Lessons from life.
Thread poster: Andrew Morris
Andrew Morris
Andrew Morris
Local time: 12:32
ProZ.com team
Mar 2, 2020

In the posts to come I'll be exploring how the approaches I've often written about have played out in my life as a translator, drawing on various episodes which I hope might strike a chord with you. There have been lots of ups and downs along the way, which I’ll share as we go, including both the triumphs and the disasters.

I've already shared these in the Facebook group, but they might resonate with people here too. We'll see...

So let’s start by going back to the
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In the posts to come I'll be exploring how the approaches I've often written about have played out in my life as a translator, drawing on various episodes which I hope might strike a chord with you. There have been lots of ups and downs along the way, which I’ll share as we go, including both the triumphs and the disasters.

I've already shared these in the Facebook group, but they might resonate with people here too. We'll see...

So let’s start by going back to the very beginning. When I was in school, and discovered I was good at languages, and as soon as I realised there was such a thing as an interpreter, I kept telling people I wanted to be one, because I could see them on the news. I’m not even sure I was aware that being “a translator” was a thing, apart from for great works of literature of course. I certainly never met one or heard one being referred to on the TV.

But as a 17 year-old I had a chance meeting with someone who knew about careers in languages who told me it was difficult to find work as an interpreter. However, he said it was possible to be a translator, but that I would probably end up with huge piles of uninteresting documents to work through. I specifically remember he said “documents about textiles, for example”. And I had zero interest in textiles. So I gave up the idea, there and then – a decision that wouldn’t be overturned for almost 30 years.

The moral of this story is: be careful of the guidance you give.

Did anyone else receive bad advice, or have anyone trying to put you off, before you even got started?
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Laurent Mercky
Francesca Demoro
Songri Piao
 
Yolande Hivart
Yolande Hivart
Austria
Local time: 12:32
Member (2016)
German to French
Well one has to put up with this or something else Mar 2, 2020

When I was 12, there had been a casting for a film in my school. They were looking for a certain kind of person. They were asking pretty much general kind of questions, I wanted to try but every time I went close to the door a group of older pupils shouted at me "how do you dare to try, you stand not a chance!"
I did not try.
Later on, I heard that the ones who I did hold for the best looking people did not get taken either.
From that day I understood I allowed myself to be put
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When I was 12, there had been a casting for a film in my school. They were looking for a certain kind of person. They were asking pretty much general kind of questions, I wanted to try but every time I went close to the door a group of older pupils shouted at me "how do you dare to try, you stand not a chance!"
I did not try.
Later on, I heard that the ones who I did hold for the best looking people did not get taken either.
From that day I understood I allowed myself to be put off on premises that are just to make me regret myself. I might not stand a chance but keeping me out did not increase theirs.

From that day the "you stand not a chance" had been the stones on which I built my forteress. I understood that some will get it offered by life, others will have to fight themselves a way out with elbows, and that most advices I was being given were not for my good but to make me believe acting in a way was for my good when it had always been that someone else cashed in the end of it - but never got any second glance let alone a bargain for my efforts.

To make it short, if I had only heard to the guidance i had been given, I would be working as a supermarked cashier not as a free woman alone in a foreign country. Due to the personal situation I had been after my diploma, I could not apply to a translation studies in my native country nor did I pass the entrance exam of the translation studies of my country of residence.

But I did hold tight, did not listen to people telling me I was not born for it. Every time I get a new job I love the decision I had made for myself against the odds.

And now, 20 years later, I might not be loved by the academics of my country of origin, but I certainly earned some respect amongst my pairs, always wanting to improve and make it better.

And now once in a while, I am an interpreter too. I will always remember the trust that an inmate placed on me. He said, "I am lucky that you are here, I have seen other interpreters and with you it can only be my lucky day". And when the day of the trial came, he got a mild sentence.

All this from someone who was not deemed worthy by the school board. I love it when the people tell me how i changed their lives.
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Andrew Morris
Francesca Demoro
Mina Chen
Rachel Waddington
 
Mervyn Henderson (X)
Mervyn Henderson (X)  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 12:32
Spanish to English
+ ...
Nobody Mar 3, 2020

Nobody gave me any bad advice. The only people who gave me good advice were my parents, but it stands to reason I ignored that, for crying out loud.

