Jill R. Sommer, M.A. German>(US) English Translation Cell: +1-330-421-0057 eFax: +1-847-556-0161 E-mail: gertoeng@jill-sommer.com Back-up e-mail: jill.sommer@gmail.com

SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS:

• Master of Arts in Translation from Kent State University, 1995
• Freelance translator and Internet researcher since 1996
• 6 years experience living in Germany (1995-2001) and 1 year experience living in Austria (1989-1990)
• Native language is U.S. English
• Over 20 years studying the German culture and language
• Areas of specialization: web site localization and web design, IT, Internet technologies, software documentation (user guides, software strings, help files), game localization, medical (medical reports, medical invoices, clinical drug trials), telecommunication, travel and tourism, entertainment (television and film), and business texts (including contracts)
• Experienced in HTML and Web design
• Fast, accurate reader; extensive proofreading experience
• Trained terminologist (under Sue Ellen Wright, Ph.D. at Kent State University, internship as terminologist with Translingua Übersetzungsdienst GmbH, Bonn, Germany)

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT:

2/97 - present: Freelance Translator/Proofreader
- Contract linguist for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Cleveland office
- Consistently produce quality work for many German- and US-based translation agencies and direct clients; some for many years now
- Areas of specialty include medicine, pharmaceuticals, genetic engineering, the Internet and computer science (software, HTML, etc.), travel and tourism, entertainment (television and film), and marketing and advertising texts
- See below for specific projects

8/03 - present: Adjunct Faculty Member
Institute for Applied Linguistics, Kent State University
- Currently preparing to teach MCLS 50095 (Documents in Multilingual Contexts) in the fall and MCLS 60011 (Terminology and Computer Applications) in the spring
- Past courses included MCLS 60011 (Terminology and Computer Applications), GER 31231 (Translation Practice: German) for undergraduates and GER 61010 (The Practice of German Translation) for graduate students (helped students apply linguistic and communication science concepts to German documents in a workshop setting)

2/97 - 1/03: Internet Researcher
Online Information Services, Bonn, Germany
- Researched specific topics online and followed discussions in newsgroups for a large German multinational that specializes in pharmaceuticals, genetic engineering and pesticides7
- Analyzed the trends and created a summary, which was sent via e-mail to various high-ranking employees, including the Board of Directors
- Developed and maintained a password-protected web site
- Published the results in the form of a monthly paper-based report and later daily on the web site
- Fully responsible for the entire content and worked with very little supervision
- Supervised co-worker from May 2000 to March 2001

2/96 - present: Freelance Web Designer
Some of my Websites clients have included the Northeast Ohio Translators Association, the ATA School Outreach pages (click on More under School Outreach), Kent State University's AuD program, the American Protestant Church in Bonn, the Übersetzer- und DolmetscherForum in Bonn and Online Information Services.

10/96 - 2/97: Product Manager
Woobo Electronics Europe/EKJ GmbH; Bonn, Germany
Duties included processing orders for the CyberBoy 3D shutter glasses; customer relations; and translation of letters, documents and advertising materials.

4/96 - 10/96: Translator, Proofreader, HTML Programmer
tops.net online publishing services GmbH, Bonn, Germany
Duties included translation, proofing, and testing of Web sites.

1/96-10/96: Freelance Proofreader/Software Tester
Translingua Gesellschaft für Softwarelokalisierung und Dokumentation mbH, Bonn, Germany
Duties included proofreading and testing of software and databases

12/95-10/96: Freelance Translator/Terminologist
Translingua Übersetzungsdienst GmbH, Bonn, Germany
Translated and proofread a variety of texts in various subject areas. Compared existing translations to create multilingual glossaries (including languages that were not my working languages)

7/95-12/95: Internship, Terminologist
Translingua Übersetzungsdienst GmbH, Bonn, Germany
Completed a 6-month internship as a terminologist at Translingua Übersetzungsdienst

8/93-5/95: Graduate Assistant
Kent State University
Supervised the graduate computer lab and answered questions regarding the equipment and word processing software. Performed various duties as a research assistant for several professors.

