Native German (DE) speaker in Johannesburg, South Africa
"Connecting people - Creating connections"
As a manager, director and owner of various businesses in several countries, subjects such as business management, governance, financials, human resources, strategy & development, marketing, sales, contracting - all aspects of creating, running and growing a business are familiar to me by first hand experience.
I mediate. I constantly transit between languages, cultures, habits, meanings and minds. I aspire to ensure you know why it makes sense. Or why not. I live in the limbo of missed understandings and endeavor to bring about peace by piece of understanding.
Made in Germany, I’m schooled in German & English and married into French, working between all 3 languages equally as an interpreter and translator.
Having lived and worked in the US and France, I’m now based in South Africa, from where I support international companies in their activities throughout the African continent.
I have a proven track record as a professional simultaneous interpreter, translator and voice in French, English and German for 9 years.
Everything else - experience, specializations etc. are on my trilingual website http://chrisgrosch.net/
A last minute call to interpret for an ongoing business meeting on a Sunday morning… After a short while, it becomes clear that it’s not only about languages, the misunderstandings run much deeper. I request permission to change my role to elaborate expectations, clarify attitudes, missed opportunities and frustrations of the involved parties. The client’s personality, the type of activity and their vision for all their stakeholders are unique and powerful. I become involved on a long-term basis, taking on aspects of the overall project management. Fast forward 15 months later… 16,000 singers from over 60 countries participate in the first ever World Choir Games in Africa!
Why does that make me proud? It’s about so much more than just a service - going the extra mile to add value far beyond, to bring something new, creating real change.
Juchi Pratt, Techne Translations , Tue Jun 29 2021
Chris not only provided a quality translation of our company website, he was also eminently personable and professional to work with. You will not regret choosing to work with him!
Maryam Paka N'Daye, Airboat Afrika , Tue Jun 29 2021
As the West Africa director for Airboat Afrika, I frequently rely on Chris Grosch for translating English material into French and vice versa. This includes marketing content, technical specifications, training manuals, operational planning as well as negotiations and contracts. Often enough we also have meetings to interpret with clients and government officials. Chris is a highly skilled and reliable professional, quick on the uptake and able to adapt to some very different environments without hesitation. Anyone working with Chris Grosch will be in very good hands and can expect top performance.