Jacqui Birnie is one of the top translators in the country – and that’s official.
The mum-of-two, who learned German at Huddersfield High School under teacher Margaret Evans, has worked around the world as a technical translator.
Now she’s been honoured by the Association of Translation Companies in its 2016 Language Industry Summit Awards, bagging runner-up in the Freelance Supplier category.
Jacqui, who was brought up in Lockwood where her mother still lives, got the language bug from Mrs Evans, of Netherton, of whom she says: “She was always a stickler for grammar but I’ve been very thankful for that over the years.” The two are still in touch after four decades.
Jacqui left Huddersfield to go to university in Liverpool and spent part of her degree working for BP in Hamburg. Now freelance, she translates a huge range of different subjects, mainly based around technology and engineering, for customers in the UK and abroad. She now lives in Warrington but travels back to Huddersfield every weekend to see family.
She was nominated for the awards by Mark Robinson of Alexika Ltd, based at Addingham near Ilkley, who described her as “an outstanding example of a dedicated, hard-working and thoroughly professional freelance translator.”
