Spain), doing English editing, advising on the IT setup, and writing self-training documentation for new employees.

Subject Areas   Top|Next

• All areas of IT hardware and software, user interfaces and documentation. Past projects include complex mathematical software and CRM/ERP systems (including finance, logistics and sales components).
• Engineering. Past projects include installation and user manuals for air-conditioning units, and a national report on alternative energy sources.
• Legal. Past projects include import/export agreements and memoranda of understanding.
• Marketing. Past projects include brochures for leisure park, museum etc, and "brochureware" websites.

My Approach   Top|Next
QTranslation (Thailand) mostly handles Asian languages, and therefore does not expect native English editors to be able to read the source languages. The task of editing is made more difficult by the fact that Asian translators are typically less qualified and less skilled than their European colleagues; garbled English with very basic grammatical errors is the norm. As such, I am used to searching carefully for possible alternative meanings, and where necessary, completely rewriting or reordering sentences.

This should not be taken to mean that I will make unnecessary changes to a text, purely to give the appearance of having worked hard. An edit should always improve the text in some way, be it clarification, consistency, a more natural phrasing, or terminology appropriate to the intended reader.

My familiarity with editing for the translation industry gives me several advantages over more general editors/proofreaders. Firstly, traditional copy editors are more accustomed to taking liberties with the text, such as condensing, altering the meaning or shifting around blocks of text; whereas traditional proofreaders are more accustomed to making only the tiniest corrections of spelling or basic grammatical errors. I understand the need, in most commercial translations, for keeping the meaning as close as possible to the source text, while making appropriate stylistic changes that are generally beyond the scope of "pure" proofreading.

Secondly, I am familiar with, and will look out for, the types of errors common to other languages. For example, translations from East Asian languages tend to confuse singular and plural nouns, and be inconsistent in the use of tenses. On the other hand, translations from Spanish and Italian tend to over-use the passive tense, and generate a long, formal style - both considered inappropriate writing style in modern English.

Related Skills   Top|Next
As an ex-project manager and localization engineer, I am highly experienced in dealing with a wide range of translation tools, DTP software, programming code and databases. If necessary I am able to edit in raw HTML, javascript, PHP, XML, etc. (The formatting features in this profile are hand-coded HTML.) I can also advise on text extraction/importing with many formats, and a variety of technical matters.


Rates & Availability   Top|Next
My standard rate for English editing is EUR 0.02 per word. For certain source languages where the translated wordcount does not change much, I can accept the wordcount of the source text, of the unedited English, or the target English text. (For other source languages, an estimated ratio may be agreed in advance.) In most situations, I will happily proof a post-DTP PDF or online content without extra charge.

For situations where a per-word rate is not appropriate or convenient, my standard hourly rate is EUR 15. This rate could be applied, for example, to reviewing online content; commenting without editing; checking terminology definitions, etc.

My typical working speed is 5-6,000 words per day. I can work at a higher daily capacity or at weekends if agreed in advance; otherwise, I may charge a higher rate, or may not be available. In general, the more you can tell me in advance about upcoming work, the better I am able to arrange my schedule to suit you.

In general I prefer to preview the document or a sample, before committing to a price and deadline. If a translated version is not possible, the source text is better than nothing.

My standard terms are 30 days from delivery. I am familiar with the difficulties faced by freelance translators, and can be flexible with regard to this. My minimum charge is EUR 15 - small amounts can be held until a sufficient amount is due, to reduce bank transfer charges. I expect to shortly have a European bank account, and am also looking at the possibility of receiving payments by Paypal or other credit card arrangements.

Computer Setup   Top|Next

• High-speed ADSL internet connection; always on.
  
• Multiple high-capacity email boxes, both downloading to Outlook and webmail.
  
• My own private FTP server.
  
• Yahoo + MSN instant messenger.
  
• Recent PC (1.7GHz/384Mb/40Gb) running XP Pro SP1
  
• Software includes: Office XP, IE 6.0, Firefox 1.0, Dreamweaver MX, Flash MX, text editors, screenshotting software, most Adobe applications including Framemaker 7, Acrobat 6.0 (full version - ideal for reviewing final proofs).
  
• Translation tools including Trados 5.0, SDLX 2004 Lite (considering upgrades soon), Frankenstein, CatsCradle.
  
• Weekly updated security measures including anti-virus (AVG), firewall (Kerio), spyware (Spybot S&D).

References   Top|Next
Ms. Suleeporn Boondao (Linguistic Resources Manager)
EQHO Communications Ltd (formerly QTranslation (Thailand))
suleeporn.boondao AT eqho.com
(English/Thai)

Ms. Gabriela Bravo (Project Manager)
QTranslation (Spain)
gabriela AT qtranslation.es
(Spanish/English)

Contact Me   Top
[Remember, Thailand is GMT+7. I am typically available at my PC from 04:00 to 14:00 GMT]
Primary Email: cormac AT rubberbucket.com (messages up to 50Mb, storage unlimited)
Alternative Email #1: cormac.bracken AT gmail.com (messages up to 10Mb, storage 1000Mb)
Yahoo IM: qt_cormac
MSN IM: cormac.bracken AT gmail.com
FTP: ftp.rubberbucket.com [please contact me for a private login and password]
Mobile Phone: +66 1 683 3120
Home Phone: +66 2 637 7140 [ask in English for "room 1"]
Fax: If necessary I can receive faxes by prior arrangement [not suitable for confidential documents].
Postal Address: 140/1 Sathorn House, North Sathorn Road, Silom, Bangrak, Bangkok 10500, Thailand.
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