English↔German Translation
English
for your business
High-impact English courses, cultural workshops, English↔German translation, and writing services:
Hire professional native speakers on demand to overcome cultural barriers in your global business and make the most of modern language tools.
Freelance Business
Why Do Clients Trust GermanBureau?
Alexander and Heather Bakst are English–German language professionals with decades of experience in education and translation. GermanBureau is the brand name that connects them with like-minded freelancers. When you work with the people in our network, you benefit from:
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 people include 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!
Business English Coaching
Learn with Pro Native Speakers
English courses tailored to the practical needs of your learners: Our seminars support your learning journey as a business.
Now your people can improve their language skills with hands-on English training by real native speakers. Our coaches have strong credentials and at least 10 years of experience in adult education. We bring a cross-cultural perspective to your daily business in American and British English.
Your fist point of contact are the GermanBureau founders Alexander and Heather Bakst. Thanks to our growing network, you also gain access to a wider pool of language professionals from all walks of life. When you work with us, you get all-inclusive English courses directly from the front-line source.
Business English for Real People
The best way to master a language is through direct and regular contact with English speakers in your field.
But not just anyone will do: You want experienced professionals who speak the language of your industry. Our English courses offer a modern, hands-on experience at all levels.
Experienced: Our freelance network is your direct line to reliable partners in education with at least 10 years of experience teaching at German companies and cooperative universities.
Modern: We have the resources to achieve the learning goals of your international staff and leadership roles. All course material, digital tools, 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 applied learning for real people.
Business Skills for the Real World
Besides the basics and nuances of English usage, participants in our language courses learn critical soft skills, like how to:
⟡ Make small talk in a professional setting
⟡ Handle international meetings
⟡ Express feedback or polite requests around the world
⟡ 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 total price. Please contact us to discuss the scope and schedule according to your needs. We look forward to hearing from you!
€ 900
15 × 60 min.
1 group of ≤ 5
Live Video Coaching
all-inclusive
€ 3,850
12 × ½ day
4 groups of ≤ 10
On-site training
all-inclusive
TBD
1 day
Any group size
Advanced seminar
Custom topic
Business Culture Workshops
Culture as a Success Factor
Internationally successful professionals have a hidden superpower: cultural awareness.
Intercultural skills are an unspoken requirement for career success today. Your company benefits, too, as frictionless communication among international colleagues leads to better business outcomes across the global supply chain.
Heather Bakst has spent the last decade helping teams gain intercultural competencies alongside their English skills. And because GermanBureau is a network, not an agency, you can book your workshop directly with Heather as an independent contractor.
Communication Beyond Language
Our English-language cultural workshops are made for professionals and global leaders at companies like yours.
A certified assessment from the Intercultural Readiness Check (IRC) forms the basis of the workshop. IRC is a high-quality assessment tool developed by Ursula Brinkmann, a PhD psychologist with over 15 years in the intercultural management field.
At a level of English adapted to each group, participants learn to recognize hidden cultural barriers and overcome them with confidence. By the end of the workshop, the team is ready to take advantage of its diversity as a force multiplier, not a liability.
You're already active in foreign markets? Then you know that language and culture can be an obstacle to getting work done around the world. As your business expands into the global economy, our culture and language consulting is your competitive advantage.
Flexible Formats
At home or at work, online or on-site: Bring the learning experience directly to your teams how and where they need it most. We can adapt the scope and schedule to your needs.
Companies with internationally active employees may choose to combine one-off cultural workshops with regular immersive English courses. Together, language proficiency and cultural awareness are the key to success in global teams.
Your people can work with us toward project-specific goals or improve their general awareness of how language and culture 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
Beginner English
Cultural Workshop
incl. assessment
On Site
1½ days
Advanced English
Cultural Workshop
incl. assessment
Custom
You decide
All levels
Cultural Workshop
incl. assessment
Our Team, Your Freelancers
Meet Your Core Team of Freelancers
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.
Our Partners
Add Independent Collaborators to Your Project
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.
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Foreign Language, Native Voice
Hire professional native speakers to translate your English and German content to a high standard.
Authentic writing gets your message across in local markets. As your business goes global, our editorial services adapt to your needs. As a bilingual native speaker, veteran translator Alexander Bakst is at your service—and his editorial colleagues are waiting in the wings to support your next global project.
Discover editorial services made for companies like yours. From native translation and proofreading to original writing and voiceovers, we can craft your message in English or German.
Translate with Confidence
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.
Human or Machine?
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.
AI Translator
Fast, affordable, convenient: There are times when all you need is a simple translation—quick and dirty! This is a job for a human-reviewed AI translator. Industry insiders call it post-edited machine translation (MTPE or PEMT) and often sell it under the banner of artificial intelligence.
- 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 that were lost in translation.
- 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.
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.
Mix and match
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.
€ 6
100 words
AI translator
Human review
€ 12
100 words
Pro translator
2 eyes only
€ 15
100 words
Pro translator
4-eyes review
Original Content
Native Content in English and German
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 existing content. We can produce a variety of written formats in English or German. We can even lend you our native-speaker voices for your next global media project!
This section describes the types of content we can create for you in general terms. For more details, please contact us to discuss your needs directly with the relevant content specialist.
Professional Editing and Proofreading
Imagine this: You've drafted an English text using AI tools, but you have no way of knowing if it's truly ready to publish in the target market.
That's where a native human review comes into play. We offer two types of editing service: basic proofreading and a full revision. The format and scope ranges anywhere 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
Here's another scenario: You've experimented with AI-generated audio for your video projects, but local audiences are giving mixed feedback.
Now you can commission all-human voiceovers 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. Reach out anytime to negotiate the details according to your needs. We're happy to provide references and samples on request.
€ 5
100 words
Full revision
Bilingual editor
€ 20
100 words
Original content
4-eyes review
TBD
1 min. of audio
Human voiceover
Native talent
Our Clients
Join Our Portfolio of Happy Clients
“Mr. Bakst [...] is not only a total professional in teaching English but also a young and up-to-date type of lecturer. Due to his modern teaching techniques, lessons with him were always interesting and fun. I would recommend Mr. Bakst anytime!”
“Sehr zu empfehlen. Von Projektanbahnung bis zur finalen Übermittlung: alles sehr professionell und jederzeit herzlich. Die Zusammenarbeit war astrein. Sobald wir wieder ein Übersetzungsprojekt haben, komme ich sehr gerne auf Dich zurück.”
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Contact
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