Translation Reviews
Reviews of My Translation and Editing Work:
"I am stunned what Katherine was able to translate from some civil war-era family letters due to the poor letter quality. I didn’t think it could be done. Katherine dedicates herself to your project like it’s her own family. I am grateful that I found her and her work will have an impact on my family for generations to come."
“I asked Katherine to transcribe and translate a baptismal record written in Old German script from 1828 about my Great-Great Grandfather. We had hit a brick wall in our Erkenbrecher genealogy and we just couldn’t find where or who our relatives were in Germany. Katherine did an excellent job of translating this document which divulged the parents of our GG Grandfather. Because of this finding, I have been able to go back eight generations in our Erkenbrecher family tree, all the way back to Heinrich Erckenbrecher in 1580! Without the excellent job that Katherine did of transcribing and translating this valuable baptismal record, we would still be stuck with our brick wall. She kept to her timeline for delivery of the translation, was pleasant to work with, and highly professional. I strongly recommend other novice and seasoned genealogists to seek out Katherine’s invaluable expertise.”
“Thank you for these amazing translations! I never dreamed so much additional information was hidden in those records, such as Wendtlandt being an organist, the ringing of the bells (I was a music major and enjoyed those bits of information), and the emergency baptism. These are examples of facts and events that make a family story real – and I know that my husband’s family will be surprised and glad to learn of them. I now realize how much I’m missing when I look at these old records. Ancestry offers minimal translations, and I’ve learned a few words to help me along, but there’s no telling what else I don’t know about these people. You made our day, Katherine! My husband and I are most grateful for your help.”
“Katherine transcribed several handwritten German documents dating from the Second World War for me, and it was truly a pleasure to work with her. Thanks to her skill in deciphering the texts, I’ve learned a great deal about my family history, and she was particularly thorough in researching the places and names included in the text. Katherine is professional and resourceful with a great eye for detail – exactly as a good translator should be – and I would not hesitate in recommending her.!”
“Katherine’s devotion to her craft shows throughout her website and in her work. She transcribed and translated some mid-1700’s handwritten documents about my ancestors, and deciphered a real puzzle of a word along the way. I feel a kind of fluidity and ease in reading her translations, and her footnotes are unusually informative with insights and explanations while still being concise. Katherine is also very professional in the ‘project management’ aspects of reaching agreement on the work to be done and then delivering the results. I highly recommend her.”
Katherine was instrumental in helping me give my wife—her words—“the best gift she has ever gotten”. For forty years, she has had copies of letters to and from her beloved grandmother and her siblings handwritten in German. Katherine translated the letters beautifully, providing us with both the German and English digital files. She was always responsive in our communications and met challenging time deadlines so that I could give my wife the letters as a Christmas present. Her fees were very fair. I could not recommend a professional person more highly.”
“I hired Katherine to translate German Script from the 18th & 19th centuries. I wanted to include the translations in a family history document. She responded quickly to my emails and was more than willing to answer the many questions I had both prior to and after the translation. Katherine provided both English and German translations of this very difficult to read script. She included footnotes and historical website links that added greatly to my understanding of some of the terms used in the old script. I highly recommend Katherine and would definitely use her services again..”
“My grandfather left his home in 1894 to go to sea. His fascinating travel stories, including working on Kaiser Wilhelm’s royal yacht to his arrival in China during the Boxer Rebellion, were translated by a retired German professor from Dartmouth over ten years ago, but they left a large hole in our grandparents’ later history. No longer able to contact the retired professor, I turned to Katherine…a brilliant move on my part. Recent discovery of diaries from my grandmother presented Katherine with the opportunity to give me and my seven remaining siblings a polished collection of short stories leading from our grandmother’s sailing from Bremerhaven to Bangkok, where she married our ship’s officer grandfather, to our father’s first months in Bangkok, to the outbreak of World War One in Bangkok with its impact on the family. A friend of ours from Baden Baden was very impressed with Katherine’s artistry with the German language. My brothers, sisters, and I are equally impressed with her ability to imbed herself in the story covering 1908 to 1918, collecting the details of the family background, and setting the new translations into it. I highly recommend Katherine for any future translation needs.”
"After my parents passed away, I discovered a letter written to my grandfather in 1930 from a nephew who lived in Germany. (My grandfather had immigrated in the 1890s). Because the letter was handwritten and in German, it was impossible for me to make out many of the letters/words; therefore, I looked for a way to get it translated. When I searched for someone reputable, I came across the website for sktranslations and after debating for a long time about the expenditure, as well as, dealing with someone online, I decided I would try it out. I am so glad I did. I just received Katherine’s transcription/translation. The nephew’s letter is typed in German and then typed in English. There are additional footnotes to aid in understanding. It is exciting to read the translation and to hear the “voice” of the young man who wrote this missive. Not only did I discover the reason for him not coming to America, I discovered key information about my grandfather’s mother and the nephew’s mother and grandmother. There was also a reference to my grandfather’s mother who missed her children who went to America. Furthermore, there is a thank-you note from my grandfather’s sister-in-law. She thanks him for financial help. While the letter may not be of great significance in the history of the world, it is very meaningful to me. Without Katherine’s help, I do not think I ever would have gotten this translated, nor discovered other little tidbits that will help me in my genealogy research. Please note that each time I communicated with Katherine, she responded promptly and clearly explained everything to me. I am elated at the information I learned because this letter was translated and I am so happy that I hired Katherine to do the work.”
