Kirsten E. Male (translator)

(7)

Recently retired Norwegian social worker, psycho-/hypnotherapist and librarian seeking new challenges! Translates from English, Swedish and Danish to Norwegian.

Personally, my partner and I between us have 5 children and 8 grandchildren - all concidered "ours" even if all of our children were born before we met more than 30 years ago. Our children and grandchildren live spread all over Norway, and we ourselves live in Odnes in the rural inland of southern Norway about 30 km from the town of Gjøvik and 50 km from the former Winter Olympic town of Lillehammer (1994), in our villa which we share with our two dogs.

I've worked in a wide variety of fields concerning health and social work: Psychiatry (institutions, polyclinic, outpatient ward), addictions, social security. I'm a social worker since 1983, with continuing educations in fields like psychiatric social work, educational guidance, leadership, and 12 step therapy. In 2005 I finished a course of psychotherapy using hypnosis, and I run a litte hypnotherapy practice of my own.
When learning 12 step therapy I made most of the simultaneous translations for our American lecturers' lessons, and feedback was always very good..
I hold a University of Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English - a rather advanced course for students from not English speaking countries, taken in Kristiansand, Norway in 1984. 
I have lived in Sweden and have family there, and I speak the language flawlessly and fluently. I have translated occasional essays to Norwegian, and I'm quite often annoyed by bad translations, as many Norwegians concider Swedish an easy language to interpret as it has so many similarities with Norwegian - and thus they make some embarrassing and ridicolous mistakes.
The same goes for Danish. I'm not fluent in spoken Danish, and have not lived there, but have Danish friends and understand it well enough to pick up necessary, small nuances and local expressions and idioms. I lived for some years during the 1980's in Kristiansand in the utmost south of Norway, with many trips to our southern neighbouring country.
I have learnt German and French and am able to have simple coversations with eg. tourists, but not well enough for professional translations. However, this knowledge might occasionally be supportive.
I've always loved reading and literature, and am also educated as a librarian (1974) and I worked in that profession until I started learning social work.
So - as I've recently retired from my 12 years in the Norwegian NAV (The Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration), I would very much like to try translating from English, Swedish and Danish to Norwegian. I should be well qualified for translating professional literature in the health-, social-, and/or welfare fields, but I'd also like to try the challenge of interpreting fiction.

I have finished translating a number of very interesting, and very different books right now, and have two more going on - as well as two pending, so new translations will have to wait for a while. I'm glad and flattered that people want me to translate their books, and I love doing this - but I'm somewhat of a perfectionist and "grammar nazi", so I want to take the time I need to ensure that my work is correct and at the same time makes the author's voice come through. That is why I have to wait until winter/new year to take on more.
. .

Native language: Norwegian
Translates from: English, Danish, Swedish
Translates into: Norwegian


User links: Website Facebook




Return