I’m Siân Jones and I translate from German, Dutch and occasionally French into English. I did my degree in German and French at Manchester University followed by an MA in Translation and Interpreting at Bradford University in the early 1980s. I then worked in London for a few years as a translator with the Department of Trade and Industry before moving to rural Bedfordshire to work as a linguist for an agricultural engineering research institute, where I stayed for 20 years. In 2006 the institute closed down and I decided to start working as a freelance translator, focusing on agriculture, horticulture and the environment. During my time at the Institute I gained a very broad understanding of these industries through interactions with my scientific colleagues, and now I’m very lucky to have a large pool of ex-colleagues from those days who are happy to help me out when I need help with the technical side of things. Through these colleagues I have also developed a sideline in revising non-native English written by academics in those areas.

I’ve attended one ITI conference in the past (2011) where I was persuaded to help revive the Northern Home Counties RG and have been its coordinator ever since. We are a small, informal group but have developed a core of regular attendees at our events which usually feature food and drink in one form or another. Do get in touch if you live in the area, we’d love to meet you. At a recent event I discovered that several of our members are coming to the conference so I’m looking forward to seeing them there, and to attending my first ever Tweet-Up (although I’ve never sent a tweet in my life!). I’ve signed up for the workshops and both days of the conference and see the conference as an opportunity to meet like-minded people who understand the translation world with all its highs and lows – a fantastic antidote to the solitude of freelance life.

In my free time, I can be found Nordic walking in the Bedfordshire countryside or challenging myself a bit more with mountaineering holidays in the hillier parts of Britain and Europe. I also play tennis (badly but enthusiastically!) and am a clarinetist with a local concert band.