So I've nothing to say, really, other than congratulating Yolande on "you stand not a chance". It's not actually the way it's normally said, Yolande, but if you didn't dare to enter the casting at school years ago, you've more than made up for it by daring to express your story here in a language you hold no claims to, given your langua
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Nobody gave me any bad advice. The only people who gave me good advice were my parents, but it stands to reason I ignored that, for crying out loud.

So I've nothing to say, really, other than congratulating Yolande on "you stand not a chance". It's not actually the way it's normally said, Yolande, but if you didn't dare to enter the casting at school years ago, you've more than made up for it by daring to express your story here in a language you hold no claims to, given your language combination.

For the record, it should be "you do not (don't) stand a chance", but I think "you stand not a chance" is infinitely better, wonderfully dramatic, almost Shakespearean, where the characters don't even have to stick to basic grammar rules, giving them free rein to shun the likes of addresses such as "My good lord", and merrily say "Good my lord" instead.

I'm dying to use that expression at some point. Can't wait:

Customer: Our customer now says they need the rather large and complicated translation you're doing the day before due date, but at no extra charge. What do you think, Mervyn?
Me (following a long dramatic pause): You stand not a chance.


Edit to make things clear, since I know I have a bit of a general reputation for messing about: I am serious when I say I like the phrase.





[Edited at 2020-03-03 12:48 GMT]

[Edited at 2020-03-03 12:50 GMT]
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Andrew Morris
Jean Dimitriadis
Mina Chen
Christine Andersen
 
Yolande Hivart
Yolande Hivart
Austria
Local time: 12:32
Member (2016)
German to French
There is a thing I do not understand Mar 3, 2020

Why this need of correcting the foreign language when someone express himself in a language he is not even thinking into? Can you just not be happy that I shared you a part of my life?

I think this is inherent to the Anglo-Saxons, when you have nothing to comment on the content, criticize the grammar.

Do not wonder when one day or another the world remains silent. If I were 12 years old I might never have posted my opinion on the forum again after such a comment. Now I
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Why this need of correcting the foreign language when someone express himself in a language he is not even thinking into? Can you just not be happy that I shared you a part of my life?

I think this is inherent to the Anglo-Saxons, when you have nothing to comment on the content, criticize the grammar.

Do not wonder when one day or another the world remains silent. If I were 12 years old I might never have posted my opinion on the forum again after such a comment. Now I have seen in my life so many wonderful people trying to talk to me into French with a broken language, I would never make fun of them.
In my upbringing it is seen as very rude to criticize somebody making an effort to communicate with you.

Shame on me for posting my experience then.

Next lesson of life.

[Probably next time you will be able to criticize after being forced to use google translate]

[Edited at 2020-03-03 16:08 GMT]
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Elizabeth Tamblin
Francesca Demoro
Andrea Capuselli
Dunia Cusin
 
Mervyn Henderson (X)
Mervyn Henderson (X)  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 12:32
Spanish to English
+ ...
Read it again Mar 3, 2020

Yolande, you haven't read my comment properly. Really, it wasn't a criticism. And I made that clear in the additional edit below.

 
Andrew Morris
Andrew Morris
Local time: 12:32
ProZ.com team
TOPIC STARTER
Wrong end of the stick Mar 3, 2020

Yolande, I can't speak for Mervyn but from what I know of him, I don't think he was correcting you in any kind of judgemental way. I read it as a playful and rather admiring response.

Of course in general I think it's wrong to pick people up on linguistic errors in forums, especially when we ourselves would find it hard to write in other languages with the same depth, variety and wit that most non-native speakers of English serve up every day, but I don't think that's what was happ
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Yolande, I can't speak for Mervyn but from what I know of him, I don't think he was correcting you in any kind of judgemental way. I read it as a playful and rather admiring response.

Of course in general I think it's wrong to pick people up on linguistic errors in forums, especially when we ourselves would find it hard to write in other languages with the same depth, variety and wit that most non-native speakers of English serve up every day, but I don't think that's what was happening here...

