During the past two weeks, I have been experiencing the role of translator and interpreter more often than before. I am not a languages graduate - I am a native Romanian speaker, with almost mother-tongue level in Italian and English. At least, these are the two languages I am mostly confident in. And I must admit I enjoy learning languages. My latest adventure was Russian, but it is still at basic level. The next one... I am contemplating German or Japanese. :)
Therefore, I have often been asked by friends and relatives to help with translations: legal documents, professional texts, web content and even literature. And even yesterday, I had to act as an interpreter in a professional meeting of a friend of mine.
What did I enjoy and what did I find challenging?
Translation requires creative thinking and attention to detail. We have to be careful with the nuances of a particular word, so that it refelcts exactly the same thing from one language to another. Plus, we have to make sure that the words flow naturally and not sound artificial, especially if we are translating literature, or even articles - as if they had been originally written in the language we are translating into. We have to know slang and colloquial expressions, as many of them may not make any sense to someone who doesn't know the language well. Last but not least, we have to beware the so called "false friends" - those words that sound (almost) the same in two different languages, but mean something completely different. And I have seen so many people making the latter mistake! Even an authorised translator!
As an interpreter, an extra challenge is that you have to be mentally focused on the conversation all the time, without leaving one single detail slip away. Plus, you must be familiar beforehand with the topic of the meeting, so that you have the chance to catch up with any possible gaps in specific terminology. I must admit that it is particularly funny to be an interpreter between Romanian and Italian - very often, the participants in the discussion discover that they actually understand each other. But again, there are also many false friends lurking around! :)
Do I think it is difficult? No. Moreover, it puts your mind to work, and if you are actually translating a more consistent text, it is even a pretty relaxing process. I am actually exploring this option as an extra activity, as it will always be needed.
