Today, 19th August is the world day of Humanitarian Assistance.
To celebrate this day and get a little more understanding of what it means to be a humanitarian translator, we have asked Luccia Haughton, one of our translators, who also works with non-profit organisations, to answer some questions about this work.
BackgroundAfter completing my master’s studies in the Netherlands and Norway in the fields of European Governance and Administration, I worked as a professional translator in the European Parliament in Luxembourg.
Hello, my name is Valentina Sarno and I have been translating (as well as interpreting and teaching languages for many years) since 1990!
Read more “Valentina Sarno, professional English translator”
A love of languagesMy name is Jan Jug and I fell in love with languages really early on in my childhood years. That relentless devotion to linguistics brought me to this day, where I am proficient in several languages including English & Slovak, Slovenian being my mother tongue.
lticultural upbringing I have always lived in Barcelona, but my parents’ will to make a world citizen out of me, had a large impact on my love for languages. I started learning English, French and German when I was just a child, and a strong friendship was the perfect guide to Italian. There is still room for more knowledge, there always is. When it comes to words, cultures and communication, I just can’t get enough.
My name is Laura. I’ve always loved languages. From the day I started learning Spanish at school, I knew I wanted to work in this field. I studied Spanish and Human Resource Management at the University of Leeds, falling in love with Spain and all things Spanish, especially when I spent my Erasmus year in Alcalá de Henares, near Madrid. After graduating I was lucky enough to qualify and work as a teacher of English as a foreign language in Palma de Mallorca.
Background My name is Vladimir Trkovnik and I have been enjoying myself in this amazing world of translation for over 18 years now.
I am professional native Croatian translator with proficiency in English, Italian and German.
Read more “Vladimir Trkovnik, professional Croatian translator”
Based on the few months I’ve been working with you, I can only say that you are one of the best clients I’ve ever had. I prefer long-term cooperations and BigTranslation offered me that very thing. It really is a pleasure to be a part of a professional team where you always get your questions answered and, at the same time, have the freedom to organize and decide the amount of work you accept – this is definitely something that makes BigTranslation stand out from other companies.
Based on the few months I’ve been working with you, I can only say that you are one of the best clients I’ve ever had. I prefer long-term cooperations and BigTranslation offered me that very thing. It really is a pleasure to be a part of a professional team where you always get your questions answered and, at the same time, have the freedom to organize and decide the amount of work you accept – this is definitely something that makes BigTranslation stand out from other companies.
What essential qualities or skills should a translator possess? What’s your ‘motto’ on translation, if you like?In my opinion, working as a freelance translator is not as easy as it may seem. The knowledge of source and target language is essential. Translation goes way beyond being able to speak both the languages you’re working on. One needs to be able to flawlessly transfer both syntax and semantics from one language to another and make the final “product” as natural as the source it came from.
The process of translating itself aside, you need to organize your time, especially if you are working for many clients at the same time. You need to plan, communicate to clients, look for new ones and only then you do the translation work. Many people tell me that I’m having super easy time, a great job where I can work whenever I want to without realizing that I, myself, do the same amount of work which is distributed to 3-4 people in the companies they work in. My motto is: „Think, translate, fascinate“. The greatest pleasure I can have is my clients’. ☺
I’ve recently read an interesting story. A professor from the USA was giving some lectures in Japan and started one of them with a joke that lasted a few minutes. After he told the joke in English, he waited for the translator to do his job. The translator only talked for a few seconds and the audience burst into laughter.
After the lecture, the professor asked the translator how she managed to convey all the humour from his joke in only a few seconds. She shrugged and said: “I told them our American guest had just told a funny joke and that all should laugh.”
Most things that we use and buy daily go through the process of language adapting first which is obviously done by translators. Imagine you need to cook for some very special guests and go to a supermarket to buy spices, among other things. How spicy would your lunch be if you didn’t know which spices you used? That’s just a small example how important translation is.
In the bigger picture, translators are the ones connecting the world. Be it culture, finance, politics, education or any other crucial aspect of human existence and growth – none of it would be possible without translation.
