Stylized image of woman sitting crosslegged with a laptop. Globe icon on computer

Heidi Terese Vangen

I live in a rural borough in the outskirts of Bergen, Norway. Here I am surrounded by books and a garden I can never quite keep up with, although I do try.

I worked as a freelance translator alongside my day job as a digital archivist for several years until I decided to set up Uff da! Language Services and make a living out of it in 2024. I guess you could call it my midlife crisis, as I turned 40 years old right about the same time.

As a translator I specialize in faith and spirituality, health and wellness, and food, though not necessarily in conjunction with each other. My experience also covers various topics, including hospitality, homeware, beauty, and more.

I love that I get to immerse myself in a world of words every day and help people and their businesses in the process.

Let me introduce

myself!

Hi, I am Heidi Terese Vangen, a native Norwegian translator and writer working within the English to Norwegian language pair.

Learn more about my background and translation experience below.

Born this way

Being autistic, one could say I was born to be a translator. Before I could even articulate it, I knew I was different and I felt the painful consequences of not fully understanding the people around me. Later on as I learned to read and write, I experienced how easily misunderstandings occur. I saw how we as human beings are similar yet so very different in how we express ourselves. Even a shared language can be used in a myriad of ways, as a single word can communicate different things to different people. Basically, communication is tricky even without a neurodivergent brain.

Due to these circumstances, I pushed myself to use my intellect to decipher all the layers of communication that I didn't inherently grasp. I analyzed my way to other people's point of view, actively examining their message. I had to work to achieve what most people take for granted, and because of this, I became an excellent translator.

Translation is about more than just replacing one word for another in a different language; it's about conveying the meaning behind the words and everything unspoken between them. While I've been professionally translating for several years, my true experience spans a lifetime.

Snippets from Heidi's CV

Translation experience

Translation, localization, editing and quality assurance since 2020. Clients include Argos Multilingual, Simple App, Gengo, Welocalize, and Ultimate Languages. Within topics such as health and fitness, ecommerce, cooking, hospitality and faith.

Education

Bachelor’s Degree in Comparative Religion, The University of Bergen, 2011
One-Year Programme in Political Science, Molde University College, 2007

Certificate

“Become a Freelance Translator”, The Translator Academy, 2024

Languages

Norwegian Bokmål (Native)
English (Advanced)
Dutch (Beginner)
Danish(Reading comprehension)
Swedish(Reading comprehension)

Skills

Translation and localization
Editing
Quality assurance
Project management
Creative writing
CAT tools

Want to learn more?

Full CV

ProZ Profile

Personal website

Oh, and if you read Norwegian and want greater exposure to my everyday quirks, feel free to connect with me on Instagram or my personal website. And of course LinkedIn, where I mostly write in English.