Open to opportunities

Athanas Musa

@athanasmusa

Message

I deliver near-zero-error Kiswahili–English translation, transcription, and editorial review.

Tanzania

Message

What I'm looking for

I’m looking for remote freelance work where accuracy matters—Kiswahili–English translation, transcription, MTPE/ASR post-editing, and publication-ready proofreading, with consistent briefs, clear timelines, and teams that value near-zero error and quality.

I’m a language professional with 3–5 years of hands-on experience in Kiswahili–English translation, audio and video transcription, creative writing, and professional proofreading for US and EU clients remotely.

With native Kiswahili (ILR 5) and advanced English (C1+), I handle Standard, Tanzanian, Kenyan, and Coastal varieties using ILR 3+/4 methodology—producing culturally fluent translations across legal, research, marketing, and domain-specific content.

I also specialize in verbatim and intelligent verbatim transcription, including speaker diarisation, timestamp alignment, subtitle/caption file creation (.srt, .vtt), and ASR post-editing (e.g., Whisper, Google ASR, Amazon Transcribe) to correct recognition and formatting issues to professional standards—especially for medical dictations and clinical documentation.

As a proofreader, I deliver publication-ready editorial review across grammar, syntax, style consistency, and tone calibration in both English and Kiswahili, including MTPE and post-editing of AI-generated text. I’m currently a B.Sc. Data Science candidate (expected 2026) and I enjoy using that analytical mindset to build bilingual glossaries, style guides, and AI training prompts that improve quality and consistency.

Experience

Work history, roles, and key accomplishments

Current

Freelance Translator & Transcriber

Current

Independent Contractor

Jan 2022 - Present (4 years 5 months)

Delivered Kiswahili↔English translations, audio/video transcription, and MTPE for US/EU clients, maintaining near-zero error rates and zero deadline misses. Produced 500+ original AI training prompts monthly and developed bilingual glossaries/style guides to ensure terminology consistency.

Kiswahili Machine Translation Post Editing (MTPE)Audio Video Transcription Timestamp Alignment ASR Post Editing

Education

Degrees, certifications, and relevant coursework

Mbeya University of Technology

Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.), Data Science

2022 -

B.Sc. Data Science program with coursework in research methods, applied statistics, information systems, database systems, and human-computer interaction. Expected completion is in 2026.

Transcribe Anywhere

Professional Transcription Certification, Transcription

Earned a professional transcription certification covering general and legal transcription, verbatim and intelligent verbatim transcription, and speaker diarisation with quality standards.

Coursera (University of Geneva)

Professional Translation & Localisation Certificate, Translation & Localisation

Completed a professional translation and localisation certificate covering translation methodology, MTPE, ILR standards, terminology management, and bilingual style guides.

Coursera (Wesleyan University)

Creative Writing Specialisation, Creative Writing

Completed a creative writing specialisation covering narrative craft, style and voice, long-form writing, editorial feedback, and publication-ready content.

Coursera (UC San Diego)

Medical Transcription Fundamentals, Medical Transcription

Completed medical transcription fundamentals focused on medical terminology, clinical documentation, PHI handling, and healthcare audio transcription.

Coursera (University of California)

English Grammar & Style: Proofreading & Editing, English Grammar & Editing

Completed a course focused on English grammar, punctuation, syntax, proofreading, and editorial standards for copy-editing and style consistency.

Microsoft

Microsoft Office Specialist Expert (MOS Expert): Word, Microsoft Word

Achieved Microsoft Office Specialist Expert (MOS Expert) for Word, including advanced document formatting, styles, and track changes for publication-ready documents.