Ons team
La fine équipe
Jeromius
Jeromius, that's me: great-great-great-great-great (and great again) grand-nephew of Saint Jerome, patron saint of Translators, and famous translator of the Bible in Latin in the fifth century (the Vulgate).
I have inherited from my august ancestor an inordinate enthusiasm for languages and attention to detail. But you can rest assured, I have swapped my great-uncle's goose quill and stiletto for the latest generation office automation equipment and everything I need as regards telecommunication. What do I do at Belga? Well, I comb texts for errors, hunting down misprints, flushing out faux amis and unravelling ambiguities. In a nutshell, I check for everything, everywhere. If you like, I'm the secret weapon at Belga Translations.
In my work I am backed up by a tremendous in-house team, which I have great pleasure introducing you to now.
Jacques Permentiers
Managing Director of Belga Translations, Jacques Permentiers is the co-founder of several professional associations and director within the Belgian Quality Translation Association. A Germanist by training, with a postgraduate degree in translation, he speaks four languages and has been a figure in the translation arena in Belgium for more than 20 years now. He also maintains regular contacts with academic circles, with which he readily shares his experiences and reflections on the profession of translator.
On this site you can find the complete text of two of his speeches given during conferences organised by the Cooremans Institute.
Jan Pelgrims
Product Manager, responsible for translation into Dutch
A campaigner (less of the "old") of the translation business, he knows what he's talking about since he's seen pages upon pages come and go during the course of an intensive professional career. At ease in numerous fields, he has an impressive knowledge of technical matters, and his general knowledge isn't bad either. An active partner in Belga (in every sense of the word), Jan has an unparalleled ability to come up with a polished slogan or the very finest copy in Dutch. An inveterate golfer and a formidable chess player (you can challenge him on the Internet!), he combines accuracy with speed of execution.
Peter Storms
Translator/Reviser, responsible for translation into Dutch
An expert reviser, with a devilishly meticulous approach, Peter has an astounding command of the nuances of his three working languages - French, German and English.
Also a very active partner at Belga, he goes about his trade as a conveyor of meaning with a craftsman's enthusiasm.
An uncompromising defender on the amateur football fields, he also knows how to become an ardent champion of elegant Dutch, combining clarity and contemporary usage.
Sébastien Verschaete
Translator/Reviser, responsible for translation into French
Kingpin of the French department at Belga and dead keen on information technology, Sébastien is a wizard with computer "toys", in particular the terminology management software, Multiterm. He's our in-house "Mr ICT".
His natural ability to understand technical logic means that he's ideally placed to translate manuals and specifications in many leading-edge fields with ease.
He plays basketball in his free time, so you won't be surprised to learn that Sébastien walks tall in the field of translation.
Elisabeth Herreman
Translator/Reviser, responsible for translation into French
She is the youngest member of the team, but by no means the least talented.
An extremist when it comes to linguistic accuracy, she very soon adopted that phrase of Marguerite Yourcenar: "To translate is to write", i.e. to develop a clear, intelligible and faithful line of thought for your reader/customer.
Elisabeth is very curious - a necessary sin common to all professionals in the translation business! She is an expert at tapping into the enormous body of linguistic resources available on the Web, and knows how to use these resources with the necessary intelligence and caution.
She has the same respect for her language, which she uses with flexibility and dexterity, as she has for her commitments vis-à-vis her customers. A deadline is a deadline.
Axel Van den Bossche
Coordinator
Axel has six hands, four eyes and eight legs. Oh yes, that's what you need to be able to handle the general co-ordination at Belga Translations, and oversee the correct running of projects, from price request through to invoicing. Axel greets you (in three languages), either at our office or over the phone, receives anything you send, and then distributes, follows up, checks and calls back. In short, he works as a specialist interface - a pivotal point of liaison with people far and wide.
A talented pianist and a keen music lover, his pirouetting performances at the computer keyboard on occasion bring to mind those of a spirited performer playing something fiery by Liszt, although the end result on the screen invariably bears all the disconcerting rigour of a score by Bach.