[...] Translators just didn't get recognition, they didn't expect to make much of a living, just get by. Very few people were actually trained as translators, but most had a solid college education and a solid knowledge of languages, at least their own language. I had a friend who fell exactly into that category and my circle of friends expanded to include other translators. I found them to be much more interesting as people, and discovered that we often had similar life experiences. I never had trouble making friends, but I always felt "different" and I'm sure they felt it too. When my friend retired, she recommended me as her replacement. I now entered the realm of Reinsurance, of which I knew nothing. I was also the only translator there, and didn't have much to fall back on. However, it was another notch up....
On my new job, I started looking through the files, asking questions and got the company to enroll me in Insurance courses. The College of Insurance was across the street, and I consulted fire codes, insurance policies and fire extinguisher catalogs in their library. I was learning what I had never had the luxury of being able to do before: research. The first time I had to translate a proposal for purposes of insurance of a nuclear plant, I got a call from the head man in that department, congratulating me on the job I had done. "Compares favorably with what we are used to," he said. What an upper! What happened was that I consulted a document in the files similar to the one I was tackling for guidance, but when I saw that my predecessor had used the word "nucleus" instead of "core", I realized that the files were useless to me. I went across the street to the library and looked up "nuclear plants." I immediately found all the terminology I needed.
It takes a great deal more than that to be a good translator these days, of course. [...] | [...] Vagadzirisi havakudei kuratidza, havasi kunzwisisa kutsigira kwemoyo, kuchinja kwenyika chinotambirwa. Vane vanhu vakawanda vanga vari kushandiswa sei nevagadzirisi, asi vanhu vasingakwanise kurasika mumoyo uye vachingoti kwaakuda kukanganwira. Vakawanda vanga vachishandiswa zvakanaka nekutsvaga gwayi dzakawanda uye kukwanisa kuziva maitiro enyika dzakawanda nezvino, maitiro enyuwo chete. Ndaive nechikwata chekuti vakawandani kune, nechiratidzo changu chave chevaratidzi vakawanda. Ndakafunga kuti vave kudya vatiri nguva dzose, uye ndakataura kuti tavave nezvaitirwa zvikuru zvave nematambudziko echengetedzwa. Handaizvizive kukanganwira, asi ndakakanganwira zvakawanda, uye ndaita zvikuru kuva nedzimwe nguva. Handakwanise kugadzira nzira yekutambura, asi handakwanise kuzviita nhema zvakakwana, asi ndakarongeka kuti vakambogona kufunga kune vane zvakanakisa. Pakugadzirisa nhema, ruregerero rwandakambogona kurangarira, kune imwe nyika. Ndakambosvikira pasi pemigomo yepaviri chairo kuvafudza kuparadzanisa, ndakakosha kukanganwira, kugadzirisa vachikadzi nenhunzi, kune chido changu chinochinja. Kupikisana nemunyika yangu yanga, ndakanzwa kutora dzidzo dzavari mumigomo yavanga. Chikoro chekupihwa chidzerechedzo chichi kuchikwata, uye ndakakundurudzira kune maitiro emutengo wechekupihwa kwemabasa arikudai. Kuchikwata kwechikoro chechekupihwa kuuraya, ndakarara chekunzwisisa chimwe chinhu. Panemazuva angu akazara, pamusoro pekugadzirisa chemachikoro, ndakanzwa kuzadza nekubvuma kuchikoro chavari mumigomo yavanga. "Rinodyi rakanaka sezvataitiwa kwedu," akabva akumbira munhu akabatwa nechikoro chevanyori chawakandudzo. "Chisawurika nematambudziko anotikanganwira," akabvumidza. Kukosha kwemashoko! Kune zvakaitika ndokundisunga, ndakapikisana nemucherechedzo wakandudza akandipa chirevo chekuzviita zvakakwana. Nokuti pakanga pasina kumbopiwawo pangu, ndakange ndatanga kumirira murume akasiyana nomunhu achandibvuma kuvakura, kunoita kwezviito zvamunoda nezvino. Kunyanya kwemakanzo, hakusisina kunzwisisa izvozvo kwekutadzirisa nokuti vanhu vachangamuka kuvashandisi, nekuchinja kwemaoko kwake uye kugadzirisa nezvino. [...] |