Kresimir Chris Kunej

Kresimir Chris Kunej (born August 5, 1975) is a Croatian-American translator, interpreter, educator, author, linguist and activist. His expertise is in translations of Croatian to English and English to Croatian, and he is an instructor of both languages. He is a native speaker of both languages and has a formal education. He has also been an activist attempting to change the regulations/standards of the formal status of translators in the Republic of Croatia. His activism received Croatian media attention. Some of his professional papers/articles (academic publishing) were published in trade publications and were cited/quoted by several sources. One of his papers is used as required reading at Germany’s University of Tubingen, Department of Slavic languages.
Early Years
Chris Kresimir Kunej was born in Zagreb, Croatia. He moved to the United States with family in 1987 as a child. His childhood years in the US were spent in the state of California. He graduated from in 1994, after which he relocated to Los Angeles; his home for about 2 years (1995-1997). During that time he also visited and spent about 3 months in Osaka, Japan. He attended Santa Monica College for a year (1995-1996) working towards a Business Administration degree but did not attain one due to his sudden return to Croatia.
Active professional years in Croatia
Kunej arrived back in Zagreb, Croatia in the summer of 1997. He began working as a language teacher and translator/interpreter in late 1999 at the Berlitz Language Schools Zagreb. He worked there for approximately 4 years (1999-2003). At the same time he attended the University of Zagreb and reached the status of a graduate student in 2004. His major course of study was English Language and Literature. In addition, he was doing translations and interpretations as an independent professional for numerous private companies, institutions, NGO’s, and government agencies.
During the same time period he translated several published books that are listed on the Union Catalog of Croatian Libraries (Croatian Library Network) on the internet . (A list of some of his published translations can also be obtained on the website of the National and University Library in Zagreb,.) As can be ascertained on the network of Croatian libraries, most of his works are widely available in national, academic and city libraries.
Notable works include several translations of books about the Croatian tourist attraction city of Dubrovnik,,, and the translation of the town of Kumrovec Museum of Croatian Zagorje exhibit on the topic of wedding customs in that region of Croatia . In addition to the library catalog, the wedding customs book is mentioned also online on the Rijeka City Library website , as well as on the website of the Croatian Museum Documentation Center .
One of the more notable associations of his was translating for the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Department of Steel Structures. During his cooperation with professors there he translated a course textbook that is being used as course material at the University .
Mr. Kunej's most notable publication is a professional article/paper he wrote in 2003 entitled “Analysis of Translations from Croatian to English and Vice-Versa Along with Suggestions for Improving the Profession”
that was published by the Croatian Association of Technical and Scientific Translators
in their trade publication “Translator”.
The highest level of success that this article has thus far achieved is the fact that it is being used as required reading/additional text for a seminar at the University of Tubingen (Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen) ,Department of Slavic Languages. This is one of Germany’s oldest and most internationally noted universities and has been ranked first among all German universities for many years.
This article was the basis for an initiative that took place in Croatia during 2003-2004 to create standards and criteria for the profession of translators/interpreters and for private foreign language schools. Mr. Kunej organized this initiative, invited the media, set up petition signing and collected support from the English Department professors in form of their signatures. He also put together a list of numerous signatures and stamps of many similar minded legitimate translation agencies and institutions.
Kunej’s initiative did attract media attention; Croatian National Television station “HTV2” covered his event of petition signing at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb within their daily news show “Zagrebacka panorama”
(a show similar to "Good Morning America").
Mr. Kunej was interviewed. Screenshot pictures of the show are below, one citing Mr. Kunej as the "inicijator" (Croatian word meaning organizing party) of the initiative. Two newspapers with the highest print run in Croatia (“Jutarnji list” and “Vecernji list” ) also ran small articles on the initiative. Over 500 student signatures were collected.
Another TV news show of a similar type -"Meridijan 16"- aired a segment featuring the same issue but for non-regulation of private language schools in Croatia, where efforts of Kunej and the Croatian Chamber of Commerce Foreign Language Affiliation to improve standards were covered.
Controversies
As written within his published works, Kunej believes the lack of appropriate standards/regulations for the profession of translations/interpretations in the Republic of Croatia causes substandard quality of translations into and from the Croatian language. He proposes stringent regulations as to who would be qualified and/or licensed to do the work of professional translators and interpreters. Among other criteria, he lists the native speaker requirement or a longer stay in the country where the language being translated is spoken.
Because of the likelihood of professional guilds and associations having a conflict of interest, Kunej proposes there be a government appointed agency that oversees control of businesses that perform translations, similar to architects or other professionals who need to be licensed or accredited in some manner to do business legally.
The absence of regulations in Croatia suits many persons who are in the translation business yet lack proper qualifications (some of whom are very talented and recognized translators). These people strongly opposed Kunej’s activism and proposals, stating regulations would be exclusive. Some who possess a formal education in languages also opposed Kunej’s ideas calling them utopian and unrealistic. The latter group also disagreed with the idea that government should oversee the profession; they preferred that a guild or associations deal with such matters.
Recent Years
After returning to the US in late 2005, Kunej worked for Utah Higher Education Assistance Authority (UHEAA) in the state of Utah, and briefly at the University of San Diego in California. He applied for a position of Foreign Language Instructor for the Serbian/Croatian languages with the CIA and was thoroughly tested and interviewed in the state of Virginia. He was officially offered the position in form of a conditional offer for employment letter but did not end up employed there.
Mid-2007 he started his career as a Utah state employee, first at the Utah State Office of Education and then at the Utah State Department of Workforce Services where he is currently employed. He is married and has a daughter.
Membership in Croatian national and professional organizations
*A member of Technical Committee TO 542 (Translation services) at the Croatian Standards Institute (appointed to this national committee for input on translation standards, not a professional organization).
*A member of the Management Board of the Croatian Association of Scientific and Technical Translators ,(Website has an English version, but not for the Management Board. Kunej can be found listed if one clicks on "Tijela Drustva", meaning "governing bodies" in Croatian.)
*A member of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce Foreign Language Affiliation(Croatian Chamber of Commerce website in English, section on Foreign Language Affiliation listed).
Works
Translations
This is not a comprehensive list due to the fact that Kunej concentrated mostly on translations for government, NGO's, various institutions and private companies. Following is a partial list of his few literary/published translations.
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Academic publishing (Articles in journals)
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