Our tutors

Each of our team of translation professionals is committed to training excellence. All our tutors are highly qualified, combining translation experience, linguistic expertise, subject knowledge and routine in delivering distance learning.

All our tutors teach translation into their native language and most of them work as freelance translators alongside lecturing on postgraduate translation courses.

All are keen to share their experience: They understand the needs of those starting out, of candidates preparing for challenging exams as well as of working translators wishing to raise their profile.

Meet some of our key tutors:

Susanne James MA CL MCIL FHEA has been a freelance translator for over 25 years specialising in business, finance and technical translation for corporate clients. Born in Vienna, she studied English and French Philology with Linguistics and Translation at Vienna University and later gained an MA and the CIOL DipTrans in London. She was recruited to the University of Westminster in 1998 to teach on Diploma in Translation courses and later to lecture on postgraduate translation programmes, including editing skills. One of her special interests is assessing quality in translation, and her pedagogic aim has always been to enhance the student experience by bridging theory and practice. She established distance learning courses for candidates of translation examinations in 1996 and still dedicates much of her time to supporting independent learners wishing to advance their translation skills.

Karine Chevalier-Watts MCIL CL graduated from the University of Aix-en-Provence and then taught English and French for several years in France and the UK. After gaining a Diploma in Business Studies with Applied Languages and Law, she worked in various bilingual management roles in European and international companies. In 2011, she set up her own business ‘KLAS Languages’ offering translation and language teaching. She recently took on the roles of Coordinator and Treasurer of the CIOL Translating Division as well as Moderator for CIOL’s DPI and DPSI exams. In her daily work, she mainly translates commercial and legal documents for private clients and international companies. But she relishes every opportunity to share her expertise and to mentor ambitious newcomers to translation who are looking to hone their skills and obtain a qualification.

Julian Scott BA MITI MTA has worked as a freelance translator and interpreter since 1993, while at the same time running a translation business specialising in Spanish and English legal translation. From 2005-2008 he was course tutor on the University of Westminster’s MA in Technical and Specialised Translation and from 2008-2011 on the MA in Legal Translation at City University (London). In 2007 he completed four modules of the Postgraduate Diploma in Notarial Practice and also worked for De Pinna Notaries in London. In addition to his work as a legal translator and interpreter, he has translated a number of books and articles on a wide range of topics. “I welcome occasions when I can give back, share my experience with exam candidates and aspiring translators, communicate with like-minded language enthusiasts…”

Devorah Karp MA (Oxon) MCIL has many years of experience as a freelance translator and languages teacher. She translates from German and French into English and her areas of specialism are law, finance, marketing, business, education, humanities and academic translation. She was a Visiting Lecturer in translation on the MA course at the University of Westminster for five years and now continues to share her expertise by tutoring and mentoring students for CIOL’s Diploma in Translation. “It is a pleasure and a privilege to guide some very talented aspiring translators through the DipTrans.”

Lucía Alonso BA DipTrans MITIA loves teaching – her students say she is very patient, clear in her communication, always engaging and motivating. After gaining a degree in Translation and Interpreting from Universidad Jaume I de Castellón (UJI) in 2001, Lucía launched herself as a professional freelance translator. Her specialisms include legal translation but she works with clients in various fields and has developed a sound knowledge of the sector, especially in the United Kingdom and Ireland. She maintained close links with UJI and for several years supported the Internship programme, mentoring final year Translation and Interpreting students. Her longstanding passion for languages has led her to successfully combine commercial translation with teaching translation – she regards the two complementary and mutually supportive activities. She also works closely with other organisations such as the Castellón Chamber of Commerce, teaching both face-to-face and online language courses. Lucía’s translation experience underpins her teaching and her students not only benefit from her attention to detail but also gain practical awareness and all-important writing skills.

Laura Pistininzi MCIL CL DPI RPSI
Born in Rome and an adoptive Londoner, Laura has always had a passion for languages. After obtaining a BA in Translation and Interpreting (2005) and an MA in Conference Interpreting (2008) in Italy, she started her professional career in the translation industry in Rome. Having moved to London in 2012 she continued as a freelance interpreter and translator using her professional languages English, German and Italian. In 2019, she received the NRPSI Award as Best Candidate for the Diploma in Police Interpreting and recently gained the DPSI English Law. Her main fields of expertise are engineering and technology as well as legal and medical translation. A genuine language enthusiast, Laura loves to share her knowledge and professional experience with those who are keen to improve their language skills, become translators and interpreters, and prepare for professional exams. As a mentor, Laura firmly believes in encouragement, support and constructive feedback so her mentees can reflect on their work and meet professional standards.

