The helpful translator
Testimonials
What my clients say about me
"Jane Davis is a highly professional translator and devotes a great deal of time to making sure that the voice of the author is transferred during the translation process. She carefully considers how to best translate every word and phrase to best convey the text’s original intention. It’s easy to talk to Jane throughout the entire translation process and she’s as pleasant as she is thorough, which I very much appreciated. I thoroughly recommend Jane Davis as a translator."
Lena Skogholm, Teacher of Humanfulness
"Jane has translated a series of technical monographs for me. This is very problematic work, as it's often necessary to define new concepts, and Jane has done an admirable job."
Béat Arnold, archaeologist. Author of "Le tour du monde en 80 pirogues"
"'I donnt reely sink I ned a transalators butt Jane wass reely god.'
But seriously – for me as an author it has been a joy working with Jane to make my books in English feel the same as the Swedish originals. She is not only super professional but also a considerate person who really wants to get it right. I can highly recommend her!"
Jan Gunnarsson, Hostmanship
"Having our texts translated into English was a key factor in our growth strategy. Jane perfectly grasped the challenges of texts as specific as guided meditation sessions. Her flexibility also enabled us to tailor our content strategy to counter technical and product-related difficulties."
Benjamin Blasco, Petit Bambou meditation app
Specialisations
What's your text about?
Archaeology & museums
Context is king!
In both archaeology and translation, context is everything. And I understand how important it is to preserve that context so your research can speak clearly to the reader.
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Perhaps you need a sober, factual excavation report? Or on the contrary, you're looking for lively, instructive exhibition labels?
Self-help
Making the world a better place
You want to transmit your knowledge to your clients or readers. I want to help you do that as fluently and effectively as possible.
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Whatever the techniques you're trying to explain, whether personal development or meditation, it's all about connecting with your audience.
Other subjects
Everyday words
But what if you aren't an archaeologist or a self-help guru? Perhaps you need to translate a QA procedure or a job advert?
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Well, I believe that a really good translator should be able to deal with any kind of everyday text. Because if I can't understand it, what chance does your audience have?
Dotting the Is and crossing the Ts.
Proofreading
When you want your text reviewed by another pair of eyes, contact me. You might not notice that you've used a mixture of curly quotes and straight ones, but I will.
Copywriting
What can I cook up for you?
Words are like ingredients. Put them together in the right way and you create a delicious feast. Combine them in the wrong proportions, or choose the wrong cooking method and you're left with a tasteless mess.
When it comes to words I'm a cordon bleu chef.
Translation
Helping you talk their language
When you've spent a long time getting your text exactly right in your language, you need a translator who'll get it exactly right in English too. That's where I come in.
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I translate from Swedish and French to clear, natural English.
Sculpting the text you need
Editing
Sometimes your text needs a more thorough review than simple proofreading can provide. Perhaps English isn't your first language or your text just doesn't seem to "work".
Nice to meet you!
Helping you talk their language
I'm Jane Davis, the helpful translator. (And I'm also pretty handy to have around if you need a proofreader, editor or copywriter too!)
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I was born on the Isle of Man, where historically the Celtic and Norse worlds met, and I've always been fascinated by language; both my own first language of English and others. And at the age of 12, my German teacher told me I had "Sprachgefühl": a feeling for languages.
But my academic career took a different direction and I went on to study archaeology at degree and postgraduate level, with the intention of working in museums. However, the recession of the 1990s led to me then working in the IT industry for several years.
In 2003 I moved to central France, where I quickly became fluent in French and discovered another talent, this time for selling houses. A few years later I moved to Sweden, and in 2009 I realised that my seemingly erratic career path had in fact been leading up to my dream job – as a professional freelance translator.
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I also write fiction, and occasionally blog at www.janeishly.com
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My attitude is simple: if we all helped other people and made their lives easier, the world would be a much better place for all of us.
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I am proud to be a member of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting.
What can I do for you?
