High-impact English courses, cultural workshops, English↔German translation and writing services:
Hire professional native speakers on demand to overcome language barriers in your global business and make the most of modern language tools.
Veteran language practitioners Alexander and Heather Bakst have teamed up with a handful of like-minded freelancers under the GermanBureau brand. If you're looking for independent language professionals in business and higher education, you've found your niche. Here's what we can do for you:
Professional Results
Hire freelancers who work to high professional standards in the English–German language pair. You'll benefit from innovative services, low overhead, and top-notch deliverables tailored to your projects.
Genuine Native Speakers
Collaborate with a network of language experts from all walks of life. Our team includes English, German, and bilingual native speakers. As a group of polyglots, we bridge the gap between language and culture for you.
Competitive Rates
Enjoy fair pricing models for all your educational and editorial needs. We're a network, not an intermediary. That means you can cut out the middlemen by taking freelance professionals directly under contract.
Modern Language Skills
Get insights and advice on the best language tools for your project. Technology is changing everything, from the way we speak and write to how we teach or translate. Join us in embracing this progress responsibly!
Get professional language courses and cultural workshops tailored to the needs of your learners.
Our seminars support your learning journey as a business. Keep reading to find out how your people can improve their language skills with hands-on training.
New: Our cultural workshops now include certified assessments. Scroll down to learn more.
English Language Courses
English for Business
The best way to master a language is through direct contact with native speakers.
But not just anyone will do: You want experienced professionals who speak the language of your industry. Our language courses offer a modern, hands-on experience at all levels.
Experienced: Enrich your organization with professional language training by real native speakers. Our freelance network is your direct line to reliable partners in education with at least 10 years of experience teaching at German companies and universities.
Modern: We’re eager to find a modern solution that achieves the learning goals of your international staff and leadership roles. All course material and interactive resources are yours to use forever.
Hands-on: Online or in-house, our business English trainers are passionate, experienced educators who deliver on the promise of real-world learning.
Beyond Vocab and Grammar
Beyond the basics of vocabulary and grammar, participants in our language courses will learn critical soft skills, like how to:
⟡ Make small talk in a professional setting
⟡ Express feedback or polite requests around the world
⟡ Handle international meetings
⟡ Give effective presentations
⟡ Communicate clearly on platforms like Teams or Slack
⟡ Write engaging digital content for social media
⟡ Have fun with a foreign language
Custom Courses
Below are three examples of course configurations and their pricing. Contact us to negotiate the details according to your needs.
€ 60
/hour (60 min.)
Live Video Coaching
Online resources
Groups of ≤ 5
€ 80
/hour (60 min.)
On-site training
Complete course
Groups of ≤ 10
TBD
/unit (45 min.)
Lecture series
Your module
Class of ≤ 25
Internationally successful professionals have a hidden superpower: cultural awareness.
Intercultural skills are an unspoken requirement for success in today’s world. Cultural workshops go beyond the mechanics of language to improve your team’s efficacy across the global supply chain.
As your business expands into the global economy, our network of professional native speakers is your competitive advantage.
Now you can schedule a workshop that combines a certified cultural assessment with decades of teaching experience in business English. We choose an appropriate level so that participants can make the most of their time and improve their confidence in an international setting.
Flexible Formats
At home or at work, online or on-site: Our seminars bring the learning experience directly to your employees where they need it most.
Companies with internationally active employees will benefit from a combination of cultural workshops, certified assessments, and immersive language courses. Your people can work with us toward project-specific goals or improve their general awareness of how different cultures may impact their work.
Scheduling Options
Below are three examples of how to schedule a cultural workshop at your company. Contact us to arrange a format that works for you.
Online
4 × ½ day
Cultural Workshop
incl. assessment
All levels
On Site
1½ days
Cultural Workshop
incl. assessment
All levels
Custom
You decide
Cultural Workshop
incl. assessment
All levels
Alexander Bakst
Translator & Educator
Alex is a former journalist turned translator, educator, and all-round language guy. He launched the GermanBureau brand as a solopreneur in 2010. Alex lives in Berlin as a US-born expat for life.
Heather Bakst
Business English Coach
Heather delivers corporate seminars and university courses for learners of English as a foreign language. She transplanted from the US to Germany in 2008 and lives happily ever after in Berlin.
Daniel Simmons
EFL Lecturer
Daniel is a veteran lecturer in business English with a rich background in commerce, industry, and academia. He lives in the Dresden area and maintains close ties to his UK homeland.
Nick Medland
English Teacher
Nick is a British émigré who, like many of us here, has made a life for himself as a business English instructor in Germany. His methods include forays into audio-visual media.
Coming Soon
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Hire professional native speakers to translate your English and German content to a high standard.
Our editorial services adapt to your needs. Authentic content gets your message across in local markets. Discover translation models and add-on services made for businesses like yours.
English↔German Translation
Native Human Translators
Your global audience needs to hear your message, but not always in the same words. Finding the most effective expression for your ideas in a foreign language takes creativity, authenticity, and a meticulous mindset.
Creative: Some translations adhere closely to the original wording while others flow more freely. Either way, the hallmark of a good translation is that it doesn’t sound translated.
Authentic: With the right approach to localization, your voice will stand out in English and German alike. You need a partner who takes the time to understand your requirements. The result is localized content that resonates with your audience.
Meticulous: Entrust your English–German content to passionate linguists and give your project the benefit of a keen eye for detail—four eyes, actually—down to the last comma.