2/94-8/94: Internship
Brian Gingerich (freelance translator)
Completed a voluntary internship with a local freelance translator and helped keyboard manuscript, maintain the electronic glossaries, translate and copyedit during the translation of "Wirtschaftsinformatik. Referenzmodelle fur industrielle Geschäftsprozesse (Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1994).

EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT:

M.A. in German Translation
Kent State University, Institute for Applied Linguistics, May 1995

B.A. in German and Russian
Bowling Green State University, May 1992
Graduated Cum laude, double major in German and Russian, minor in Political Science, Academic Year Abroad at the University of Salzburg, Austria from 1989-1990

LANGUAGES:

• English (native speaker)
• German (fluent in all areas - including an excellent grasp of the German culture and mindset)
• Russian (basic knowledge)

CURRENT HARDWARE:

• Dell Dimension DIM4700 Intel Pentium®4 processor, 2.79 GHz, 504 MB RAM with Microsoft® Office XP Small Business
• Dell Inspirion mobile Pentium®4 processor,1.7GHz-M,15.0 SXGA+ with Microsoft® Office XP Small Business, 24x CD-RW/DVD combo drive, 56K modem, (laptop)
• Intel Pentium II MMX computer, 96 MB RAM with MS Office 2000 products, Windows 98, PlexWriter internal CD writer (backup computer)
• HP psc 1315 all-in-one (printer, scanner, copier)
• Broadband cable modem Internet connection (with 56K modem as backup)

TRANSLATION-RELEVANT SOFTWARE/COMPUTER SKILLS:

• Protected by Adelphia Freedom suite (anti-virus, firewall, anti-spyware, privacy manager and pop-up blocker) as well as Microsoft AntiSpyware, AdAware and SpyBot Search and Destroy (all programs automatically updated daily)
• Extensive collection of CD-ROM and paper-based reference material
• PractiCount
• TextCount für Windows
• Adobe Acrobat
• Adobe Acrobat Reader
• TRADOS Translator's Workbench Freelance Edition 6.5
• MultiTerm iX (terminology program)
• eFax Messenger Plus
• Time Stamp
• File compression software
• Skilled at online research as well as HTML programming with programs such as HoTMetaL 2.0-3.0, HomeSite and FrontPage; Eudora, Outlook and Outlook Express (mail programs); Netscape and MS Internet Explorer (Web browsers)

MAJOR JOBS

• Localization of dialog and packaging for "Secret Files: Tunguska" (computer game)
• Quality management handbook for a fasteners manufacturer (28 pages including appendices) and follow-up job of 50 individual QVA files (procedural directives), each between 2-4 pages (3 week turnaround)
• "Quick Gifts" - arts & crafts book to be published for the British market in December 2004
• "Italian Cuisine" - cookbook to be published for the British market in October 2004
• Country reports on the political and economic transformations in Jamaica, Venezuela, Serbia-Montenegro, and the Czech Republic
• Review of German documents for a Cleveland-based law firm in a class action suit against Sulzer Medica AG, which resulted in a multi-million dollar award settlement
• Documentation for a phase III clinical drug trial for Biopure
• Numerous texts on doping (including the German Track and Field Association's Anti-Doping Code) for the Deutscher Sportsbund
• Official translator of medical and OP reports and bills for the personnel and their dependents at the Health Unit at the American Embassy in Bonn, Germany from 2/1997 until its move to Berlin in June 2002
• "Patient management in emergency room services and the influence of multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT)"
• Airplane maintenance log for CICS International
• 21-page internal FTP server documentation for taschen GmbH (one day turnaround)
• SQS-Test software handbook (60,000 words total, of which I translated 27,000 and edited 33,000 - one month turnaround)
• User documentation for transflow GmbH's logistics software
• 100+ page IT, workflow, and logistics glossary for transflow GmbH
• The Kurverwaltung Bad Neuenahr web site (see http://www.kurverwaltung-bad-neuenahr.de/eng/)
• Art exhibit programs and press releases for several Düsseldorf-based media and net art exhibits including "Kontrollfelder – Programmieren als künstlerische Praxis," "No one ever dies there, no one has a head," "MonteVideo," and "Say Hello to Peace and Tranquility"
• Numerous IT press releases for element 5 AG
• Television show suggestions for Endemol Entertainment Productions GmbH
• Countless press releases over six years on InConcert, jordanize!, AIS Angewandte Informations-Systeme, the DMS Expo and AIIM International for the Lübeck-based public relations firm, Good News!
• Qualitative survey and market evaluation of 40 systems houses comparing printers such as HP, Lexmark, Kyocera, Canon, and Oki for Epson Deutschland
• 20 Jahre "Blauer Engel": Das deutsche Umweltzeichen (20 Years of the "Blue Angel": The German Environmental Label (published as a brochure in Germany)

