Welcome to 2016, and welcome to Berlin!
2015 treated us well at Red Tape Translation. Things got quite intense in the second half of the year. We welcomed Kim to our team to help out with overflowing inboxes and our team of interpreters and translators grew too. We even managed to have a cracking Christmas party at Kathleen’s favourite Italian restaurant, Trattoria Felice.
I’ve just discovered a bug and it seems that my contact forms haven’t been sending your enquiries through to us since about mid-November. Goodness me!!! I’d like to apologise to anyone who has requested a quote between November 17 and today through the website. There were plenty of enquiries coming directly from customers and we were flat out as usual, still, I can’t believe we didn’t even notice there weren’t any coming in from the website for so long.
For now, I will disable the forms and encourage you to email me directly. And offer my sincerest apologies!
30th September is a day to celebrate translation. Thanks, Facebook, for this pearl of wisdom. I didn’t realise such a day existed. It’s only fair that I celebrate it though. Anyone who books and confirms a translation today (German to English or English to German, regular or certified) will get a 20% discount. Holy moly! What a steal.
Cheers,
Kathleen Parker
Red Tape Translation is searching for confident German – English Sprachbegleiter to accompany English speakers to their German public office appointments in Berlin. The most common types of appointments are at the Bürgeramt, the Ausländerbehörde, and the Agentur für Arbeit. They take place all over Berlin.
Dear clients and website visitors,
It has been a crazy busy year! We have farewelled Nicole from the team, and welcomed Jakob, Florian, Julia, and Susanne. We have now helped hundreds of English speakers in Berlin with immigration appointments, address registrations, video interviews, tax appointments, drivers license applications, civil registration matters, passport applications, births, apartment viewings, and even a wonderful wedding thrown in for good measure.
I hope you have had a wonderful 2014 and look forward to next year! Guten Rutsch!
Dear Customers,
Thank you for bearing with me in the months following the birth of my lovely baby girl. Elise was born in late June and joins the Red Team as our Executive Accounts Manager. Considering that we don’t really have any executive accounts, there isn’t a lot for her to do, so she tends to just gurgle and kick around a lot.
Red Tape Translation is now back on track. Interpreters are available to go with you to your appointments, Telephone Time is on offer, and I am able to handle your translation requests once again.
Farewell Nicole, Welcome Jakob
We are sad to farewell Nicole, who will be leaving Berlin to have an adventure in Russia. In her place, we welcome Jakob. Jakob will be handling Appointment Help and Telephone Time duties, so look out for his friendly face at your next appointment.
I hope you all enjoyed the fabulous hot Berlin summer and I look forward to helping you soon!
Kathleen Parker
Dear Customers,
I am thrilled to welcome my baby daughter Elise into the world. It all happened a little sooner than expected and due to health and recovery reasons, I have to take some time off. I will be out of action for a couple of months over the summer. During this time:
For translation requests, you can continue to contact Red Tape Translation. Your requests will be forwarded on to one of my colleagues.
For interpreting requests, contact https://www.expath.de
Thanks for understanding!
Kathleen Parker
Dear customers and visitors,
Happy New Year! I hope that 2014 brings you health, happiness, and lots of great memories of life in Berlin. After a relaxing Christmas break in Australia, I’m back in business and looking forward to a massive 2014, with loads of English-speaking Berliners to help along the way.
Red Tape Translation kicks off with a brand new website at https://redtapetranslation.com. Have a look around and tell me what you think. Use the new contact forms to get a quote for an appointment, a translation, or telephone interpreting.
2014 will bring with it some exciting new cooperations with local businesses, as well as a wide variety of interpreting and translation projects. I’ll be visiting just about every Berlin public office there is: weddings, immigration, schools, new businesses, driving licenses, Elterngeld, Kita spots, and what to do when you’re leaving Berlin for good. I’ll continue to update the blog with tips and tricks on how to beat the bureaucracy in Berlin as I go.
Whatever 2014 holds in store for you, I hope it’s refreshing and exciting (and/or relaxing, whatever works). Frohes neues Jahr!
Kathleen Parker
Dear customers,
I will be taking a well-deserved three week break from December 13th until January 6th 2014, heading down under to enjoy an Aussie Christmas and New Years. On the beach. In the sun. Eating prawns and mangoes. During this time, your phone and e-mail enquiries may go unanswered.
I look forward to a busy and productive 2014, with loads of new English speakers falling in love with Berlin and plenty of trips to the foreigner’s office!
Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and New Years!
Kathleen Parker
The new kid on the block in the quarter north of Schönhauser Allee is a mountain child. Cosy, warm, and kid-friendly, Bergkind Cafe is run by the charming Carmen Garcia, who today donned bright pink sneakers and a high-topped bun and told me that the cafe opened just before Christmas last year. She’s decorated the intimate space in light, earthy colours, with tempting cake displays, a comfy sofa, lots of pillows, a stack of magazines, and jazz standards playing in the background. It’s tasteful and welcoming, and yes, the WLAN password hangs invitingly from the wall.
This place is an extra special treat if you’re living in Berlin. The love and care that has gone into restoring and designing this glamorous 1920‘s coffee house is extraordinary. Freshly opened at the beginning of December 2012, we visited just before Christmas with friends, and we left enchanted. Every detail, from the plates, trays, cups, chairs, cutlery, artwork, ornamentation, and even the serving uniform, has been lovingly thought out and charmingly executed.
This weary translator can be found tucked up in this cosy Wedding cafe between appointments at the Ausländerbehörde, and in this regard, the cafe’s name is quite fitting. Auszeit (Time Out) is on a picturesque corner of Kiatschoustraße in Wedding, a short walk over a quaint bridge connecting the quarter to Friedrich-Krause Ufer, where the foreigner’s office is located.
