sigal-translations.com


Providing quality French-English translation and editorial services since 1995.

Profile

Born in New York in 1961 and a resident of France since 1991, I pursued my undergraduate studies from 1979 at Amherst College, spending my junior year in Paris as a member of the Smith College Junior Year Abroad program. Awarded the degree of Bachelor of Arts summa cum laude in Anthropology and French in 1983, I returned to France as a Rufus B. Kellogg Fellow in Anthropology at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales where I prepared an advanced degree (Diplôme d’études approfondies) in Social Sciences.

I launched a pioneering study of the development of French anthropology, in particular the pre- and post-decolonization Africanists, through a literary and historical investigation informed by analysis of theory and methodology and by the comparison with British and American anthropology. This approach was recognized the following year by the National Science Foundation (NSF), which named me as a Graduate Research Fellow in Cultural Anthropology at the University of Chicago.

In 1995, after twelve years as a researcher and language teacher/trainer in the United States and France, I decided to establish myself as a freelance French-English translator and editor.

A member of the Société Française des Traducteurs, my services have found favor with a broad range of clients, principally in the fields of marketing and communication, information technology, finance and management, dissemination of scientific knowledge, education, social policy, and literature, who value my top-level writing and editing skills as well as my grounding in the scientific study of language, systems of thought, and culture.

Academic honors
Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude (1979–1983)
Amherst College, Amherst, MA (USA)
 
Majored in Anthropology and French.
 
Third year spent in Paris as a member of Smith College Junior Year Abroad Program 1981–1982. Designed an independent plan of study in Anthropology under the supervision of Marc Augé and Nicole Belmont, professors at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales. Best performance in French for 1981–1982.
 
Senior thesis: “Idéo-logique, Political Anthropology, and the Politics of Anthropology: A presentation of the works of Marc Augé”.
 
Rufus B. Kellogg Fellow (awarded by Amherst College, 1983–1984)
École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris
 
Under the direction of Marc Augé, prepared D.E.A. (Advanced Studies Diploma) in Social Sciences.
 
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow (1984–1989)
University of Chicago, Chicago, IL (USA)
 
One of five fellows nationwide in Cultural Anthropology, continued the pioneering study of the development of French anthropology, in particular the pre- and post-decolonization Africanists, through a literary and historical investigation informed by the analysis of theory and methodology and by the comparison with British and American anthropology.
Language teaching
Monitor (1982–1983)
Smith College, Northampton, MA (USA)
 
Invited to participate as a result of my performance in their Junior Year Abroad program the previous year, led conversation groups for the course in first-year Intensive French (applying the Rassias Method®).
 
Lector (1984–1986)
University of Chicago, Chicago, IL (USA)
 
While pursuing doctoral studies in Anthropology, invited by the Romance Languages department to lead conversation groups and serve as teaching assistant for first-year undergraduate French courses.
 
Corporate American-Language Trainer/Animator (1992–1994)
European Language Resources, Paris
 
Designed and implemented language/communication training programs in companies (notably at the Société des Bourses Françaises and GEC-Alsthom). achieving complete satisfaction of clients of varying rank and proficiency in a variety of training contexts: regular group and individual lessons, workshops, as well as intensive courses.
Publications
Collection « Talking Business », Editions Bréal 1995 (Coordination of the series, copy editing, some writing)
Psychoneuroendocrinology, Volume 22, Supplement 1, Elsevier 1997 (Copy editing)
 
home  |  profile  |  services  |  clients  |  samples  |  rates  |  contact