I certainly enjoyed your comment and the story you told, and it would be a shame if you stopped commenting on future posts. So respond to this in the way you responded in your story, with that same resilience, and keep sharing your experience!
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Mina Chen
Christine Andersen
 
Kay Denney
Kay Denney  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 12:32
French to English
. Mar 3, 2020

Back in the late 70s or early 80s we had to answer a revolutionary, brand-new "computer-analysed questionnaire" to determine what kind of career we could take up. Since I loved languages, it suggested translation or interpreting. My hopes were soon dashed at the subsequent appointment with the school careers advisor, who disdainfully informed me that you had to be truly bilingual for such jobs - she specifically gave the example of diplomats' children who had grown up in foreign countries, and t... See more
Back in the late 70s or early 80s we had to answer a revolutionary, brand-new "computer-analysed questionnaire" to determine what kind of career we could take up. Since I loved languages, it suggested translation or interpreting. My hopes were soon dashed at the subsequent appointment with the school careers advisor, who disdainfully informed me that you had to be truly bilingual for such jobs - she specifically gave the example of diplomats' children who had grown up in foreign countries, and that being marginally better than others at French in school wasn't enough. She recommended scaling my ambitions back to train as a bilingual secretary.

I'm very glad I took no notice of her advice. I'm terrible at remembering my own appointments, how could I possibly excel in a job that involved reminding my boss of hers? And by dint of coming to live in France and hobnobbing with the French and reading French novels and newspapers, I jolly well did get my French to a good enough standard to be able to translate from it.
Oh and career advice lady, diplomats send their kids to international schools where they do not mingle with the locals and if ever they do pick some of the local lingo up, they forget it as soon as Mummy or Daddy gets transferred somewhere else!
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Andrew Morris
Mina Chen
Christine Andersen
Rachel Waddington
 
Andrew Morris
Andrew Morris
Local time: 12:32
ProZ.com team
TOPIC STARTER
Tell it like it is Mar 3, 2020

Kay Denney wrote:
Oh and career advice lady, diplomats send their kids to international schools where they do not mingle with the locals and if ever they do pick some of the local lingo up, they forget it as soon as Mummy or Daddy gets transferred somewhere else!


Love that response!

I feel nothing but gratitude to all the various naysayers, both past and present, because they just make you want to go out and prove them wrong all the more.


Francesca Demoro
 
Mervyn Henderson (X)
Mervyn Henderson (X)  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 12:32
Spanish to English
+ ...
Translating on the edge Mar 7, 2020

Nobody tried to dissuade me from being a translator. Just as well, because if I hadn’t, I‘d never have been able to help out in the following life-or-death situation. So gratifying for me. No, really, it was, you’ll see:

I was in the UK a few years ago, and was leaving a cinema in Manchester after the film. I’d just reached the exit when I heard a commotion behind me, and someone shouting from down in the stalls, “Is there a translator in the house? Does anyone speak Spani
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Nobody tried to dissuade me from being a translator. Just as well, because if I hadn’t, I‘d never have been able to help out in the following life-or-death situation. So gratifying for me. No, really, it was, you’ll see:

I was in the UK a few years ago, and was leaving a cinema in Manchester after the film. I’d just reached the exit when I heard a commotion behind me, and someone shouting from down in the stalls, “Is there a translator in the house? Does anyone speak Spanish?”

Well, you have to grab these opportunities with both hands when they come along, doncha? So, when I got to the front of the cinema, a priest among the crowd was already giving the last rites to this man on the floor.

The priest whispered urgently in my ear: “Seen it a thousand times, son. A coronary. Nothing to be done. He’ll be dead in a matter of seconds.” “But”, he added, “he was muttering in what sounded like Spanish to me. Try and get his last words, will you? For the family afterwards, like.”

Being a translator, you won't be surprised to learn that I had already half-opened my mouth to say that technically, of course, he really meant an interpreter, not a translator, but there wasn’t a second to lose and no time to go into all that, so I nodded, crouched over this poor chap and put my ear close to his mouth. The gravity of the situation induced me to take his hand, too, whereupon I was surprised to see a small key lying in the open palm.

