Coats Translation Service

Certified Members of The American Translators Association

Coats Translation Service has been in business on a full-time basis since 1985, though we have translated and edited translations for many more years from English into German and vice-versa. Sigrid’s experience stretches back to her student years in Germany, where she interpreted and translated for an international organization and while working with a lawyer. David's expertise in technology and the social sciences proved to be an invaluable addition to Sigrid's expertise in education, political sciences and psychology.


We accept jobs from individuals and companies and also work as independent contractors for translation agencies, offering a broad range of translating capabilities. Extensive translation experience in medical procedures and treatment, medical technology, business, financial, legal, advertising, and high-tech translations has become a solid foundation of our service. In addition, we translate personal letters and documents, such as birth certificates, drivers= licenses, and school records, literary and academic works, and old German script.


We work as a husband and wife team, with one native speaker in each language. The initial translation is usually done by the native speaker of the target language, editing is done by the other person, and final proofing by the original translator. Broad educational and experiential backgrounds, including technical-scientific, legal, business, education, and social work–psychotherapy, coupled with closely-maintained ties to both German and American cultures, and a deep professional and personal understanding of both cultures, assure the quality of our translations. For obscure terminology, in addition to an extensive library of translation dictionaries and other reference works, we gratefully rely on a network of experts in the engineering, medical, financial, and other fields (both German and American), if we need to broaden our understanding on a particular subject matter. With the appearance of the Internet, we also became skilled in researching within the wealth of online information.


Our most important goal is to render high-quality translations. We believe this shows, as our business has expanded more through word-of-mouth than through advertising. Generous feedback from satisfied customers has encouraged us to continue our work consistently, conscientiously, and accurately. Depending on the need, we will work with our customer, ask for feedback, clarify questions, listen to their interests or consult. Within this goal, we seek to provide translations which accurately reflect both the technical meaning of the source language text and the cultural nuances of the source language.

Last, but not least, we are certified members of the American Translators Association and Sigrid is also listed on the Minnesota statewide roster of court interpreters. Sigrid’s ATA certification is for the language pair English into German, and David’s ATA certification for German into English.

American Translators Association

Minneapolis, MN  
Phone: 612-379-7398
E-mail: sigrid (at) coatstranslation (dot) com