CV Interprète/Traductrice – Suzanne KAHAN

Suzanne Isabelle KAHANInterpreter - Translator

c/o Aline RionNative English

Cité MontaudranNative French

6, impasse Lavidalie, Appt 31

31400 Toulouse

FranceBilingual in Spanish

:06.46.52.21.94

E-mail:

liaison InterpreteR AND traNSLATOR

(Native English on my mother’s side – Native French on my father’s side)

FIELD OF EXPERTISE
Interpreter – Translator for the Aerospatiale Marignane / Eurocopter / 7 years + 1 year (Eurocopter called me occasionally for a few missions of 3 months)
Pharmaceutical Companies mainly Sanofi-Synthélabo and all its mergers& acquisitions / 5years
Non Profit Organizations / 3½years
Executive Assistant for various fields / 3& ½years
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Since July 2006 / Teacher and Translator
Aventis as a result ofmany merging & acquisitionswas laying out a lot of employees.So I started my own enterprise as a teacher and a translator in Paris. One to One classes of French and English mainly to adults. The drawback in Paris is that there are so many American free lance teachers that the competition was very hard, classes badly paid and not much translations or interpretations going on.
In 2008, I decided to leave Paris for Spain in a village on the sea side and I have lived for 2 years between Paris and Spain. Strangely enough, probably because I have no competition here: I am the only native English & French teacher in the whole area and Spanish people are very aware they need English.English school training is a big problem in Spanish Education. Ihave so much work that I have to refuse students.
2006 / Bilingual AssistantTranslatoratSanofi-Aventis fortheProduct Patrimony Manager of the EuropeanMarketing Department.WorkingLanguage: English.
Follow up generics manufactured in these countries using Excel tables – Meeting Organizations of all the Product Managers every six months -Management & updating the Manageress electronic calendar on outlook - Organization of conference calls – Travels organization– Management expenses – Preparation and translation of numerous power point presentations – Typing and translating meeting reports - Monitoring & translation of quarterly reports summarizing all activities of the PPM Europeandepartment and sending them to all European countries etc.
2005 / Bilingual Legal Assistantatsanofi-aventis:Legal Department – Finance and Securities Law for two Anglo-Saxon Lawyers.WorkingLanguage: English
Good command of Microsoft Office Package and researches on internet – Travels organization – Same tasks as any Assistant – Lots of filing for the different cases – Typing financial contracts in French or English and proofreading or translating the French ones–etc.
2004 (1 year) / Patent Bilingual Secretary - Cabinet Hirsch– Paris –WorkingLanguage: English
2003
(6 months) / Trilingual Assistant for the Supply ChainManager –Sanofi-synthelaboLatin America/ AfricaDepartment – WorkingLanguage: English & Spanish
Standard executive assistant work with assistance to the logisticians on different drugs – Follow up with the Latin American secretaries’ subsidiaries of drugs brandvalidity.
2003-2004
(6 months) / Trilingual Assistant (English & Spanish) for the Manager of Human Resources atSanofi-synthelabo–Latin America / AfricaDepartment WorkingLanguage: English & Spanish.
Same tasks as for any Manager – Updating his calendar – Watching his e-mails to remind him any important thing was coming up– Translationof all his e-mails in Spanish – Phone filtering – translation and typing of letters or e-mails in Spanish or English – Travels – Power Point Presentations after translating them – Calculation of the executives & employees bonuses at the end of the year. Working on the beginning of the reorganizationoutlines of the HR for Latin America and Africa –Sanofi-Synthelabo was going to merge with Aventis but no information had to leak out and all the work regarding reorganization had to remain absolutely confidential.
2001-2003
(2 ans) / Association InstitutHumanitaireEuropéen
In January 2001 following the end of my internship at Oxfam, I was hired at the European Humanitarian Institute Association.
My job was in fact to do everything regarding the association and I was all alone to perform these jobs :
keep the free health clinic performing as well as possible and;
Deal with the paperwork needed to be filled in or invoices to bepaid on time in order to runa Non Profit Organization.
(Consult the details of that job in my Motivation Letter)
2000
(6 months) / Oxfam Quebec