“Laura, Laura, dile a Laura …”, he wheezed in Spanish, raising his head up a little, “… dile a Laura … miles y miles de libras, sí, thousands, thousands … Piccadilly Station … she has no idea … locker 971, yes, that key … just give her the key …”

I took the key, and he coughed a little, and panted: “… she’s got to know … safe place, all of it, five, five hundred thousand pounds … all for her, my own true love … tell her …”

And that was it. He gave a great gasp and his head fell back. I released his hand, and stood up in open-mouthed silence.

The priest was at my side.

“What did he say?” he asked anxiously. “Did he realise I was giving him the ministrations?”

I sighed, shaking my head at him ruefully: “Well, he said: “Tell Laura …”

Then I felt that key in my hand, and suddenly my brain started to kick into gear …

I took it a little slower: “He said, “Tell Laura, um … tell Laura … I love her.” “Yes, that’s what he said - “Tell Laura I love her.”

A critical moment, a defining moment. The moment of truth, as the bullfighters say. Or more like the moment of a downright lie, which also has a lot to do with bull too, doesn’t it. I’m not saying I’m proud of it now, but I wet my lips, swallowed hard, and scrunched that little key a little more tightly into my little fist. Thinking back on it now, I might have done it in a different order. I might have scrunched, then wet, then swallowed, or maybe the scrunching was in the middle. Or was it? Really, I can't remember. But let's get back to the priest:

He was surprised, and he even sounded a bit disappointed as well:

“Is that all? Seemed to me he said a lot more than just that.”

“Well, yes, he did, he said a bit more. After that he said, now, er, let’s see if I’ve got it right, erm - “Tell … tell Laura I need her” - Yes, and then it was, “Tell Laura not to cry” - And after that, right at the end, “My love for her …” - and that was it, nothing after that. God knows what he was about to say at the very end. Maybe we’ll never know. Yes, those were his last words.”

A bit lame, maybe, because frankly it was all I could think of, but at the time it seemed to fall into place. I avoided the priest’s gaze, but I could sense rather than see the man in the dog collar looking at me in disbelief:

“Are you having me on? Is that really what he said?”

“I’m afraid so, Father. Laura must be his wife, I suppose. So, tell the boys in blue that, will you? Look, I’m sorry, but I’m really in a bit of a rush here”, I told him. “I have a train to catch, see. And I don’t know the city very well. Could you possibly point me in the direction of Piccadilly Station?”



Sorry about that. It's 8.30 and I have to start on a load of unspeakably tedious stuff, but you know how you put these things off for a while ...
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Andrew Morris
 
Mervyn Henderson (X)
Mervyn Henderson (X)  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 12:32
Spanish to English
+ ...
Lessons from death Mar 7, 2020

You might think I'm more than a little cynical or callous after reading that last bit, but I should add that I do empathise with Andrew's genuine heart contretemps and the fictional episode in the fictional cinema. Many years ago I was that bloke on the floor with a cardiac arrest, and they broke two or three of my ribs and went through the Stand clear! electrodes routine to jumpstart me again. It wasn't so funny at the time (although you wake up in intensive care with a huge shot of laughing me... See more
You might think I'm more than a little cynical or callous after reading that last bit, but I should add that I do empathise with Andrew's genuine heart contretemps and the fictional episode in the fictional cinema. Many years ago I was that bloke on the floor with a cardiac arrest, and they broke two or three of my ribs and went through the Stand clear! electrodes routine to jumpstart me again. It wasn't so funny at the time (although you wake up in intensive care with a huge shot of laughing medicine to take the edge off it), but looking back it was instructive at least. Last thought, after going through the four or five classic phases of disbelief, annoyance, panic ... etc., was "Oh, is that all there is to it?" Once you lose hope, that is. Because as far as I knew, there was nobody else around, so I reckoned I was dead meat, but a neighbour happened to find me stretched out on the ground there after I'd departed to the Other Side.Collapse


Jennifer Forbes
 
Andrew Morris
Andrew Morris
Local time: 12:32
ProZ.com team
TOPIC STARTER
No need to apologise, Mervyn! Mar 9, 2020

Keep 'em coming. Delighted to provide a platform for such rollicking picaresque prose!

 


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