Brief Introduction of Myself as a Translator
I offer myself as a translator from Chinese or Latin into English
Chinese
You will see from my CV that I have a degree in Chinese from Cambridge University.
I have been working as a translator for over 5 years.
I undertake written translation from Chinese into English and expert proofreading of
Chinese-English versions by other translators.
My translation work has included
 legal contracts and confidentiality agreements
 educational websites
 display boards for special exhibitions (mainly natural history)
 product instructions for use
 business correspondence
 an autobiographical memoir
 contributions to a popular book on Chinese wine
 article and dissertation abstracts
My deep proof-reading work has taken me outside my normal comfort zone into areas
like medical, pharmaceutical and botanical research. For very technical material
sometimes the only practical option is to engage a Chinese specialist familiar with the
field to make a first attempt at the translation, and then hand it to an English native
speaker to complete the conversion into clear and acceptable English. I have done this
challenging work successfully, referring back to the Chinese original throughout and
ensuring that the finished version is both expert and idiomatic.
My written English is of an extremely high standard. I know how important it is to write
in the appropriate style as well as correctly, and I am confident of my ability to do this. I
started as a student and teacher of classical languages. In this role I was a translator long
before I started translating professionally.
My Chinese reading is very competent by any standards except those of native Chinese.
My First Class degree at Cambridge was gained largely on the basis of my translation of
Chinese texts (my oral Chinese being comparatively weak), and I have read a lot more
Chinese since then. I have a special interest in pre-modern Chinese, and this means that I
can generally handle classical quotations and allusions.
A very small amount of my translation has been from Chinese into botanical Latin, and
I would be willing to undertake more of this work if it were available. [I have also done
some Latin-English translation of degree certificates to assist in the preparation of
Chinese versions.]
Latin
I started learning Latin at the age of 8 in 1959, in a period when there was plenty of
curriculum time for classical languages. I started Ancient Greek 3 years later. You will
see from my CV below that the Greek and Latin classics became my main focus of study
at secondary and university level, that I was awarded a First Class degree at Oxford and
then a postgraduate degree, and that I was a teacher of Latin and Greek for 20 years.
In 1996 I began serious study of Chinese, and since then Chinese has been my chief
academic interest. I work primarily as a Chinese translator. However my Latin stays with
me, and I can undertake Latin translation work with complete confidence.
CURRICULUM VITAE
NAME:
Mark Bernard MacDermot
DATE OF BIRTH:
3/5/1951
AGE: 63
NATIONALITY: British
RELIGION:
MARITAL STATUS: single
PLACE OF BIRTH: Berne, Switzerland
Roman Catholic
Current Address
2. Henry’s Yard,
Berwick St James,
Wiltshire,
UK
SP3 4TS
e-mail
mbm2323@hotmail.com
telephone
mobile (UK only)
0044 1722 790164
0044 7972854889
Education
1959 - 1964
Penryn School, Winterfold House
1964 - 1968
Downside School, Stratton-on-the-Fosse
A-levels:
1969 - 1973
Latin A1
Greek A1
Ancient History A
Balliol College, Oxford
Honour Moderations (1971)
(Greek and Latin Literature)
First Class
Final School of Literae Humaniores (1973) First Class
(chosen options: Ancient History and Philosophy)
1974 - 1976
Balliol College, Oxford
Awarded Degree of Bachelor of Philosophy (1976)
(subject: Later Roman Empire)
note: this postgraduate degree was later redefined as a master’s
degree, and so ‘master’s’ is the status of my highest degree
1997 - 2000
Wolfson College, Cambridge
Oriental Studies (Chinese) Tripos
2000
Embassy CES Cambridge
Pt I (1998) First Class
Pt II (2000) First Class
Cambridge/RSA CELTA (Pass)
University Prizes
1970
Second Craven Scholarship
1998
2000
Mau-Sang Ng Prize
Robert Somers Memorial Prize
Employment
1976 - 1996
Teacher of Latin, Greek, Ancient History and Classical Civilization
at Stonyhurst College, Lancashire
(1981 - 1989) Head of Classics
(1986 - 1994) Director of Studies
1996 - 1997
Foreign Expert at Institute for the History of Ancient
Civilizations,
North-East Normal University, Changchun, Jilin Province, PRC
(teacher of Latin, lecturer in Greek and Roman History)
2001 to 2003
2004 Feb to June
Foreign Lecturer (teacher of EFL) at Informatics (Shanghai)
Teacher of English at Qi Yi Senior High School in Shaanxi Bei Lu,
Shanghai
Freelance English teacher and translator in Shanghai
Returned to UK to focus on translation work
From 2004 Sep
2012 December