Niamh Lynch is working in Madrid as a translator. It's no holiday When my boss went on holiday a month or so ago, I found that there was still a lot about my job I didn't know. I felt a little like the nutty professor, totally engrossed in the basics of my work, but completely incapable of carrying out the other little things that have to be done as well. I struggled with the project management, subcontracting freelancers and dealing with payment, and I was really, really glad when Ruben came back and I could go back to my words and dictionaries and leave the rest to him. You can imagine then, that I was not impressed to learn that he was going on the second of his summer holidays, not one measly week this time, but two!
In preparation I wrote out a list of things to do and asked Ruben all the questions to things I didn't know the last time. He has been gone a week so far, and, up until now, things have been going alright, despite the fact that I am much busier than you would expect for August. One of the major difficulties I had last time was getting a bit downhearted - in my boss' absence the CEO revised my work. Unfortunately, she has a very definite idea of how she wants things done, and rather than just correcting errors or clumsiness, she changes things so that they sound how she would have put them. It's not surprising that she imposes her own view on things, I mean, you don't get to be CEO of your own very successful company by sitting back and keeping quiet - but seeing your work covered in changes is a little depressing. It also somewhat undermines your authority (er, ok, so I only have a little, but I would like to keep it!) when your colleagues see your work covered in red biro as if teacher had just handed your homework back. Grammar schoolAnother problem is my role as language support. All of my colleagues have clients that they need to communicate with in English. They speak English without exception, and most of them speak it well, but when they write something they usually run it by me before it is sent. They are all very enthusiastic, and often ask for an explanation of the corrections, prompting me to say something like ‘er, that's because, the em, subjunctive in English can't come before the, ah, subject-object-verb formation’, or something equally ridiculous and probably untrue. The problem? I have studied Spanish grammar, French grammar, Japanese grammar and Irish grammar. Never in my life have I studied English grammar. Well, I probably did when I was about 7, but I have never studied it in depth or trained as a teacher, and when it comes to explaining, I am lost. If I was strictly sticking to translation, that wouldn't be a problem at all, because in translation, you hopefully have some innate style and ‘good English’ which comes across naturally; it’s not necessary to be aware of what you are doing and why (I hope - if it is necessary, I'm screwed!). It looks like I'll have to add a book on English grammar to my bedtime reading list, in there along with my current selection of Financial Markets for Beginners and The Economist's Style Guide. I'd really just prefer Harry Potter... Legal moneyAfter a long gap, I also have a new freelance job. It is from a repeat client who pays, much to my joy, Irish prices rather than Spanish ones. It's tough going, the translation being a long, dry contract, but it is good practice because I don't tend to do legal translation in work. I am determined not to underestimate the time needed for it like I have done for almost every freelance job I have ever accepted, so I have written a timetable and I'm sticking to it like there was going to be an exam at the end. In fact, with the promise of cold, hard cash at the end, it’s even easier to stay motivated.... Read Niamh's previous blogs If you would like to become a Prospects blogger and you left uni either this year or in 2006, please make contact. |