My name is Nadira and I’m 28 years old. I live in Bosnia and Herzegovina. I graduated from High School of Economics and Finance and later studied English language and literature at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Zenica. I also attended many IT conferences and workshops in Balkans. The work experience I have gained is my strongest suit, though.
My name is Nadira and I’m 28 years old. I live in Bosnia and Herzegovina. I graduated from High School of Economics and Finance and later studied English language and literature at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Zenica. I also attended many IT conferences and workshops in Balkans.
The work experience I have gained is my strongest suit, though. Besides that, studying and constant education have undoubtedly helped me progress.
During my 10 years’ work experience, I have worked for over 20 different clients/employers and changed 7 different jobs. I worked as a personal assistant, administration department manager, teacher, business development manager, IT project manager, general manager and translator.
I gained most of my work experience in a German software development company. My starting position in this IT company was Business development manager. In less than six months, I got promoted to IT Project manager and then to General manager. This was where I developed my organisational and management skills which eventually encouraged me to start my own business – a B2B translation agency.
I’ve been working as a translator with BigTranslation for 3 months now. Despite being a short period overall, I have to point out that this translation agency is one of the best clients I’ve ever had. I believe that the professional team from BigTranslation is satisfied with my work, effort and accuracy considering the fact that, in these 3 months, none of my translations ever needed any changes or corrections by the team’s lectors.
Bosnian is my native language, Serbian and Croatian are “near-native”. Actually, Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian are all similar. There are some small differences, but anyone who speaks Bosnian completely understands Croatian and Serbian and vice versa. I studied English language and literature at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Zenica so I am qualified to translate from English to Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian and vice versa.
In the world of translating, each project is a new challenge and a chance to learn something new. For me, translating is brain training which I enjoy so much and yet get paid for doing it. I have worked on so many different topics – some made me laugh, other made me sad or even angry (nobody likes poor originals), but overall they made me feel alive.
Have you always wanted to be a translator or did you consider other careers? For you, is translation a passion or a pastime?
I have always wanted to be a translator, and also to hone some other skills that any translator should have such as organisation, accuracy, promptness, and management as well 🙂 . As I have already mentioned, I’ve had 7 different jobs and finally opted for this job because it offers education, freedom, flexibility and a great salary – all in one package. The bottom line is, I’m finally doing something I truly enjoy in!
Lost in translation is a movie very dear to me. Apart from its poetic depiction of the characters, multilayered feelings of solitude and displacement, what I find most astonishing about it is its delicate attention to detail. The devil is in the detail and it is based on this fundamental idea that I, Sara Jones, professional translator since 2012, have grounded my professional ethics. My passion: to do linguistic detective work.
Lost in translation is a movie very dear to me. Apart from its poetic depiction of the characters, multilayered feelings of solitude and displacement, what I find most astonishing about it is its delicate attention to detail. The devil is in the detail and it is based on this fundamental idea that I, Sara Jones, professional translator since 2012, have grounded my professional ethics. My passion: to do linguistic detective work.
Born to a Portuguese mother and an English father, my life has been marked by multiculturalism and travel. After spending my adolescence in Germany, I moved back to Portugal, where I had previously spent my childhood, and earned my BA in English and German Languages, Literatures and Cultures, followed by an MA in Anglo-American Studies. During my studying years, I realized that I am enthusiastic about languages and cross-border communication.
For 4 years, I worked as a teaching assistant at the German School in Porto (Portugal), followed by the decision to become a translator. I then got accepted for a three-month translation traineeship at the European Parliament, where my wish to translate professionally solidified. Since April 2012 I have been collaborating with several companies as a freelance translator.
In 2014, I started working as external freelance translator (as a German and Portuguese translator) and more recently as a proofreader for BigTranslation. What I find most outstanding in collaborating with BigTranslation is its team, which combines a high level of professionalism with an exceptional degree of friendliness and helpfulness. These last two years have, in that sense, been a very rewarding experience and I hope that many more lie ahead of this amicable working relationship.
I work in the following language combinations:
German >Portuguese, Portuguese > German, English > Portuguese, English > German, Spanish > Portuguese, Spanish > German
