A Day in the Life of a Translator
(or, more appropriately in my case,
a life in the day of a translator!)
This article was
written by one of our translators, describing one
of her typical days
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Remember that old adage, never work with animals
or children? This most fundamental advice of old clearly
eluded me when I decided to go freelance along with
two children, a dog and two cats. Phrases involving
plans, mice and men feature strongly in my working
day, with organisation flying out of the window along
with the computer on occasion.
My typical day begins with a walk
through the woods to school. Besides being a very
serene start to the day not least for the dog, and
especially if I have been at my desk since 5 am it
has the additional benefit of allowing me to contra
off any chocolate consumed during a sedentary days
translation and also to mull over any headlines or
anything else requiring quiet contemplation. I often
use this time to give translations or editing a final
read-through manic multi-tasker that I am.
Once home, medicinal coffee in hand,
I make my way to my desk, carefully blinkering out
anything vaguely domestic in my path that might hamper
my progress. This is somewhat impeded, however, when
the dog has raided the larder and the cats are chasing
a clearly terrified starling round the kitchen. Faced
with feathers, muesli and myriad other items, I find
myself having to make a ludicrous decision between
rescuing my favourite china and meeting my deadline
Finally seated at my desk, I am immediately
conscious of all that I have to get through, the few
hours available and the speed with which time passes.
Foreign language translation is not something that
can be rushed, though the challenge of creating a
piece of copy in a restricted timescale is both challenging
and immensely satisfying. My advertising and marketing
background means that practically everything I handle
has a creative slant and I have worked on everything
from the transcription of German TV commercials to
the adaptation of a new version of Pinocchio.
My bête noire is not so much the pressure
of deadlines but the stuff of life that tends to crop
up with an almost ironic sense of timing. I have run
out of fingers on which to count the number of times
that I have just promised to squeeze in an extra six
hundred words for a particular afternoon when the
phone line crackles with the dulcet tones of the school
nurse.
I quickly learned to value my laptop.
Having once decided to delay taking my daughter to
hospital as there were no obvious signs of bruising
or swelling typical of a greenstick fracture I later
discovered I now have no qualms about sitting in paediatric
A&E with it perched on my knee.
It is also surely no coincidence that
there appears to be a definite correlation between
a looming deadline and gremlins in the works. I have
been found sobbing uncontrollably into my keyboard
on occasion and I often yell at the screen it doesnt
achieve anything, of course, but I remain ever hopeful
that a miracle will occur. I always sleep with a back-up
disk under my pillow for good measure. Burglars may
not be interested in how you can tell a Frolic dog
but I cant take the risk!
I have worked through the night to
complete a job and I have lain on the settee with
my laptop nursing a fever but I would not swap this
life. Come summer, I have been known to relocate my
office under the apple tree in the garden. A project
manager on the phone once asked, Is that birds I can
hear twittering? That reminds me, I must go and vacuum
up those feathers.
At thebigword we are always on
the look out for talented and committed people to
join our team. If you are looking to join our team
of professional translators, please email your CV
to translators@thebigword.com
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