Florian Ravaux – Professional Background, Hobbies and Motivation

Professional Background

A Breton by birth, Florian Ravaux is only scared of one thing: that the sky will fall on his head. Born in Rennes in 1983, Ravaux studied law in France at the Université de Rennes 1 and in Germany at the Humboldt Universität in Berlin. During his studies, he specialised in European law. He has also obtained a master’s degree in Political Science from the Institut des hautes études européennes in Strasbourg, in partnership with Sciences-po Strasbourg.

As a teenager, Ravaux became interested in foreign languages. His first compulsory foreign language was German. He also studied English. During his studies at the Lycée Cesson-Sévigné (sixth-form college), he went on numerous trips to Germany, as well as going on summer camps there. It was during these trips that he forged his first emotional ties with Germany. 

Wishing to acquire a first professional experience abroad, he decided to do an internship in Berlin at a French-German law firm. Following this, Ravaux then worked in Belgium in the field of European law. It wasn’t until 2010 that he decided to set up his own translation agency, Berlin Translate, starting by offering his clients translations from German into French.  

Creating the website was an eye-opener through finding texts, establishing a design, oding market design and being able to better understand his clients. Slowly but surely, the agency’s language services became better known. However, it still took several years before the site was well referenced on search engines, such as Google. 

With Berlin Translate’s growing success, Ravaux then decided to offer translation services into most languages. Since 2018, he has been offering certified translations both to companies and private individuals. 

Timeline

Hobbies

Ravaux loves cultural exchanges and sport, as well as theatre and music. 

Ravaux likes to spend time in the Grünewald forest in Berlin cycling with his French friends. He especially enjoys going there in the autumn when Ravaux slows down his pace in order to be able to pick the mushrooms and better appreciate the scenery.

He also plays the guitar, having bought his first electric guitar second-hand at a market. For the first few years, he played for several hours a day. Then, having reached a good level, he started his first band. However, with increasing responsibilities and demands on his time, Ravaux no longer has as many opportunities to play. Here, the coronavirus pandemic has helped a bit as he can devote more time to his instrument; he is currently taking lessons online with a fantastic guitar teacher. 

Florian Ravaux’s Primary Motivation

The translation agency Berlin Translate was born out of two motivations: on the one hand, the need for an expat to maintain links with their country of origin and, on the other hand, the desire to promote intercultural exchanges. 

Working with nationalities from all over the world is one of the primary advantages of working as a translator. Flexibility is another. In most cases, translators can work all over the world; all that is needed is a good internet connection. This means that you can work with European clients from a beach in Thailand. 

The main message that Florian Ravaux wishes to convey: to encourage people to travel, live and work abroad.

What Ravaux wishes for the future

After having spent several months in Asia (Thailand, Japan, China etc.), he returned from his travels with a desire to tour the whole world.