Meritha Paul-van Voorden MA (EUR), MA (UCL) is a Dutch freelance translator who grew up in the Netherlands, where she studied Art and Culture Sciences at Erasmus University in Rotterdam. In 2001 she relocated to England and completed another postgraduate degree, the MA in Translation Theory and Practice, at University College London. She subsequently lectured MA Translation students at London Metropolitan University. After a five-year period in Switzerland, where she taught Dutch language and culture at the University of Basel, she moved back to England and has been living in London since January 2019. Besides being a published translator and columnist, she continues to teach translation, which she finds “challenging and very rewarding”. She loves to engage with her students, analysing texts, identifying translation problems and discussing suitable solutions.

Tim Morgan MA ACA studied Russian, Swedish, Hindi, German, Polish, and Dutch at BA/MA level in London, and, after a 10-year career in the City of London, became a translator specialising in finance, law, medicine, and shipping, with experience in many other areas. He has also taught a large number of students studying for MAs in Translation in addition to providing tuition on a one-to-one basis for the CIoL exams. In his assessment of translations he focusses not only on technical competence but also on acceptability to clients, based on a decade of successful freelance translation for dozens of prominent agencies.

Linda Makins MA MCIL MITI
After a professional career in ophthalmic optics, followed by 4 years in media market research, Linda went back to university (Westminster) achieving a First Class Honours Degree in Italian and Linguists, after which she moved with her family to the South of Italy, where she lived until very recently. She has a TEFL qualification, put to good use teaching English in Italy to adult students, mainly business people and graduates. She has been a freelance translator for over 10 years, working for clients based in Italy, the UK and the rest of Europe, covering a vast range of text types, from technical (civil engineering, cosmetic pharmaceuticals and the energy sector) to her preferred more creative areas such as journalism, marketing, advertising and the Arts. In addition to translation, she has considerable experience in project management, editing, including post-editing machine translation, and original copywriting in English. Her MA in Open and Distance Education from the OU, makes her particularly sensitive to the needs of distance learners.

Stephen Hackett DipTrans IoL worked in commerce and industry for nearly 20 years as a senior export sales co-ordinator and manager for multinational companies. He travelled extensively negotiating sales and payment contracts in the USA, Europe and North Africa, during which time he also acted as a technical and commercial interpreter for French and German-speaking clients. His career path took him via client lexicography and terminology projects to starting up a business as a freelance translator. Having obtained a teaching qualification, he also works as a part-time lecturer on various post-graduate translation courses. His particular interest is the training and support of student translators aspiring to a career in the translation industry.

Danielle Coleman BA Hons DipTrans MCIL CL works as a full-time freelance translator from French, Greek, Italian, Latvian and Spanish into English. Having taken a law degree at Oxford University, she worked in publishing and then taught English in Greece before successfully taking the Diploma in Translation from French into English in 1996. In 1998 she passed the very demanding interinstitutional European Union competition for translators and was recruited first by the European Court of Auditors and secondly by the European Parliament, where she worked as a translator for five years. During her time at the EU she added to her collection of languages by learning Spanish and Latvian. In 2004 she became a freelance translator, and has worked as a specialist legal and EU affairs translator from five languages into her native English since that time. Danielle gained Chartered Linguist status in 2022 and is delighted to have the opportunity to share her practical knowledge of translation with mentees in a constructive and detailed way.

Ulrike Nichols MITI is a native German speaker. She studied German and English at universities in Germany, the UK, and the USA. As a post graduate student at the University of Michigan she taught German language and literature to American undergraduates and worked as Editing Assistant for Michigan Germanic Studies. In 2006 she launched her career as an English-German freelance translator in the UK, specialising in medicine, pharmacy and marketing. When she joined the Translator Training team several years ago, she said it felt like returning to her roots: "I want to give back a little - to my mentor who helped me to get started in this profession, and by sharing my experience with examination candidates and aspiring translators."

Lucy Eratt is a highly qualified and experienced English / Russian court interpreter and translator specialising in the translation of legal documents for courts, notarisation and arbitration in litigation, finance, banking, tax, trusts, bankruptcy, marine insurance, European law, contract documentation and tenders. Her qualifications include a BA in English and German, MA in English, research in the Theory of Speech Acts for PhD, and the Diploma in English Law. She is a Visiting Lecturer in Bilingual Translation at the University of Westminster and has taught distance learning for several years. Lucy is a full Member of the Institute of Translators and Interpreters, of the Chartered Institute of Linguists, and the National Register of Public Service Interpreters.