Author: alisonhindley

As a translator, my work involves recreating the fine written lines of my clients. These lines could be a marketing text with a mix of colourful descriptions and snappy writing.  However, I also translate and edit academic documents where theses and journal papers have detailed survey analysis, literature reviews and discussions. Balancing this variety of work makes my job both challenging and fun. A few years ago, a new challenge emerged when I became the carer of a close relative.

A Balancing Act

[Rock Balancing (Counter Balance) – Wikimedia Commons]

Freelance work is both unpredictable and flexible. In some ways, this is the ideal preparation for taking on an extra role, especially a remote one. With clients and colleagues often in other countries and, most certainly, in a different office, communication needs to be clear and any collaborative work requires regular updates and, if possible, an online chat.

So, there are parallels with helping a relative in another town. Coordination is important for help with shopping, appointments and form-filling. Sometimes, there are emergency situations, such as an accident or sudden illness. Then, more time is required. Unlike remote working, my presence is very important for practical and emotional support. There is a stark difference between this situation and a jammed printer or other work-related problem.

All the Fun of the Circus?

[Circus Tent – Wikimedia Commons]

Where self-employment requires good client relations, attention to detail and completed tax returns, being a carer requires coordination with health care providers, social workers, banks and public service staff, to name a few. You need to take care of the medical and financial activities for another person – preferably with LPAs in place (https://www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney). Whilst the translation profession has representative bodies offering training opportunities, such as the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (https://www.iti.org.uk/) and the Chartered Institute of Linguists (https://www.ciol.org.uk/), the world of caring initially seems very daunting. One of my relative’s nurses gave me a leaflet so that I could register as a carer. This does offer some benefits, including an excellent first aid course I took recently.

You might think that you are ‘just helping’, but NHS England defines a carer as follows:

A carer is anyone, including children and adults, who looks after a family member, partner or friend who needs help because of their illness, frailty, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction and cannot cope without their support.

(https://www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/comm-carers/carers/)

When my relative was diagnosed with a form of dementia, this helped to explain some mental and physical problems she was experiencing. It was also the start of a journey of medication, counselling and activities to help. I wonder, if diagnosed earlier, progression of such a devastating disease could have been slower. There are good days when everything seems to be OK. Then, there are days of confusion, forgetting how to carry out routine tasks, not remembering accidents, friends, relatives or where she lives. Music brings joy and familiarity when everything else is fading away. Besides the NHS, other helpful resources in the UK include Age UK (https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/care/helping-a-loved-one/) and the Alzheimer’s Society (https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/).

The Audience Awaits…

Working remotely, you cannot, in reality, be distant. Your clients need you to be available and, often, flexible for them. Being a carer is very much the same in these aspects. Plan what you can, but be prepared for the unexpected. As with any workload, take on what you can manage with some room to spare. Then, you can be both a reliable colleague and helpful relative. Take a break too to maintain your own equilibrium. Above all, appreciate the happy moments and successes in your work and your caring role.

A short summer break in Switzerland became a (re)discovery of some lovely Swiss German words. The friendly greeting of “Grüezi” is an abbreviation of “Gott grüez i” or in standard German “Gott grüß euch” (“May God greet you”). The many times a friend from Bern said “Merci vilmal” – “Thanks” (French) “very much” (Swiss German) – reminded me that this Dreiländereck is the tripoint where Switzerland borders France and Germany.

Advertising

Several fun advertisements caught my attention. Firstly, this one for oat milk (with “50% less carbon dioxide than cow’s milk”) is for those wanting to save (sparen) CO² when making a coffee, aka being baristas.

This train advert describes a supermarket salad in standard German as being “Fresher than flirting in the train” with “Fresh bowls every day”.

Finally, Basel residents and visitors are encouraged to take a relaxing river swim with a pun based on Rhy, the Swiss German word for the Rhine. Specific swimming times when a lifeguard is on duty make this a fun activity for all ages.

Food and drink

Swiss cuisine is also a treat. Start your day with Birchermüesli, now simply called muesli in the UK, and a choice of wonderful cheeses from Emmental and Gruyère to Vacherin and Appenzeller. Don’t forget your giplfeli (croissant(s)) and a kafi (coffee or Kaffee in standard German). Rösti (fried grated potatoes) also used to appear at breakfast, but are now more common with lunch or dinner. Basler Läckerli (lecker meaning ‘delicious’ in standard German and ‘-li’ indicating a diminutive) is a traditional hard, spiced biscuit made of honey, hazelnuts, almonds, candied peel and Kirsch (cherry liqueur).