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS, ACTIVITIES AND HONORS:

• Active Member of the American Translator Association, 2001-present
• Member of the Northern Ohio Translators Association, 1994-1995, 2001-present (President since September 2002)
• Volunteer translator, German News (international German news service that is read all over the world by German and English-speaking subscribers via e-mail), 1996-present
• Member of the Bonner Übersetzer- und DolmetscherForum, Bonn, Germany, 1997-present

PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS:

• "Getting Started as a Freelance Translator" preconference seminar with Corinne McKay, 48th Annual ATA conference in San Francisco
• "Selling yourself short? Counting Tools and Word Count Standards" presentation with Marita Marcano, and Clove Lynch, 48th Annual ATA conference in San Francisco
• "First Time Attendees" presentation with Amanda Ennis, 47th Annual ATA conference in New Orleans and 48th Annual ATA Conference in San Francisco
• Organized the ATA Medical Division conference in Cleveland, Ohio, May 2007
• "What's in a Word?," co-written with Marita Marcano, ATA Chronicle, August 2006
• "Searching and Researching on the Internet," streaming video presentation at the University of Florida in Gainesville, March 2005
• "Orientation for First-time Conference Attendees" presentation with John Shaklee at the 46th Annual Conference in Seattle, Washington, November 2005
• "Searching and Researching on the Internet," Presentation with Anne Chémali at the 46th Annual ATA Conference in Seattle, Washington, November 2005
• "A Little Paranoia Can Go A Long Way," ATA Chronicle, May 2005
• "Internet Privacy for the Small or Home Office Environment," republished in the ATA Chronicle, March 2005
• "Internet Privacy for the Small or Home Office Environment," Presentation with Roland Grefer at the 45th Annual ATA Conference in Toronto, Canada, October 2004
• "Web Design Made Simple for Language Professionals," Presentation at the 45th Annual ATA Conference in Toronto, Canada, October 2004
• "Translating and Interpreting for the Federal Government," ATA Chronicle, July 2004
• "Web Design Made Simple for Language Professionals," republished in the ATA Chronicle, July 2004
• "Getting Started in the Industry," Presentation for Kent State University's graduate students, April 2004 (PowerPoint presentation available upon request)
• 2-day professional seminar on Trados translation tools (Workbench, TagEditor, WinAlign, MultiTerm) for freelance translators at Kent State University, January 2004 and January 2005
• "The Etiquette of E-Mail," NOTA BENE, January 2004
• "Web Design Made Simple," NOTA BENE, March/April 2003
• "Web Design Made Simple for Language Professionals," Presentation with Anne Chemali at the 44th Annual ATA Conference and published in the Conference Proceedings, November 2003

References
Download my résumé in PDF format

© Jill R. Sommer, July 2000. All Rights Reserved.
Last modified: October 2007