Peter Buckley Contact: To send e-mail to this translator, you have to log in first and then return here. Editor capability: No Translation combinations:  From To Level French, French(France) English, English(Australia/NZ), English(North America), English(South Africa), English(UK) Medium Ratings received from organizations:   — Resume: After spending nine years as a French teacher in a secondary school,I decided that I would like to try my hand as a translator. It seemed a natural progression to me, since I was always translating the written French word "in my head" or interpreting when I heard any spoken French.I contacted the Institute of Linguists in the UK and decided to study for the Diploma in Translation (French to English). The following January I took the examination and passed,semi-specialising in Technology and Social Sciences. Over the next three years,I passed in the specialist categories of Business,Literature,Science and Law. Since receiving my diploma,I have covered all kinds of translation work as a freelance.This includes simple documents such as CV's or Business Letters, through to technical translations for specialist magazines and translations of newspaper and magazine articles.For example, here is the original article which appeared online in June 2009: http://www.lepoint.fr/actualites-societe/2009-06-19/le-combat-republicain-d-andre-gerin-pc/920/0/354192 Here is the translation I produced: "I have received hundreds and hundreds of messages and 90% of them are positive", declared the French Communist depute Andre Gerin triumphantly. "The French are in favour of a public debate". Gerin is calling for a parliamentary inquiry into the wearing of the Islamic all-body veil in public places. This initiative on the part of the Mayor of Venissieux in the Rhone area, is supported by 66 deputes. Nor is this level of support surprising, in his view. "The current situation is shocking and distressing", explained Gerin to the online version of Le Point ,the French weekly. "The sight of these ghost-like figures, enclosed in their mobile prisons, wandering through our streets, creates a deep unease among the general public". However, the Communist depute, who is engaged in a "republican struggle" for "an enlightened form of Islam", has been outpaced by the French government. After two days of debate over the wearing of the of the head-to-foot veil by some Muslim women, the idea of introducing a new law has come to the fore. While the Urban Affairs Minister Fadela Amara has been speaking in favour of banning it, the Education Minister Xavier Darcos has denounced this item of clothing as a sign of "oppression". Furthermore, on Saturday, the government spokesman Luc Chatel did not rule out passing legislation on the matter. "If it came to light that the burka was being worn under duress, in other words against republican principles, then the French parliament would clearly need to take this into account", he said, speaking on France 2 television. As for Nicolas Sarkozy, in his wish "not to be swayed by the emotions of the moment", he will clarify his own position on Monday to a group of politicians from both houses of the French parliament, during talks to be held at Versailles. In Andre Gerin's view, a new law on the wearing of the all-over veil is not the top priority. In his view, the more important need is "to re-assert the principle of laicite in France by holding a parliamentary commission on the issue. The aim of such a commission would be "to formulate proposals designed to counter actions which represent an attack on the freedom of the individual on French soil". Members of this commission would include not only representatives from the Muslim community, but also feminist organisations such as Ni Pute Ni Soumise ( "Neither Whores Nor Submissives"). The need for such a commission is now urgent, according to the depute and Mayor, who cites as an example the situation in Venissieux. "Not being able to see the face of a woman wearing a veil can create problems. Petty arguments can break out at the school gates, or during weddings, or when identity documents are being drawn up. Anyone could be hiding beneath a burka. The burka as a symbol. Thus the whole controversy surrounding the role of religion, and Islam in particular, in French society, has been re-ignited. Already a few years earlier, the debate over the wearing of the veil in French schools had arisen, namely about whether France should wisely and tolerantly allow the public expression of religious entity and cultural difference, or whether it should clearly mark the boundary-lines, beyond which laicite, a fundamental principle of the French Republic, would be compromised. By adopting the 2004 law banning the wearing of religious symbols in educational establishments, the French parliament had evidently chosen the second option. In its ruling of June 23, the Conseil d'Etat adopted a similar position. No doubt it will once again be criticised for stigmatising a religion, in this case Islam, and for not taking account of the gulf separating it (the Conseil) from the complex reality of French society. The Conseil d'Etat has admittedly arrived at its ruling on the basis of a judgement of principle: in its estimation, the burka is anything but a trivial religious sign, the result of a simple personal choice or act of freedom of conscience; rather, it represents a highly important symbol for the most militant minority tendency in Islam, which calls for an extreme form of practice of the religion, a symbol of segregation between men and women, an unacceptable symbol of the inferior status of women in this interpretation of Islam. How could one possibly argue with the Conseil's ruling on the matter?" When I am not involved in translation projects,I work part-time as a private tutor,teaching French to both school-age students,as well as adults. You can access my website here: http://www.a1frenchtuition.co.uk/