Translate Better 2018 is a master writing workshop for experienced German>English translators. Set in the secluded sanctuary of Landgut Stober outside Berlin, the two-day event is aimed at honing your target-language skills. In hands-on, interactive sessions, you’ll discover new tools for your translation toolbox and learn tips and tricks for fine-tuning your translations.

A group of talented translator instructors specializing in a variety of fields will lead several 90-minute sessions each day – all with the same goal in mind: helping you become better translators. The program will also be peppered with educational presentations and ample time for networking.

Translate Better 2018 is divided into two tracks: one for native English speakers and one for native German speakers. Because the workshop is intended to help you sharpen your native language skills, registration is only available for the track in your native language. Both tracks offer the same number of spaces, though space will be limited to ensure a workshop environment.

Translate Better 2018 takes place May 29-31, 2018 at Landgut Stober on Groß Behnitzer See, about 20 kilometers outside Berlin. The peaceful atmosphere offers attendees a unique opportunity to cloister themselves far afield from the hustle and bustle of the daily grind for two full days of creative, intense, and inspiring learning.

As Landgut hosts Tanja and Michael Stober say, “it’s truly a magical place.” So be sure to pack your walking or running shoes in order to enjoy mother nature at her finest – mornings, evenings, or in between sessions.

The registration fee includes two nights lodging in Landgut Stober’s organically certified hotel (breakfast included) as well as dinner on May 29 and 30, and lunch on May 30 and 31, not to mention plenty of coffee breaks in between.

Native English speakers can register for the English track here: http://www.bdue-fachverlag.de/detail_seminar/3679

Native German speakers can register for the German track here: http://www.bdue-fachverlag.de/detail_seminar/3678

Please plan to arrive before 7:00 pm on May 29, 2018 in order to join us for the welcome dinner and reception.

About the English instructors

Matt Baird is an ATA-Certified German-to-English translator, editor and copywriter specializing in marketing and corporate communications. Known as the bolder translator, Matt works exclusively on content marketing and other for-publication material, delivering what he likes to call “bold, fresh copy” to his clients. He serves as a writer and speaker on the ATA PR Committee, which aims to spread the word about the importance of hiring professional translators and interpreters. His articles include Don’t get lost in translation , To translate or not to translate, and Customs clearance for your content marketing, which have been published in multiple print and online media and trade publications. Matt has also been Editor-in-Chief of interaktiv – the biannual newsletter of ATA’s German Language Division – since 2010.

Matt has a BA in German Studies and International Affairs from the University of Colorado, located in his own personal paradise: The People’s Republic of Boulder. After a stint at a Washington D.C. think tank and grad school at Georgetown University, Matt escaped the swamp and fled back to colorful Colorado, where he traded his suit for some sweatpants and launched a successful freelance translation business. Now based in Germany near the banks of the Rhine River, Matt is at his best crafting copy in his home office but happiest playing with his wife and two kids in the great outdoors.

Karen Leube is an American translator, editor and educator based in Aachen, Germany. She studied French and German in the United States and Germany and taught translation at the universities of Heidelberg and Mainz at Germersheim. She worked for various company language services departments as an in-house staff member and independent contractor and has run a freelance translation business for over 25 years. Karen also designs and runs continuing professional development courses. She has facilitated numerous workshops on revising and editing texts and translations for the German professional association BDÜ and for Baköv, the German Government’s continuing education agency, since 2009.

Following her advice to students to specialize in an area in which they are inherently interested and in which they have close contacts to specialists in the field, Karen designed several courses on translating biomedical technology texts while still on the faculty of the University of Heidelberg. Her fruitless attempts to find high-level, face-to-face continuing education courses for medical translators led her to develop two highly successful eight-part medical translation workshops held with her anatomist husband between 2006 and 2012. Her medical translation business encompasses academic writing, book publications, patient materials, health professionals’ websites, along with other areas in which clear writing is essential.

Stephen Powley is an innovative engineer and an experienced translator. Trading as Omflow, he provides engineering consultancy, high-quality translations, and technical writing services. He is currently pursuing his passion for research with a PhD in Automotive Cybersecurity.

Having studied engineering to master’s level in Leeds (UK) and Dortmund (Germany), Stephen’s career has taken him on a fascinating journey – from programming Formula 1 cars and guiding rafts down extreme rapids to translating for some of the biggest names in German engineering.

Stephen has a broad perspective on how engineering and language shape, and are shaped by, the world at large. In his spare time, he actively promotes both languages and engineering as a volunteer.

Bronwen Saunders grew up in Great Britain and studied English Literature on both sides of the Atlantic. She taught at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, and on returning to Europe worked initially as an English teacher. As a freelance translator since 1992, she specializes in the translation of art books, exhibition catalogues, wall texts and audio guides, and for several years now has collaborated closely with publishers, museums, artists, and art historians all over Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. After 27 years in Germany, she relocated to Basel in April 2013.