The rise of new media has made it even more important to use distinctive language. In 2011, we concluded that the creative industry could use a helping hand in this respect. The Translation Collective was born. Since then, many types of organisations have found their way to our agency, and we have developed into an all-round creative translation provider.
Team
TeamThis is our story
it all began somewhere after the Big Bang
2011
The first creative translation agency of the Netherlands is born!
2015
The Translation Collective expands.
2016
Our first ‘workcation’ in Cape Town.
2019
We’re moving our office from Amsterdam-West to the creative hub right in the middle of Amsterdam.
2021
The Translation Collective expands its technical knowhow after being incorporated into the holding of Linguatech.
2022
The Translation Collective: More than 10.000 projects and counting in service of the creative industry!
Our team
Our teamWe love to read your books, watch your films, ,engage in conversation, and help you in any way we can.
Remko
Milou
Miles
Dennis
Channa
Jeroen
Edith
Jeanne
Our collective code
Our collective code code
The agency
Our office is situated right in the middle of old Amsterdam and contains real people with a passion for language, culture and translating! We specialise in transcreation for the creative industry to help organisations, and the climate as whole to be future ready.
Our translators
We work with native speakers with relevant knowledge of their culture, customs, way of life and way of thinking. This enables us to offer high quality translations that are tailored perfectly to the target audience’s needs..
No administrative hassle
Our motto is that people should focus on what their good at, rather than wasting time on unnecessary mouse clicks. Our developers have created a revolutionary translation platform that simplifies the translation process for us and our translators.
Down memory lane
Down memory laneWe’ve achieved multiple milestones over the past years at The Translation Collective. Have a look through our memory lane for a summarized history of our creative translation agency.
january
Creative Fabrica
Creative Fabrica is a combination of love for art and a passion for handmade crafts and fonts. The founders realized it was a hassle to easily find ideas and designs, such as knitting patterns, fonts and printables, and established Creative Fabrica in 2016 in Amsterdam. With over a thousand designs and creative ideas available on their website, a lack of inspiration is surely something of the past.Creative Fabrica asked us to translate their beautifully styled English glossary to German, Spanish, Dutch, French, Italian, Polish and Brazilian-Portuguese. We put our most creative translators on the task, and they kept regular contact with Creative Fabrica to ensure the terminology is always correct. Equipped with an expansive glossary in numerous languages, Creative Fabrica is well on it’s way to become the go-to platform for the creative community. We are pleased to be of assistance in helping Creative Fabrica with their international reach.
august
New content team
The content team of The Translation Collective has expanded! Our fantastic intern Franciska has returned to take care of the marketing together with co-founder Miles, Channa and our current intern Stefan. This includes articles and texts for the website, the social media posts, brochures and our Newsletter!
COMING SOON
Will your company be our next client?
The Translation Collective engages in a large network of language experts in every available discipline. Our editors, copywriters, translators and subtitle specialists are available for all your needs. If you are interested in meeting us, or if you have a question, feel free to contact us via info@hetvertaalcollectief.nl, give us a call at +31 20 261 3886 or leave a message through our contact page. You’re also welcome to stop by our office, we have the coffee and tea ready!
january
Super-intern Channa flies in
Channa made her entrance during one of the many waves of the corona virus as a wonderful intern and stayed with us as our content and marketing assistant. Next to her love for language, she is a fanatic fan of Amsterdam’s soccer team Ajax and she doesn’t mind waking up early in the weekends for an online K-pop concert. Something that always cheers her up is a good (or not) pun.
august
Linguatech
After a few exciting months it finally happened: The Translation Collective became part of the Linguatech holding! Over the years, we’ve noticed that technology has become increasingly important in the translation industry. This left us with a choice: Should we invent the technological wheel ourselves or should we get involved with an organization that has spent years working on innovation and technological advances in the industry? We chose the latter, because if you can’t beat them, join them. This might seem like a big change, but The Translation Collective remains the translation office it always was and will continue to offer creative translations! Our personal service and high quality translations will still be our main priority. After a lengthy corona virus lockdown and being forced to work from home, we moved our office to the beautiful location of the Prins Hendrikkade in Amsterdam. We absolutely love the view, as you can see on the picture above!
