About Me
My name is Valérie Geradon, I completed a bachelor's degree in international trade from the Higher Education Institution of the Province of Liège in 2014. Two years later, I decided to perfect my language skills and I registered at the Faculty of Translation and Interpretation of the University of Mons. I obtained a bachelor's degree in translation and interpretation in 2019, then a master's degree in translation (research focus) in 2021. I finished my studies with a six-week internship in the French language department of the European Commission (DGT.D.FR.1).
During my studies, I travelled abroad on many occasions to practise English and Spanish. In 2009, I spent six months in Oceanside, a coastal town in San Diego County, in the United States. From 2011 to 2012, I studied at the Faculty of Economics and Business Studies of the University of Seville, in Spain. In 2014, I discovered Southeast Asia. I did a four-month internship at the Chamber of Commerce of Brussels-Wallonia, in Singapore. A year later, I flew to New Zealand. I worked in a French restaurant for about three weeks and then travelled alone around the two islands for the rest of the stay. In 2019, I went back to Spain and I spent a semester at the Faculty of Translation and Interpretation of the University of Valladolid.
Besides my strong interest in foreign languages, I also enjoy travelling, reading books, playing the piano, playing Scrabble and going for a walk in the countryside. I am fluent in English (C1*) and Spanish (C1), but I am also interested in other languages: Dutch (B1), Arabic (A2), Portuguese (A1) and Russian (A0).
I have already travelled to 28 countries so far; those trips have allowed me to meet interesting people and discover new cultures. I enjoy reading texts written in foreign languages, but also music scores. I have been interested in music since the age of nine years old, the age at which I enrolled at the Music Academy of Waremme. A year later, I started taking piano lessons, lessons that would last for about ten years, at the end of which I was awarded a great distinction as well as the Marie-Claire Binet prize.
During my training in Mons, I had the chance to discover American, British, Spanish and Chilean literature. I particularly enjoy the works of Ken Kesey, Ray Bradbury, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Arthur Conan Doyle, Eduardo Mendoza and Luis Sepúlveda.
* Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR)
I am a member of the Belgian Chamber of Translators and Interpreters
(CBTI), l'Union professionnelle de, pour et par les traducteurs et interprètes jurés (UPTIJ) and, on a more personal note, Mensa International.
My Core Values
Quality
Translation and editing are a matter of precision. Being a perfectionist by nature, I translate your documents from English or Spanish into French, my mother tongue.
Punctuality
With regard to deadlines, these are either indicative or compulsory. If the deadline is compulsory, I undertake to send you the requested documents on the agreed date, or even before.
Ethics
I reserve the right to refuse to translate any material that is offensive to a section of the population: texts of an anti-Semitic, homophobic, racist or sexist nature or that advocate any form of violence against women.
Professionalism
Projects where I have some expertise are given priority. Once I receive your documents for translation, I briefly review them to assess their difficulty. If the job is within my capabilities, I send you a quote, which must be signed for approval and returned to me within 48 hours.
Confidentiality
I guarantee professional secrecy and the confidentiality of your documents. Should personal data be transferred, a transparency statement will be sent to you. More sensitive data will only be processed once you have signed an explicit consent form.
Benevolence
Regarding the English and Spanish private lessons, I work at the student's own pace. I believe that a caring and demanding teacher, and a certain amount of rigour on the part of the student are the keys to success.