Brief Introduction of Myself as a Translator
I offer myself as a translator from Chinese or Latin into English
Chinese
You will see from my CV that I have a degree in Chinese from Cambridge University.
I have been working as a translator for over 5 years.
I undertake written translation from Chinese into English and expert proofreading of Chinese-English versions by other translators.
My translation work has included legal contracts and confidentiality agreements educational websites display boards for special exhibitions (mainly natural history) product instructions for use business correspondence an autobiographical memoir contributions to a popular book on Chinese wine article and dissertation abstracts
My deep proof-reading work has taken me outside my normal comfort zone into areas like medical, pharmaceutical and botanical research. For very technical material sometimes the only practical option is to engage a Chinese specialist familiar with the field to make a first attempt at the translation, and then hand it to an English native speaker to complete the conversion into clear and acceptable English. I have done this challenging work successfully, referring back to the Chinese original throughout and ensuring that the finished version is both expert and idiomatic.
My written English is of an extremely high standard. I know how important it is to write in the appropriate style as well as correctly, and I am confident of my ability to do this. I started as a student and teacher of classical languages. In this role I was a translator long before I started translating professionally.
My Chinese reading is very competent by any standards except those of native Chinese. My First Class degree at Cambridge was gained largely on the basis of my translation of Chinese texts (my oral Chinese being comparatively weak), and I have read a lot more Chinese since then. I have a special interest in pre-modern Chinese, and this means that I can generally handle classical quotations and allusions.
A very small amount of my translation has been from Chinese into botanical Latin, and I would be willing to undertake more of this work if it were available. [I have also done some Latin-English translation of degree certificates to assist in the preparation of Chinese versions.] Latin
I started learning Latin at the age of 8 in 1959, in a period when there was plenty of curriculum time for classical languages. I started Ancient Greek 3 years later. You will see from my CV below that the Greek and Latin classics became my main focus of study at secondary and university level, that I was awarded a First Class degree at Oxford and then a postgraduate degree, and that I was a teacher of Latin and Greek for 20 years.
In 1996 I began serious study of Chinese, and since then Chinese has been my chief academic interest. I work primarily as a Chinese translator. However my Latin stays with me, and I can undertake Latin translation work with complete confidence. CURRICULUM VITAE
NAME: Mark Bernard MacDermot
DATE OF BIRTH: 3/5/1951 AGE: 63 MARITAL STATUS: single
NATIONALITY: British PLACE OF BIRTH: Berne, Switzerland
RELIGION: Roman Catholic
Current Address 2. Henry’s Yard, Berwick St James, Wiltshire, UK SP3 4TS e-mail [email protected] telephone 0044 1722 790164 mobile (UK only) 0044 7972854889
Education
1959 - 1964 Penryn School, Winterfold House
1964 - 1968 Downside School, Stratton-on-the-Fosse
A-levels: Latin A1 Greek A1 Ancient History A
1969 - 1973 Balliol College, Oxford
Honour Moderations (1971) First Class (Greek and Latin Literature)
Final School of Literae Humaniores (1973) First Class (chosen options: Ancient History and Philosophy)
1974 - 1976 Balliol College, Oxford
Awarded Degree of Bachelor of Philosophy (1976) (subject: Later Roman Empire) note: this postgraduate degree was later redefined as a master’s degree, and so ‘master’s’ is the status of my highest degree
1997 - 2000 Wolfson College, Cambridge
Oriental Studies (Chinese) Tripos Pt I (1998) First Class Pt II (2000) First Class 2000 Embassy CES Cambridge Cambridge/RSA CELTA (Pass)
University Prizes
1970 Second Craven Scholarship
1998 Mau-Sang Ng Prize 2000 Robert Somers Memorial Prize
Employment
1976 - 1996 Teacher of Latin, Greek, Ancient History and Classical Civilization at Stonyhurst College, Lancashire
(1981 - 1989) Head of Classics (1986 - 1994) Director of Studies
1996 - 1997 Foreign Expert at Institute for the History of Ancient Civilizations, North-East Normal University, Changchun, Jilin Province, PRC (teacher of Latin, lecturer in Greek and Roman History)
2001 to 2003 Foreign Lecturer (teacher of EFL) at Informatics (Shanghai) 2004 Feb to June Teacher of English at Qi Yi Senior High School in Shaanxi Bei Lu, Shanghai From 2004 Sep Freelance English teacher and translator in Shanghai 2012 December Returned to UK to focus on translation work