I have worked for six months within Oxfam - Québec in an internship necessary for the validation of a course as an Executive Assistant for the European Union. Wanting for a long time to work in a Non Profit Organization, I contacted many Non Profit Organizations to which I sent my resume.I selected organizations in Paris and in Lyon. However none accepted me for an internship. While visiting my son, an artist at the “cirque du soleil, in Montreal”, I took the opportunity to contact selected English- speaking & French speaking Non Profit Organizations.
My first phone call was to Oxfam - Québec in Montreal given that Oxfam is the biggest Non Profit Organization which has a presence in every Country in need of assistance.
In the North American style, the Director I called invited me to come to his office the following day. He introduced me to another Director, who needed someone to help him launch a campaign regarding fair trade coffee which was to begin in June of that year. He ended the conversation by giving me his card, shaking my hand warmly and saying: I will expect you in June 2000.
(Consult the details of that internship in my Motivation Letter).
97-98
(1 year) / Trilingual Sales Administrator- Lieber Aerospace Toulouse - WorkingLanguage: English
Sale of avionics cooling system for Asia, United States and Latin America -Orders placed on the phone by customers- or by fax. Answer by fax or phone to customers in both languages to inform them of the availability or not of their product and the time limit reception. Prepare the Pro-Forma invoice, etc.
1994 – 1997
(2 years plus 1 year as a temp) / TrilingualExecutive Assistant- Rhône Poulenc Rorer–Dainippon
Regulatory Affairs(6 months)
Creating dossiers for drugssubmission to the French Authorities, trying to obtain the AMM (Authorization to put the drug on the market) - then once on the French Market – Translating the dossiers for the drug approval by the FDA.WorkingLanguage: English & French.
CEO’sAssistant
During her Assistant holidays (6 months);
WorkingLanguage: English
Trilingual Executive Assistant& Translator-Medical Department–
Mrs. Richard (2 years)WorkingLanguage: English – French - Spanish
Clinical Trials – Phase III – regarding 10 European countries – Development of a molecule discovered by the Japanese & developed by Rhône Poulenc
(9 months). Hired in 1995 as her Personal Assistant.
1992-1994 / English Teacher in several Montessori Schools in Paris plus Suburbs
Though I did not have the Montessori training,I was hired for 2 years to teach English in three Elementary schools two hours a day.
I loved it but could not raise my son on such a small salary & so few hours so I went back to translation and working as an Executive Assistant for CEOs.
1992(1 year) / Trilingual Assistantat the American Joint Distribution Committee: American Jewish welfare International Organization based in New York -
Assistant of two Managers: one was from Argentina and the other one was an American Israeli -WorkingLanguage: English & Spanish
Participation in the effort to save the Jewish community in Sarajevo;
Keeping a permanent contact with the Eastern European communities– as well as the Latin American Jewish Communities.
(Consult the details of that job in my Motivation Letter)
1985-92 / Liaison Interpreterand Translator and Teacheratl’Aérospatiale - Marignane/Eurocopter
For seven years I translated and interpreted all the know-how regarding helicopters manufactured in that factory. Good command of the technical and scientific language regarding many departments like: the conception, manufacturing, designing, training (campus), trading, contracts, Public relation, documentation, Helicopters delivery, helicopters maintenance and many other departments.
I also taught Englishto Executives employees, middle managers, Technical employees, Technical helicopter teachers andexecutive secretaries to try to improve their English and help them in becoming self sufficient.
There was the traditional basis of Speaking – Vocabulary – Grammar & writing but the classes were customized according to the department in which the employees worked :
  • Specific Contracts vocabulary for Executives involved in dealing with selling helicopters or / and settling agreements with customers;
  • Specific Documentation vocabulary plus way of filing it;
  • specific Aeronautics vocabulary for helicopters manufactured by Aérospatiale/Eurocopter to the teachers working on the campus explaining the different parts and characteristics function of such & such helicopter (Interpreters were usually translating technical teachers as most of them came from the French Air Force and did not speak English or any other language);
  • Executive secretary : both regular English basis & technical helicopter jargon…etc.

