Linda
Translator
Which languages do you translate?
Italian to English only, I see myself as a specialist in these 2 languages and cultures, even though in the case of English as a TL that covers a multitude of sins/delights
What’s you specialist subject?
I love anything to do with the arts, humanities, media and marketing/advertising (creative), but for bread and butter, handle financial, corporate law and various technical fields (civil engineering, agriculture, software, pharmaceuticals etc – I have a secret weapon for tech stuff as my husband is an engineer). While I “only” have 1 source language I can handle a vast range of subjects, text types and registers.
How long have you been a linguist?
As soon as I started talking, I opened my mouth and haven’t stopped since! Was very language orientated at school (French, German, Latin), but dropped out of University after 6 months, took a 20 year detour into ophthalmic optics (specs and contact lenses dispensing and business management sides), 5 years in media (news and talk radio) market research, then, after that 25 year sabbatical, turned up back at University (a different one) to do a degree in Mod. Lang (Italian/Linguists), did the IOL Dip Trans after that, and I’ve been freelancing since 2000. The best advice anyone can give a budding translator is “get a life, then start translating”!
What is the most important thing to do before starting a translation project?
Have a cigarette, then try to think myself into the TL readers’ shoes, sorting out what same language message needs to be communicated and what the TL readers’ expectations are in terms of stylistics and structure/vocabulary choice, in other words WHY do they want to/have to read this?
If you could pass on one piece of advice to a customer wanting to use translation what would it be?
Use Applied! Make sure you pick an agency that proof reads Everything, even from their most expert translators, I’m sure Shakespeare and Tolstoy would produce typos if they were alive today and using word processing software, in fact Shakespeare’s spelling was decidedly dodgy. Also, an agency that isn’t afraid to put the translator directly in touch with the client when there are questions that need precise answers, especially when both the translator and the client speak the same language, whereas project managers often don’t.
What’s the best thing about being a translator?
The fact that you are continually learning about new people and subject areas. It can be a bit daunting when you need to do a lot of research on a particular topic and that deadline clock is ticking away but it’s never dull. And of course meeting people, albeit virtually, from all over the world, so far I have contacts through Applied, in the UK, India and Bulgaria, others all over Italy, obviously, and also the USA, Vienna and Riga
What do you consider your biggest achievement is so far?
Managing to stumble my way through playing the female lead in a full-length adaptation of an Italian play, in Italian, in my first year at Uni – having to improvise in a foreign language at only just post-A-level standard, when I inevitably forgot my lines, was a learning curve of ski-jump proportions.
What is your favorite song?
The Pogues: Fairytale of New York, closely followed by the 2-act comic opera that is the Italian national anthem.
What is your biggest ambition?
To win an argument with a Italian bureaucrat, just once. Then to get lots more literary work, problem is the English-speaking world is deeply allergic to reading foreign work in translation, suppose you could say there’s a bit of a glut of Eng-Lang stuff on the market already. Oh yes and finally, to add to that glut, and write that novel that’s lurking inside me somewhere, not sure where at the moment though.