Ohne Thema

Ich weiss gar nicht, was ich hier schreiben kann, in bin noch immer mit der letzten Uebersetzung nicht gerade fertig. Das Problem ist, das Buch was in drei Absnitte geteilt und jede Uebersetzerin muste mit einem Abschnitt arbeiten. Es wurde aber auch vorgeschrieben, dass wir einen Glossar mit Fachlexik zusammenstellen sollten. Und jetzt ist es so, das ich, die die letzten zwei Kapitel hat, ist die einzige, die eigentlich die Uebersetzung der Fachlexik vergleichen will. Und die anderen Uebersetzerinen haben auf meine Email einfach nicht geantwortet, bis ich am Samstag der Auftraggeberin das Problem mitteilte. Und sie haben natuerlich auch keinen Glossar und scheinen keine Lust zu haben, mitzuarbeiten. Also, der Auftraggeber bekommt die Uebersetzung wahrscheinlich wie es ist...

Staying on topic ;-)

I finished typing it! Only several hours of editing and I am done!

(I can't remember where I saved this photo from, but it fits the topic and the October mood)

P.S. Today is my name day, and yesterday was day of translator/interpreter but I'll post about it later.

Another table-themed eye candy

(for I do not feel sick any more)

Staying on topic. I have to hand it all in on Wednesday, and almost a half is still left.

It's was ironic to be translating about food when literally sick in the stomach. But I am coping somehow, completing the table on food commodities already. I only have to get through the courses and then the drinks section, and the section on planning functions seems quite small.

The problem is I fainted on Wednesday because my blood pressure suddenly dropped down, and it still keeps low so I cannot work as fast as I should :-\

In need of something bright and positive

The articles on real estate and nuclear power stations I have to translate just drive me crazy... In a good sort of a way, I'm saying it lovingly for I love my job :-) But texts, texts and texts on a boring topic for a long day seem just too much, so I need something bright and positive... an eye-candy like this Kathleen Francour card. I've been to the supermarket to get my weekly magazine (nothing too much glossy, I read serious press concentrating on politics and especially economy and business issues, lol!) and I saw a card that was absolutely irresistible. The name of the artist is Kathleen Francour and I kind of checked her website now (just had a glance as have no time to waste, must finish my translations by tomorrow morning!) and saved this pic. I'll (probably, if I don't forget) scan the card I bought today and put it here later to share as it's really sweet and made for such dreamers like me :-) But these girls are cute too.

Off to work,

Irina

(Link to KF's site hidden in the post title)

International day of translatorship

Happy professional holidays to all colleagues! This day really means to me because translator is truly my dream job.

It was established in 1990s - and I think it was a really good idea to remember how important translators are. A day when St Jerome, philosopher and translator of the Bible died was chosen for it (more history under the link hidden under the title).

How did I celebrate it today? I did not translate anything and did not meet up with any colleagues, only checked a "debt" translation one of my students emailed me... It was not discussed at the Uni: none seemed to remember it coming on Friday as we had the 5th false alarm about a bomb at the Uni building within one week. Someone is really enjoying themselves but it is really nerve-racking and it ruins all plans and makes everyone nervous! MY class failed on Friday :(

I went on a bit of fotographing binge today, having a 2-hours solitary walk on the river bank near the local port (going to put up September autumn pics in the next post). A couple of colleagues texted me with best wishes on the day. I'm glad I'm having something else to celebrate tomorrow - nameday, and it's teachers' day on the 5th of October (which I can also think of as a professional holiday now!)

Photo: my dictionaries. I have a couple more in my desk and still a couple more (A linguistic encyclopaedia and a thesaurus) lying about in my bedroom

Taking up Anne's career on a University level...

She slept poorly and was so pale and tragic at breakfast next morning that Marilla was alarmed and insisted on making her take a cup of scorching ginger tea. Anne sipped it patiently, although she could not imagine what good ginger tea would do. Had it been some magic brew, potent to confer age and experience, Anne would have swallowed a quart of it without flinching.
"Marilla, what if I fail!"
"You'll hardly fail completely in one day and there's plenty more days coming," said Marilla. "The trouble with you, Anne, is that you'll expect to teach those children everything and reform all their faults right off, and if you can't you'll think you've failed."

I’ve had this Anne moment recently: I am now an assistant lecturer with department for English, translation and interpreting at School of Translation and Interpreting in my former Uni and I have already had 4 classes with students this week!

I felt about the way Anne did though not the day before my first class this week, but a week earlier, the day before my return to alma mater as a teacher after I had not been there a whole year! I even could not sleep at night all that week feeling how my life was changing finally, after I had been waiting for an open teaching vacancy a whole summer as if my whole life depended on it! And indeed I consider my new job as an important turning point in my career, even it is only a part-time job of teaching 2 classes a week! I just could not only sit in the boring office any longer wasting my talent on crazy letters!

I think all the situation should be described in order:

I graduated as a translator/interpreter from the Uni in June last year and started my first job as a full time translator with occasional interpreting soon afterwards. However, the job in the office was not at all fulfilling and I felt I was losing most of my skills. Besides, I felt I missed the Uni and the atmosphere of translator/interpreter comradeship terribly. Therefore in spring I called my former adviser who is also the head of the department for theory and practice of English, translation and interpreter asking if they had a vacancy open in the next academic year. I had to wait several months before it was known and a week ago I was accepted as a translation teacher for the 5th (final!) year. No need to say I was (and still am) elated. Going back to my former school feels like coming home indeed. My former teachers (now co-workers, who would think of that only two years ago?!) are wonderfully supportive and I am very much impressed that they trusted me with the final year at once. And newspaper articles on economy topics seem the most challenging aspect in the 5th year! I feel it is a great responsibility and it is going to be rather challenging, but I'll enjoy it for sure (I already am!).

It is only a part-time job, two classes a week, so I am still translating for the office where I do not like the working atmosphere at all, but whenever else I must work I now belong to my school of translation and interpreting. I believe working at one of the country's leading translation & interpreting schools will certainly throw more opportunities in my way so I'll opt out the office job I do not like much with time!
Maybe it is a little naïve to expect everything changing dramatically at once, but I feel it has been the first and therefore most important move after a year’s standstill – I feel as if I went out of a jail (a strong, but truthful comparison!) and the horizons and prospects are widening again!
I have already had 4 classes (2 on my main schedule and 2 to substitute for another teacher). Though they are the 5th year and should be serious they are not and the beginning was not very promising: the two groups I permanently teach were not prepared, and the other two where I substituted somehow cut the classes that were to be on Thursday, so I had to report to the dean's office about that and give them a text to translate at home to make up for the class they missed. Therefore I’ll have to see to it that they do homework as requested, do not miss classes, etc! But I think I’ll get used to it and they must get used to what I require!
I am enjoying preparing for classes immensely, so nice to have challenging texts after the boring “we’d like to order this…” of “please send us that…” Even if I have to sit up to midnight staring at the screen when I come home after a full-time working day of office screen-staring
The challenge also is that I'm barely 2 years older than the students, but well, I'm a teacher and a practicing translator/interpreter, and they are still students! Indeed, it feels rather curious to be "on the other side of the teacher's table" when you have known only the students’ side before!