IDM Thun - Center for Vocational Education and Training IDM: Localization

Over four years, I worked with the director of IDM Thun, a vocational school in Switzerland, on various international initiatives. Some projects involved developing copy for presentations and websites, and, in other instances, I was engaged as a German-English translator. The central focus of our work was presenting both the school and the Swiss vocational system to policymakers and educational administrators in other countries.

Skills: Presentations; Copywriting; Translation and localization

The copy below is a subsection of a localized German-English translation I prepared for the school’s informational viewbook. 

Text

“Whoever is unable to help himself, can be helped by no one,” said Swiss education reformer Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi. We take the responsibility of preparing our students to be able to care for themselves seriously. Our highest priority is fostering independence and initiative. With rapid technical and technological developments and social change in the professional world, these traits are indispensable. 

If we want our school to positively address these progressions, we too must constantly evolve. The ability to address change and be comfortable in dynamic environments is a vital skill for modern professionals who need to navigate and establish themselves within the free market. In this context, professional pride is essential: pride for what one can do and for that which one is still learning. Here at IDM, our guiding principle is that student development must remain the primary motivation for everything we do. And we do this with pride. 

In the spirit of Pestalozzi, we also want to give our students the skills to be self-aware and self-reliant for today’s professional world and job market. Our name, IDM, does not only stand for Industrie, Dienstleistung and Modegestaltung, or industry, services and fashion design. It is also ‘I’ for Innovation, ‘D’ for Denken or Thinking and ‘M’ for Machen or Creating and ‘I’ for Ich or me, ‘D’ for du or you and ‘M’ for Miteinander, or us collectively. Together, we want to prepare the next generation of professionals for the future.