Dominique Jonkers

Dominique Jonkers—a freelance financial translator (English and Dutch > French) and head of Jonkers and Partners—is not someone who fits easily into traditional molds. Dutch by birth and by mothe1r tongue, he grew up a French-speaking Belgian surrounded by linguistic diversity. He began his career in corporate banking management, a notably international and multilingual environment. In 1997 as the Internet began to emerge, he made the switch to translation, harnessing an inborn talent to help define a new profession of “financial translator.”

A regular guest speaker on economic and financial translation at workshops and conferences, Dominique firmly believes that the French poet Boileau had translators in mind when he said that clear understanding leads to clear writing. He is a committed “targeter” who says translators must be absolutely familiar with the terminology, style, and usages of their fields of specialty. In 2000 he created an online resource for freelance financial translators that has done much to lift the level of professionalism in the field.

Dominique is a regular presenter at the specialized conferences organized alternately by SFT and ASTTI (Université d’été de la traduction financière). In 2011 he won the Société française des traducteurs’ Pierre Caillé Award for his Dutch to French translation of author and serial entrepreneur Leen Zevenbergen’s En morgen laat ik mijn baard staan, published in French as Brûle Ta Cravate et Danse.

A member of ASTTI, CBTI, and SFT, Dominique also served as SFT treasurer and was a member of the SFT executive committee for several years.