About FRESNEL

FRESNEL Technical Translations is owned by Maria Karra, an engineer and linguist with extensive experience in quality engineering and translation. Maria has studied engineering physics with a focus on spacecraft design (Bachelor's degree), mathematics (Minor), electrical engineering (Master's), applied linguistics (Master's) and translation (Master's). She is also a certified software tester and has 9 years of experience in software quality engineering and 2 years in space physics research. She is a founding member of the International Association of Professional Translators and Interpreters (IAPTI) and president of its Ethics Committee, associate member of the American Translators Association (ATA), member of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), and senior member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). Maria has lived and worked in the United States, Greece, France, and Belgium and currently lives in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.


FRESNEL is not a translation agency. There are no intermediaries or non-experts ever involved in your project. In order to handle large projects with tight deadlines, FRESNEL has a small, highly reliable network of expert translators and editors, thus providing fast, accurate, and complete solutions for your language needs.




Τη γλώσσα μου έδωσαν ελληνική,
το σπίτι φτωχικό στις αμμουδιές του Ομήρου...

Μονάχη έγνοια η γλώσσα μου
στις αμμουδιές του Ομήρου...

Οδυσσέας Ελύτης



* * * * * * * *



The art of translation lies less in knowing the other language than in knowing your own.

Ned Rorem



* * * * * * * *



Los escritores hacen la literatura nacional y los traductores hacen la literatura universal.

José Saramago



* * * * * * * *



Quelle que soit la chose que l'on veut dire,
il n'y a qu'un mot pour l'exprimer,
qu'un verbe pour l'animer et
qu'un adjectif pour la qualifier.
Il faut donc chercher jusqu'à ce qu'on les ait découverts,
ce mot, ce verbe,
cet adjectif
et ne jamais se contenter
de l'à-peu-près,
ne jamais avoir recours
à des supercheries,
même heureuses,
à des clowneries de langue
pour éviter la difficulté.

Guy de Maupassant



* * * * * * * *



The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.

Ludwig Wittgenstein



* * * * * * * *



Avoir une autre langue est de
posséder une deuxième âme.

Charlemagne



* * * * * * * *



Even if language is a living evolving organism,
we don't have to embrace all the changes that occur during our lifetimes.
If language is so alive, it can get sick.

Christopher Lehmann-Haupt



* * * * * * * *



Όταν κάποτε φύγω από τούτο το φως θα ελιχθώ προς τα πάνω όπως ένα
ρυακάκι πού μουρμουρίζει.

Κι αν τυχόν κάπου ανάμεσα
στους γαλάζιους διαδρόμους
συναντήσω αγγέλους,
θα τους μιλήσω ελληνικά,
επειδή δεν ξέρουνε γλώσσες.
Μιλάνε μεταξύ τους με μουσική.

Νικηφόρος Βρεττάκος



* * * * * * * *



The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference
between lightning and the lightning bug.

Mark Twain



* * * * * * * *



El lector ideal es un traductor.
Es capaz de desmenuzar un texto, retirarle la piel,
cortarlo hasta la médula, seguir cada arteria y cada vena
y luego poner en pie a un nuevo ser viviente.

Alberto Manguel



* * * * * * * *



Who does not know another language,
does not know his own.

Goethe