october
A new translation platform
‘’Humans are supposed to be engaged with human work, and not with unnecessary mouse clicks.’’ This motto has guided our heroes at the IT department in their creation of a revolutionary translating platform that makes the process easier for both our clients and our translators. This platform gives us more room to focus on the things we enjoy: namely ensuring our translations are of top-notch quality.
january
Our fifth workcation (Vietnam)
Our most recent workcation took us to Vietnam, where we stayed in a gorgeous and authentic Vietnamese house near Hoi An. We had the idea to spend our trip in two separate parts of the country, starting in the south of the country and then moving up north to Hanoi. Our plan was to celebrate the Vietnamese new year --, but unfortunately, everything in town was closed. This was a surprise to us, and it was quite the challenge to find something to eat or drink! Vietnam is an amazing country with beautiful nature, good food (shout-out to the amazing – sandwiches) and lovely people. But we also had to put the ‘work’ in workcation, so before we could go the karaoke bars, we had several projects, including the pilot for the Flitsmeister app, to complete. Never a dull moment in Vietnam!
march
Corona virus forces The Translation Collective online
We’re doing our part to contain the corona by working from home! Luckily, we were able to adapt and our group photo should tell you we managed to keep everything running.
may
Our client Amsterdam Museum opens ‘’Corona in the city’’
You can find the Amsterdam Museum right in the middle of town, between the Kalverstraat and the Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal. As the name suggests, you can find everything about the history, the present and the future of Amsterdam in the museum. We are proud to have them as our client and to help them with their English translations. One recent exhibition that required our translations is ‘’corona in the city’’, a digital exhibition where locals share their experiences of the corona lockdown with photos, poems, video’s and diaries. The museum asked us to translate several of the art projects into English for their digital versions on the website. One notable example is the project ‘’Black lives matter’’, about the protests in Amsterdam after the death of the American George Floyd.
february
Our fourth workcation (Bali)
After three amazing workcations in crowded cities, we decided to try someplace more traditional. We rented a beautiful house in the middle of the rice fields of Bali, and enjoyed our mornings and afternoons either in our swimming pool, or exploring the gorgeous island by bike or scooter. Because of the time zone, we spent the evenings on work. Quite fancy for a working day in February! We worked on the first Dutch movie on the Dutch military in our former eastern colonial territory to hit the cinemas. Research material for the movie had to be translated from Bahasa Indonesia to English and several video’s had to be translated to either Dutch or English. It was an honor for us to work on this project.
march
The Translation Collective on the radio!
Are you allowed to use the word ‘Bosneger’ (literal translation: forest negro) in a subtitle? Our founder Miles was called in the middle of the night by Shay Krueger, DJ at Radio 2. She had seen the movie Green Book, which features a black pianist and his Italian-American driver on a tour through the American South of the 60’s. Somewhere in the movie the line ‘King of the Jungle’ is spoken, and the Dutch translator (who is not one of ours), due to lack of a direct translation, subtitled it with ‘Bosneger’ (forest negro). Shay thought this was a quite heavy translation and she asked Miles if this is appropriate. You can check the full video on our youtube channel!
july
The move from B. to C.
Some of our sharp readers might have noticed it: we have a new address in our signature! We’ve moved into Capital C this summer. Capital C is a new hub for the Dutch creative industry, and you can find us just a few floors below the beautiful pink glass dome on the picture above. If you happen to be around, feel free to visit us! The coffee and tea is always ready!
february
Third Workcation (Tel Aviv)
After two successful workcations to South Africa, we were excited to change the pace and visit the lively and innovative city of Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv counts the most start-ups per citizen globally, and this was very noticeable in our own rented office in co-working office hub ‘MindSpace’. The workcation was filled with interesting conversations, amazing street food and special trips to fascinating cities such as Jerusalem, Ramallah and several others, including the Palestinian areas. We will fondly remember this workcation!
december
Co-founder Rosy has a newborn child and steps down from The Translation Collective
We congratulate Rosy with the birth of her newborn child, the beautiful Salie, on the 30th December 2018. She will enter a new phase in her life, but will remain her position as stockholder in our company. We will remember the good times, and we wish Rosy all the best in the future!