Translate with Confidence
Localize your documents to a high standard across English and German cultures. You decide how we translate your content: We’ve got the right translation model and budget for your project.
Expand the headlines below to explore four of the most common workflows in translation today.
Fast, affordable, convenient: There are times when all you need is a simple translation—quick and dirty! This is a job for our BOT service. Industry insiders call it post-edited machine translation (PEMT or MTPE) and often sell it under the banner of artificial intelligence (AI).​
- Machine translation: An AI-powered machine translator produces a draft translation of your source text within seconds. There’s a risk that some terminology will get lost in translation.
- Human review: A human proofreader checks the results for accuracy in the target language. This ensures an adequate level of quality control. The monolingual reviewer might still miss some nuances.
- Client feedback: You have a chance to review our final draft. We’ll work in any feedback you give us.
Machine translators today are smart, and the benefits are clear: Get it done lightning-fast while saving yourself the cost of a human translator. This method typically produces acceptable results for general-language content.
But beware: You get what you pay for! Despite all the hype, AI tools cannot match the skill and talent of a professional human translator. If your text is more specialized or quality is a priority, we recommend a translation service on par with our Pro Translator.
Authentic, accurate, consistent: The gold standard in translation involves an experienced translator, bilingual editing, and professional software. For content that is ready to publish, you can add a four-eyes proofreading cycle into the mix.
- Pro translation: A senior translator works with professional software to translate your content. The workflow produces authentic language in a natural voice for your target audience.
- Bilingual review: A bilingual editor thoroughly checks the translation against the source text. This step ensures accurate terminology and a consistent writing style in the target language.
- Client feedback: Your people review a draft translation that includes detailed editorial comments. We work in your change requests before delivering the final product.
- Four-eyes proofreading (optional): You have the option to book a four-eyes proofreading cycle. This final step adds a layer of quality control that allows you to immediately publish your new content with confidence.
This is the most effective translation model for most use cases. It ensures a degree of quality and authenticity not found in low-effort agency material. It’s how you stand out in an age of forgettable SEO text and trite AI-recycled content.
Our computer-assisted pro translators are especially good at:
- Adapting your content to local audiences. That includes understanding context, addressing your readers, and adding a human touch.
- Researching specialized content in science, technology, commerce, industry, and creative fields.
- Catching errors or inconsistencies in the source text.
You may decide that none of our packages exactly fit your needs. In that case, we are always open to adapting our services to match your requirements. Contact us to work out the details.
Translation and LQA teams: You manage large localization projects and want to recruit experienced talent into your pool of freelancers? Get the full skill set of an English–German linguist, nothing more and nothing less.
This is the no-frills option when you just need a linguist to join your existing localization environment. Things like editing and proofreading are not included, since you’ll be providing those services through your own team of editors and project managers.
Indie clients: Are you an independent creator or a fellow freelancer with a passion project? We’ve got special rates for you! What exactly constitutes an independent project is discretionary, but we generally consider artists, journalists, self-publishers, nonprofits, startups, small businesses, and freelancers to fall under this category. Contact us to explain your situation and we can explore your options.
Translation Rates
Depending on your project, you might be looking for a variety of translation models. Below are three examples of common choices from organizations like yours. For more details, please contact us.
€ 8
100 words
AI translator
Human review
€ 12
100 words
Pro translator
2 eyes only
€ 15
100 words
Pro translator
4-eyes review
Want to talk to your customers like a native? We've got you covered. Hire a professional native speaker from our network to craft your message from scratch or revise exisating content. We can produce a variety of formats in English or German.
Reach out now to discuss your needs directly with a content specialist.
Professional Editing and Proofreading
Want to make sure your existing text is ready to publish in English? We offer two types of editing service: basic proofreading and a full revision. The format and scope ranges from a single webpage to an entire book.
In basic proofreading, a native monolingual editor checks for errors in the target language. Proofreading covers spelling, grammar, punctuation, and other details. This type of editing gives your text a professional polish, down to the last comma, so you can publish with confidence.
In a full revision, a bilingual editor checks your text against the source language to ensure complete accuracy. This ensures that the nuances never get lost in translation. On top of proofreading, a bilingual editor checks your text for clarity, consistency, and style—not just any style, but your style. In the process, we can help you develop editorial guidelines for the target language if they don’t already exist.
A Global Voice(over) for Your Business
Want your audience to hear your voice in their own native language? Now you can commission voiceovers and subtitles for your media projects in English and German. Our freelance network of voice talent offers cost-effective solutions to localize your media for international listeners.
Maybe you're looking for a female speaker of British English to narrate your creative project. Or perhaps you want a male speaker of American English to voice over a series of training videos. Whatever the need, you can contact us to see if we have the voice for you.
Achieve high production value at low cost with professional equipment in a home studio. These days, you don’t need to book a whole studio to produce high-quality audio—but you do need some expertise to give your listeners that warm, up-close-and-personal studio sound. When you hire us, we bring our own kit: professional audio equipment and digital tools in a simple but effective home studio.
Pricing Guidelines
Below are three examples of our pricing for different editorial services. Contact us to negotiate the details according to your needs.
€ 3
100 words
Proofreading
Monolingual
€ 5
100 words
Full review
Bilingual
TBD
1 min. of audio
Human voiceover
Native talent
Our freelancers are active on many channels. Open the 'Contact' dropdown menu at the top of this site for quick access to our favorite contact options.
We are always happy to hear from you and will try to respond quickly!