Sightseeing

Each hotel guest currently receives a BaselCard making wi-fi and local public transport (trams, buses and regional trains) free with Basel’s many museums half price. The vast Kunstmuseum (art museum) is both eclectic and striking. Tracing the region’s Roman roots in Augusta Raurica and admiring Jean Tinguely’s kinetic fountains are other highlights along with wandering the cobbled streets of Basel’s old town. So, I was sad to say “Uf Widerluege” (“Auf Wiedersehen” or “Until we see each other again”) as the week came to an end.

Embracing change, emerging stronger: this year’s ITI (https://www.iti.org.uk/) Conference theme lived up to its billing. With over 400 participants from around the world, the options were to attend in Brighton or online and even both, three quarters choosing to attend in person. The Hubilo app enabled delegates to join virtual lounges, contact others online and view the programme on the move or from the comfort of their PC at home. Sustainability was key with attendees encouraged to bring their own water bottles, paperless maps and programmes along with returnable lanyards. Most presenters were on site in the auspicious Grand Hotel on the seafront, but some also presented remotely.

A colourful sign at Brighton Station

Welcome drinks, networking meet-ups and the Gala Dinner created a celebratory atmosphere for those of us attending in person. The seaside venue also provided a holiday spirit as did the pleasant sunshine. Fringe events included guided walking tours, running, yoga and singing. I wondered whether online delegates could sense they were missing out. Perhaps, the online option was a bonus for those living remotely or with a busy half-term week.

Held from 30^th May – 1^st June, presentations ranged from practical business tips to learning a new specialism or language and the nitty-gritty of translation itself. Award-winning writer, editor and translator Daniel Hahn shared highlights of his recent real-time blog. Translation normally being an invisible task, in “Extreme visibility – on sharing a translation process” Daniel revealed his iterative method, spending months transforming a contemporary Chilean novel into English. He described some drafts as looking like “explosions in a multilingual nonsense factory” and sounding “like a badly tuned radio” before issues were ultimately resolved.

Brighton’s West Pier

Lloyd Bingham emphasised the need to switch from offering training in soft skills to mentoring new translators in core translation skills, as so little in-house experience is now available to provide them with vital feedback. We also need to reach out to translators beyond professional associations. Dot Roberts and Kelsey Frick showed us how to have fun disrupting LinkedIn. Starting her freelance translation career alongside the pandemic, Dot launched her “Meet the Translator” podcast – an alternative source of CPD and networking in remote times. Subtitling specialist Kelsey uses TikTok to showcase snapshots of her working life in a humorous way. Oliver Lawrence recommended translators consider the sound and rhythm of their text to create melodious and, consequently, attractive copy. Naomi Porter demonstrated how song translation can offer gains, shifts and creative choice resulting in a song worthy of performance.

Brighton’s Palace Pier

In these changing and hybrid times, embracing, and also making, changes will bring new positivity to our profession. We can emerge stronger by adapting, showing joy in our work and being cheerleaders for our colleagues.

International Translation Day falls on 30th September each year, the feast day of the famous translator St. Jerome. To celebrate, I thought I should reflect on the work of translators – those of us who turn documents from one language into another.

From contracts to birth certificates, academic reports and press releases, translators help so many individuals and businesses. During the many lockdowns, besides locally-produced TV films and dramas, “foreign” entertainment often featured with subtitles provided by translators. How would we discover new stories and comedy in books without the aid of translation?!

As travel eased, we have found airport guidance and sightseeing recommendations appear in our own language as if by magic. Have you bought a property overseas? A translator would most likely have helped with your conveyancing documents. Inventions and innovations, such as vaccines and medical treatments, have become widespread thanks to translation.

Those translators who also work as interpreters (translating spoken language) have enabled online conferences and business meetings to take place, just as they helped in-person events in the past. Some interpreters also work in far more dangerous situations helping military forces overseas. Interpreters provide a vital service in medical situations and court proceedings for health and justice respectively by speaking the words of those unfamiliar with the language required. Translating and interpreting can smooth the path to getting the correct compensation you deserve after an accident or theft.

Without translation, we would miss out on so many opportunities and discoveries. If you want to find out more, check out the websites of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (https://www.iti.org.uk/resource/celebrating-international-translation-day-2021.html) and the Chartered Institute of Linguists (https://www.ciol.org.uk/).