december
Our first zoo: De Apenheul
De Apenheul attracts many visitors, including many tourists. Therefore it’s necessary to have all texts in and around the zoo in different languages. We have provided the Apenheul with the German and English texts to lead visitors the way around the zoo and to help their marketing expressions to reach as many visitors as possible. We have specialized translators with an expertise in biology who were vital in setting the right tone of voice for many of the texts in Apenheul and other zoo’s.
february
Second workcation (Cape Town)
Our successful first workcation left us longing for more, so in February 2017 we took our second trip to Cape Town. We stayed near the university campus this time. Next to ‘Spin Street House’, we also worked in ‘Workshop17’ at the V&A Waterfront. We’ve had many wonderful meetings with an international set of people and interesting conversations on the hardships of the country. There was, for example, a protest against South-African president Zuma right outside of our office. One of our highlights was the Kirstenbosch concert at the foot of the Tafelberg.
may
New website
The founders of The Translation Collective already knew that the old, partially self-built and black and white website was not cutting it anymore. In collaboration with our neighbors in Amsterdam, marketing agency Lefhebbers, we created a new, better, website. We exchanged many conversations and ideas, and a new concept for the site was born.
october
WeTransfer & Noord Nederlands Toneel
Two premium clients from industries not all that familiar to us: Apps en Theatre. Luckily, our previous experience with marketing, movie scripts, treatments and smaller theatres came in handy and allowed us to have a successful partnership.
january
First workation (Cape Town)
Our first workcation was in Cape Town in 2016 and we used the co-working space on ‘Spin Street House’ on the east side of Cape Town. We have visited a local translation agency for inspiration and attended meetings at the university of Cape Town. But before we began working, we took a hike to the top of the Lion’s head to view the beautiful sunrise over the bay. Our evenings were spent relaxing with drink and partying at Kloof Street. It was a fantastic experience for our team!
july
Event: Summerfestival tour
We decided to take our wondrous event ‘Cocktails and bullshit stories’ on tour to several festivalsl. The event hosted a multitude of exciting and bizarre acts on language, including Justin Samgar, LBTGQ group The House of Vineyard, Joost van Bellen and Mental Theo.
november
First art festival: Amsterdam Art
The Amsterdam Art Weekend (AAW) is a yearly hosted event in galleries and exhibition halls to show the latest developments of contemporary art to a bigger audience. They also host lectures, performances and tours at more than 100 events spread across 50 locations. The Translation Collective has provided the editing work on the program, translations for press releases and other relevant pieces.
july
Our first event (Cocktails and bullshit stories)
Cocktails and bullshit stories was hosted for the first time in 2015 in association with The Translation Collective and several other locals with a passion for language and stories. As translators, book collectors, writers and concepters, our opinion is that literary gatherings should be more accessible within the current literary culture in Amsterdam. The event will consist of expert telling their most entertaining anecdotes, stories and fun facts. Several well-known Dutch figures from the literary world and musicians attended the successful event.
september
First foodie scale-up (HelloFresh)
The Translation Collective has provided the translations for HelloFresh since 2015. HelloFresh provides healthy food with fresh ingredients for everyone with a busy lifestyle. Our service consists of weekly translations of the recipes in French for the Walloon market, the English Webcopy and the DTP for the recipes.
december
New creative client: Creative Holland
The Dutch creative industry is in high regards internationally. It consists of a mix of innovation, creativity and business and is part of the top 10 creative industries worldwide. Creative Holland stimulates the Dutch industry by telling success stories of creative businesses. They inspire, promote and give useful tips and tricks to entrepreneurs with international ambitions. Our German to Dutch and English to Dutch translators are helping Creative Holland continuously by translating their content and allowing a greater reach.
february
A new location for our office relocates
Ricardo van Loenen told us of a new start-up hub he was going to set up in Amsterdam. We were one of the first to occupy the building, shortly before the hub would be bustling with activity. We’ve spent countless hours working, meeting, sporting and partying at this location. We are happy to have been able to set up shop at the hub!
june
Our team of translators has expanded to include, among others, Chinese, Arabic, Japanese
To fulfill the ever growing need of translations by our clients, we’ve expanded our team with dedicated, motivated and creative language virtuosi from across the globe. Experienced translators and correctors handled the screening by selecting the translations from the applicants. They paid close attention to creativity, conciseness and in some cases: humor.
october
The start of our famed newsletters
In collaboration with our first marking employer Rene van der Stok, aka ‘Sticks’, our quarterly newsletters have kicked off this year. The newsletters are filled with comical fun facts, interesting stories from the creative industries, special projects we found or had the pleasure engaging in and news.
april
Our first client from the movie-industry.(Warner Bros.)