1975 – 1977
(3 years) / English Teacher in Morocco in a government college(we used to call it Grammar school at the time – the Moroccan Educational system was a copy of the French one which had been initiated by the French Government while the country was under French protectorate for about two centuries -) for children aged from 10 to 18 years old.
English Teacher of French & English
In the evening, I taught in Private schools (mainly) for men who wanted to try the “French Baccalauréat” that had a very good reputation (“graduation” in America and “A levels” in Great Britain).
I gave two hours either of English or French twice a week to an audience of about 50 men who were all working and striving for improving their careers. They were much older than I was. I did not have the experience of “how to teach” which is a fantastic tool that gives you a lot of confidence in yourself and I must say teaching those adult men gave me a lot of work and I was very anxious and always completely flabbergasted at the end of a class when the whole class clapped and thanked me. I was mostly embarrassed and felt I did not deserve such a success as I really humbly thought the course could have been much better should I have the educational training structuring the course and helping me a lot.
1972-1974 / Private Teacher -one to one classes of French while I was studying Comparative Literature in Oxford.
I must say that I started teaching English classes at 15 years old to my school friends who needed to reinforce the English language. In that way I earned my pocket money.

FORMATION

9&10/10/2006 / Project Team Assistant – Training organized by Demos (A Training Center) – The Doctor who trained us during two very intensive days was the Training Manager of Clinact (CRO).
2002/2003 / TEFL – Teach English as a Foreign Language–Bachelor of Art level The classes went on for a year twice a week from 13h00 till 19h00- The President of the “Association Institut Humanitaire Européen” allowed me to take these afternoons off if I could manage studying & achieving my work load that meant often coming to the Association on Saturdays and Sundays. This training was taking place in an American Association (W.I.C.E) based in Paris which was working for the diploma achievement statement with the Rutgers University in New Jersey (U.S.A).
December 2000 / HUMACOOP –Fordep Geopolitical Administrator Training during two weeks.One quite known association handling a certificate showing that you passed the theoretical part allowing you to work in an NGO or NPO.
1999/2000 / A.D.E – European Bilingual Executive Assistant Diploma -Introduction to the European Law. It is at the end of theseclasses that I have undergonemy Internship in Oxfam-Quebec from June 1st till end of November 2000.
1984 / B.T.S-Interpreter/Translatorin English & Spanish – University of Aix - Marseille.
Special Training Course set up by the University where we studiedone year instead of the two years required to try a B.T.S. The entry level was A levels + 4, but as I was Native English,the teachers allowed meto take the entry exam that I passed. Then I passed and got my BTS (Brevet de Technicien Supérieur – Advanced Vocational Diploma).
1984
Computer Skills / British Chamber of Commerce Diploma- Marseille–France – Passed it simultaneously with the BTS
Microsoft Office Package 7 – Word – Power Point – Excel – Access – Electronic mail service: Lotus Notes, Outlook Express, and all the others like yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail which do not need a special training. E-rooms – Internet : researches – Links – create an electronic mail service – load all the free softwares – Install the computer and all the cables connected to it – Well unfortunately small things as <I wanted a training in computer maintenance but the French unemployment system told me : With a CV like yours we can find you a job in no time…As usual, though I had explained the situation they stuck to their ideas and as always never found anything for me but I did not carry out the computer training (6 months) which interested me so much ! French minds! One does not go changing jobs every 7 years even though there is no employment in his or her branch! Though I told them that in computer maintenance there would be no problem finding a job!
I’ll pay for the training as I have done most of my life…because working as a translator and a teacher I always fear aa failure and I like being the most self-sufficient!
Plus alittle technical knowledge on computers:
How to change some parts of the hardware devices: DVD device, install piece parts such as a WIFI device and more;
Open & clean the computer;
Doing all the connections while installing a new computer;
Loading all free software etc…
Volunteer work in several Non Profit Organizations
1972 - 1973 / Oxfam Headquarters in Oxford – While studying in Oxford for two years, I volunteered every week during my free time– Helping carrying out researches – Translations from English into Spanish or French, etc.
Summer of 1991 / Amnesty Internationalin London at the headquarters – I volunteered during the holidays for two months – I mainly helped reports to be translated in French or in Spanish.
2000 till 2006 / Artisans du Monde (world’s craftsman – Fair trade products) – I volunteered in this French Non Profit Organization on Saturdays when I was available for six years.

Reference Letters upon request

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