Barbara 🥉 Verified

My strengths as an interpreter

My characteristics are: clear pronunciation, integrity, and objectivity, as well as empathy, a large vocabulary in legal, medical, and government jargon, as well as general vocabulary, little difficulty understanding dialects such as Brabant, Limburg, or Flemish, broad general knowledge, and knowledge of Dutch and Polish culture. In recent years, my customer rating has been 4.8 out of 5. I am particularly praised for my transparency, professionalism, and clarity, as well as for maintaining calm and respect at all times.

About my interpreting experience

I have been working as a freelance interpreter since 2009, and since 2020 I have also been working for agencies such as Global Talk, Acolad, and Elan. I have extensive experience in the healthcare sector, government, commercial services, police, and the legal profession. I mainly interpret consecutively. On average, I interpret 1,500 hours per year in various settings. I also translate many documents for the Public Prosecution Service and the police in both language directions.

About me (place of birth, native language, other details)

I was born in Łódź, in the center of Poland. It's quite a large city. I grew up there and studied to become a midwife, before coming to the Netherlands on a student exchange program. That's how I met my husband, and I moved to the Netherlands permanently in 1991 to be with him. I have always worked as a self-employed entrepreneur in various sectors: floristry, horticulture, trade, services, and education. In the meantime, I also completed a degree in forensic pedagogy. My passion for language and people ultimately found expression in my current profession, where I can apply all the knowledge and experience I have gained.

Credentials

Bachelor's degree in Forensic Pedagogy, KTV diploma in interpreting NL-PL at C1 level, KTV diploma in translating NL-PL and PL-NL, certificate in institutional knowledge, procedures, and jargon, certificates in telephone interpreting, interpreting for the police, interception and interrogation interpreting, forensic linguistics, interpreting in mental health care, interpreting in education, civil procedural law, and more to come :).