Specialist translations English > German and Spanish > German in the development cooperation specialist area

For many years, I have been specialised in specialist translations in the field of development cooperation (cooperación al desarrollo, Entwicklungszusammenarbeit). Since 2012, I have regularly been translating applications for support funds (proposals for regional projects, project outlines), addressed to the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) or the Federal Foreign Office (AA), evaluation reports, monitoring reports, final reports on sponsored projects, intermediate evidence, intermediate reports, use evidence, narratives, annual reports, evidence of figures and many more. I am familiar with the various application forms (AA, BMZ, bengo, etc.) and the specific terminology of the various recipients (AA, BMZ), which differs to a certain extent between the different entities. I am also up to speed with the respective terminological source (for example for the AA) and know how to use them.

I work with the relevant terminological sources, for example:

OECD-DAC Glossary (Glossary of Key Terms in Evaluation and Results-Based Management)

Glossary re. terminology of the ECHR (Europ. Court of Human Rights)

Moreover, I work according to the specifications of the OECD Style Guide [OECD Style Guide : Third Edition | OECD iLibrary (oecd-ilibrary.org)] or by all means according to my customers’ specifications. In this context, I am happy to refer to glossaries, word lists, specifications on gendered language or on handling abbreviations, etc.
To ensure that my customers’ texts are always translated consistently in terms of style and terminology, I maintain my own, software-supported terminology databases and style guides for each of my customers. 

Moreover, I regularly work on translations from the field of migration into the European Union, i.e. from the areas of EU politics and EU law. 

If you visit the ‘Publications’ area [enlace a publicaciones] on my website, you will find an excerpt of my work for various customers; this involves assignments for institutions of the German confederation and renowned NGOs. 

Examples of particular difficulties for specialist translations in the field of development cooperation

• Both source texts and texts in the target language tend towards strongly using the passive voice, meaning that the text is difficult to read.
• English language source texts are sometimes not composed by native speakers and contain interferences from each native language, grammatical and spelling errors, reference errors or are difficult to understand.
• Sometimes, the texts are not consistent in their use of gendered language, use overly gendered language or different types of gendered language are used within the same text.
• English texts frequently tend to use a number of abbreviations, which is difficult to read in German. This can be counteracted by reducing the abbreviations to a minimum with a one-off explanation the first time that they are used, or by adding a legend of abbreviations.
• Tense errors: English texts frequently use the future tense. German tends to use future tense rather rarely, in fact using time markers such as ‘in a next step’, ‘in future’, ‘soon’.
• The specialist terminology may differ depending on the Office/Ministry to which the application is addressed. This is the case for the AA and BMZ, for example.
• NGOs often have in-house terminology lists which have to be observed, increasing the work involved.
• EU: When it comes to quotations in foreign languages, the official German translations need to be researched and added in.
• EU: Links to the wording of legal acts, regulations, etc. must be adjusted appropriately so that they link to the German language version.

Would you like a quote for a translation from English or Spanish into German in the field of development cooperation? I would be happy to help you: