I am a professional independent translator, reviewer and web editor.
I produce crisp, concise and user-friendly content.
Follow me @luukarens
Me, in a (professional) nutshell
I have an MA in Italian Language and Literature and Translation Studies (Utrecht University).
I am a Dutch native speaker and near-native in both English and Italian.
I obtained a CELTA qualification from International House London (IH) and the Certificate of Proficiency in English from Cambridge English.
I have been working as web editor and reviewer for more than 10 years.
I love to play around with words until I 'get it right'. I like to give and receive critical feedback.
I have broad international experience, having lived and worked in a number of countries, including the Netherlands, Italy, Bangladesh, the UK, Mozambique and Ethiopia.
I have a keen interest in international development, internationalisation in higher education, ethical finance, and all things Italian.
I strongly support initiatives such as Plain English Campaign and am quite allergic to office jargon, gobbledygook and meaningless buzzwords.
I am up to date with the latest web usability developments and a great fan of the likes of Gerry McGovern and Jakob Nielsen.
LinkedIn recommendations
Below is a selection of recommendations taken from my LinkedIn profile.
“I have worked with Luuk for close to five years now. He works quickly, but is thorough and precise as well. His language and editing skills rock, but he’s a peoples’ person too, making him a very pleasant colleague.”
“Luuk is a very talented web editor and translator. Because of his great communication skills and team orientation, he substantially contributed to the launch or our new websites at Oikocredit. I am very happy that Luuk agreed to continue working with us as a consultant to improve the content of our online partner database.”
“Luuk is a very good translator. I trusted him and he always did a superlative work on time!”
“Luuk worked for Vertaalbureau Boot on several occasions translating documents. He speaks Italian and English fluently and he delivers excellent translations. He is fast, accurate and knows exactly what is needed in the translation process. I highly recommend Luuk for any translation work.”
“We were in talks with a very big Italian client. They loved our product, but they missed a very important feature: a proper Italian version. Luckily we found Luuk. He delivered us high quality translations in a very short period of time. Besides that it was very pleasant doing business with him.”