When I started translating professionally, translation agencies offered me their rates. A common request is per 1,000 target words (the resulting translation), but a source word count is sometimes used. So, you need to be aware of the likely difference between source and target word counts. This depends on the type of document. There are certainly differences between languages as well. For example, compound German words become longer phrases in English. Will cultural/historical references require an explanation in the target language? Can a long instruction in the source language be turned into a snappy expression in the target one?

Minimum versus maximum

Of course, if a document is quite short, such as one page (300 words or fewer), you could offer a minimum fee. This is a flat rate. Whatever you charge, you need to know how long it takes to carry out each project in advance. In this way, you will meet your deadline and charge a fair price. Other rates used are per word, per question (for a quiz machine, for example) and per certificate. Here, you need to consider the time it takes to reproduce formatting.

It is also common practice to charge an hourly rate for revision, i.e. checking a translation against its source text and correcting it for translation errors along with grammar and spelling mistakes. A pace of 1,000 source words per hour is expected. If proofreading a text without reference to its source document, then 2,000 words per hour is reasonable. An hourly rate is also appropriate when there are some sections for translation and revision alongside others where only proofreading is required.

Different (key) strokes for different folks

A price per line may also be quoted for a translation. A line is not a number of words, but 55 characters with or without spaces, based on the source or target text(!)

Having a variety of clients over more than two decades means that I have been paid in Australian dollars, German marks, Austrian schillings, Swiss francs, euro and pound sterling, to name a few. Currency converter websites are, therefore, a helpful guide to establishing a rate for your quote. This will not necessarily mean that you receive the same rate once you are paid though, unless you insist on payment in advance – exchange rates fluctuate and there may be bank charges. So, it is a mathematical jungle out there.

“Simplify, simplify” – Henry David Thoreau

In recent years, I have found several of my clients are happy with an hourly rate for proofreading, revision and translation. This works well. Be clear regarding the time required so that you can agree on a fair price. It takes time and experience to know what you can achieve in any timescale. Besides this, you also need unpaid time for admin, CPD, networking and holidays – remember to take a break!

With best wishes, in these difficult times, to all my clients and colleagues.

The German language enjoys borrowing English words. For example, ‘Manager’ and ‘Job’ are often used instead of ‘Leiter’ and ‘Arbeitsstelle’. Other English-sounding words, such as ‘Handy’, also exist; this means ‘mobile phone’, even though no English-speaking person would use this to describe their phone – a false friend indeed.

The COVID-19 crisis has created a vast array of terms in the UK and the German-speaking world. The Leibniz Institute for the German Language has compiled a list of vocabulary, available at: https://www.owid.de/docs/neo/listen/corona.jsp#. This includes a number of English-sounding words. Just as with the virus, we need to approach some of these with caution though.

When it comes to living under strict restrictions, where England has Tier 1, Germany calls this ‘Lockdown light’. A ‘Megalockdown’ is the opposite of this with the most extreme restrictions, such as ‘Tier 4’. Restrictions might arise not only from governmental legislation, but also be forced on you by prolonged snowfall with the rather delightful ‘Flockdown’.

For appearance, Germany insists on a ‘Mask-have’ (a mandatory face mask) with this being ‘Coronafashion’. If you have to manage your own hairstyle, this is referred to as a ‘Coronacut’.

(One of my own masks, above)

While ‘Zuhause’ means ‘at home’, domestic work and entertainment have happily adopted ‘home’. So, ‘Homeclubbing’ means ‘dancing at home to music via the Internet on a video call with friends’. Why not? Confusion might start though when asking about how things are going in the ‘Homeoffice’ – not a UK governmental department, but the official German term for homeworking.

If you can leave your home, you might like to cycle on a ‘Pop-up-Bikelane’ (the term ‘Pop-up-Radweg’ is also available). When the option of long-distance travel is no longer possible, you might like a ‘Holistay’, more commonly known in English as a ‘staycation’.

A recent term, which might be added to the official list soon, is ‘Impfluencer’. With ‘impfen’ meaning ‘to vaccinate’, an ‘Impfluencer’ is someone who can influence others to get a COVID-19 vaccine. While we wait to be vaccinated or have to shield, both German and English speakers will have to continue ‘Social Distancing’, but can also indulge in a few ‘Quarantini’.