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. is one of the worlds biggest producers for film and tv. Based in California, they found their way to our little office in 2013 for Dutch translations of the synopses of their films and series, which include well known titles such as Game of Thrones and Batman. A synopsis is the catchy text you can find on the back of DVD’s or on IMDB. These small texts are like snacks for our translators, and they can be as creative with them as they want. Americans tend to use a lot of superlatives in their language, and this means our translators need to be creative to find a fitting equivalent in Dutch. We’ve become the main source of translations for Warner Bros. and with over 700 synopses translated and counting!
july
Our first foodie client (Shoot My Food)
Shoot my Food is passionate about the food industry. Their products are made with enthusiasm, care and joy. We’ve been expressing this passion in our translations for them ever since they became our client in 2013. One of their food projects is the monthly Food Inspiration Magazine. It features trends, inspiration, interviews, concept watching and journalism regarding the food industry.
october
Our first book (Thinking about money and value))
Where does money come from, and how is value created? What is the moral basis of our capitalist system, and does money or economic growth provide happiness? These questions aren’t easy to answer, even though we’re all handling money on a daily basis. Even though plenty of texts on these topics have been written in the past century, only few of us really know the inner workings of the economy. This bundle brings several of the key texts, written by philosophers, sociologists, historians, bankers and traders, together in an single book to cover the ideas at the base of current economic system. This bundle is filled with texts to make you think about the role of the economy in our lives, and our current stance on money, economic growth and the distribution of wealth.
january
First media client (VICE)
Canadian-American company Vice Media encompasses a magazine, website, televion and film production studio, record label and imprint. We’ve been translating a host of texts including interviews, audio transcriptions and subtitles for them since 2012.
march
First museum(The museum of the canals, Amsterdam)
Grachtenmuseum Amsterdam (Museum of the canals) is dedicated to the 17th century canals in Amsterdams. It was opened in 2011 after the canals were added to the World Heritage List by UNESCO in 2010. We were honored to help the museum show the beautiful canals to a wide international audience with our translations.
september
Our team of translators expands to include, among others, Spanish, Italian and German
To fulfill the ever growing need of translations by our clients, we’ve expanded our team with dedicated, motivated and creative language virtuosi from across the globe. Experienced translators and correctors handled the screening by selecting the translations from the applicants. They paid close attention to creativity, conciseness and in some cases: humor.
september
The Translation Collective is born
The first creative translation office of The Netherlands is born! The rise of new media outlets signals an increase in importance for creativity in language. Therefore, we concluded that the creative industry could use a helping hand, and founded our office in 2011. Miles Niemeijer, Rosy Piets and David Henrichs collaborated to ensure the creative industry will have access to a top notch translation service, and the creative spark and comedy wouldn’t be lost in translation.
october
Our first assignment
Our first assignment was to provide translations and subtitles to a film about sister Leonarda van Leeuwen, who was abbess of the Sint Joseph-mountain monastery in Megen during the roaring sixties. This first assignment, or our baptism, was partly in Rotterdam with the friendly editor Erik, who taught us the ins-and-outs of the field of subtitling.
november
Recruitment of English and Dutch translators
The economic recession of 2011 allowed us to easily recruit talented and creative translators and content creators in our creative network. Our initiative for a specialized translation office was picking up steam and received favorable feedback from the creative industry. Dutch and English are the most commonly encountered and requested languages for our translations, both back in 2011 and in the present.
Join the team
Are you as passionate about translating as we are, and would you like to apply for a position as a freelance translator, subtitler of writer at The Translation Collective? Then send your CV and cover letter to info@hetvertaalcollectief.nl