“Thank you for a great job! I am very impressed that you could read, never mind translate, her writing. Very professional and much appreciated! I will have it bound and send copies to my cousins. I should mention too that the footnotes you provided were very helpful and beyond what I expected.”
“I enthusiastically recommend Katherine for your translation needs! She is professional, courteous, timely, and very pleasant to work with. She responds promptly to emails, and meets the deadlines she establishes for the translations. I had asked her to translate some 1800 era Austrian church records in handwritten script, the quality of which was not always the best. She came through with not only the English translations, but the German transcriptions as well. Her footnotes and additional knowledge of the nuances of the language during that time period are very valuable. She even goes ‘above and beyond’ by providing information on her website that has allowed me to learn how to do some very basic translations myself, which has helped me add over 60 new relatives to my tree. Katherine’s prices are very reasonable, and the information she has provided in the translations has been so exciting to my family — I am sure I will be using her services again!”
“So happy to finally receive a translation!! You don’t know how hard and long I tried to find someone capable. The places named in the letter will be so helpful in my genealogy search.”
“Great job. You have unlocked a mystery.The relationship between Ignatz and Mathaus was unclear until now. Thanks.”
“Katherine translated my father’s family bible. They are Germans from Russia and we know little about their time in Russia. Katherine translated the old German to find birth, death and marriage records. There was also a family history section that provided some information that may lead to a more solid Russian history from 1766. I felt that she was as happy as I was to find these treasures. My family is thrilled. I can’t wait to start more research. Thank you so much Katherine!”
“Your translations have turned indecipherable hieroglyphics into some family history.”
“I highly recommend Katherine to anyone looking for accurate, expeditious, and highly professional translations. Katherine went the extra mile to ensure an accurate translation of my German university records. She even contacted my educational institution in Germany to ensure the proper interpretation of obscure abbreviations throughout the document. Stellar work.”
“Thank you so much for doing my translation, I am thrilled to pieces and this afternoon I am going to send it off to all the family here in England and in Germany. How you translated that writing I just don’t know, but I suppose if you study languages it perhaps becomes a little easier! Many thanks again, I am so delighted. And isn’t it interesting!”
“It was a pleasure working with you Katherine. I appreciated your rapid response to my requests. The German and English versions of all the documents were perfectly formatted down to the tiny letters on the bottom of the pre-printed baptismal certificate which identified the printer. Thank you.”
“She has ample knowledge of the German and English languages and a very good command of technical terminology and a great feel for language. She is very reliable and can also translate very large volumes of words and still meet her deadlines. Without any reservation, I am glad to highly recommend Katherine for any German into English and English into German project.”
“Thank you so much for the translation! Now I have the names of three of my paternal grandfather’s grandparents. This is the “brick wall” I’ve been trying to break through for a long time…many thanks for your prompt and professional work.”
“Just got home to find this treat in my inbox. I am thrilled to read the words my [ancestor] Christopher read; that he felt deeply enough to quote. Great job on the translation.”
“Thank you for getting the translation to me. As I expected, they are perfect. You can always tell that the translation is done by a professional.”
“I had that hardest of genealogical roadblocks- someone who changed their name illegally and died with their secret. Katherine provided very careful and scholarly transcriptions and translations of some key documents. Mystery solved. My advice: engage a professional like Katherine and don’t guess at the content of Kurrent manuscripts when the result matters to you.”
“I can highly recommend the work of Katherine. I used her services to proofread my master thesis and the result greatly benefited from her thorough and detailed checking. Her feedback and comments were very constructive and extremely helpful. Moreover, the work was done timely and she responds to questions quickly. I will definitely use her services again.”
“My German in-laws would not say one word about the past, however when they both passed away, we found two huge boxes of letters, journals, and pictures that documented every day of WWII for them. We also found 100 years of old family documents to prove they were Aryan in accordance with the Nuremburg Laws. For the last ten years, we have figured there was one person in the family history who had converted from Judaism and that person had saved those who came after from certain death, but we couldn’t figure out who that person was. We found one baptismal record (at the age of 29!) that had one word we could not translate (Proselyt). I sent it to Katherine and the word was…converted! There was the missing link, after all this time! Thank you SO much!”