As Executive Secretary for SIOFA (Southern Indian Ocean Fisheries Agreement) from 2015-2019, it was a real pleasure to benefit from James' reassuring and professional skills for our annual Compliance Committees and Meetings of the Parties, whether in Reunion Island or for our conferences in Mauritius and Thailand. His skills as an interpreter cannot be understated - his capacity to interpret simultaneously between French and English for such a technical subject is impressive, not to mention his grasp of such a long list of acronyms connected to fisheries. He is very patient and flexible too, and happy to adapt to the last-minute surprises of international organisations and our ever-changing timetables. It was also his responsibility to organise all of the technical equipment (booths and headsets etc) for our meetings in Mauritius and Phuket, which is testament to his organisational skills too. His clear British accent is a real advantage for the many members of the organisation who do not speak English as a first language (Japan, EU, China), and the simple fact that he continued this contract during the COVID pandemic is testament to his skills, as the French Ministry of Agriculture opted to stick with him instead of choosing in-house interpreters for remote conferencing.

"A l'occasion de l'Atelier de formation sur les cyclones tropicaux organisé sous l'égide de l'OMM (Organisation météorologique Mondiale) au profit des prévisionnistes des Services Météorologiques Nationaux des pays de la zone du Sud-Ouest de l'océan Indien, que le Centre des Cyclones Tropicaux de La Réunion accueille tous les deux ans, nous avons eu l'occasion de faire plusieurs fois appel aux services de M. James Christie pour assurer le service d'interprétariat français-anglais. Il a donné toute satisfaction dans cet exercice, pourtant ardu, compte tenu de la technicité et de la spécificité du jargon et vocabulaire utilisés dans le cadre de cet Atelier scientifique très spécialisé.”

As an international speaker, quality of translation is exceedingly important to me. I speak several languages well enough to understand the translator’s words even though the accuracy of my own French spoken word choices are less than optimal for teaching purposes. As an international speaker, quality of translation is exceedingly important to me. I speak several languages well enough to understand the translator’s words even though the accuracy of my own French spoken word choices are less than optimal for teaching purposes. Hearing the precision with which James Christie was able to express my ideas in French was an exceptionally positive experience. He had familiarized himself with my materials in advance and was prepared with a few brief clarifications at the start of the day. He kept a good pace, so that I – and the audience --nearly forgot that translation was needed. I highly recommend James for English to French translations.

Je travaille avec James Christie en tant que traducteur et interprète depuis 10 ans et j’ai toujours eu d’excellents rapports avec lui. James est une personne d’une grande qualité professionnelle, sérieuse, fiable, accommodante, toujours de bonne humeur. Toutes les interventions au cours desquelles j’ai travaillé avec lui ont été agréables et efficaces. Je le recommande naturellement sans aucune hésitation en tant qu’interprète. Je suis certain que tous ses clients sont pleinement satisfaits de ses prestations.