[...] Translators just didn't get recognition, they didn't expect to make much of a living, just get by. Very few people were actually trained as translators, but most had a solid college education and a solid knowledge of languages, at least their own language. I had a friend who fell exactly into that category and my circle of friends expanded to include other translators. I found them to be much more interesting as people, and discovered that we often had similar life experiences. I never had trouble making friends, but I always felt "different" and I'm sure they felt it too. When my friend retired, she recommended me as her replacement. I now entered the realm of Reinsurance, of which I knew nothing. I was also the only translator there, and didn't have much to fall back on. However, it was another notch up....
On my new job, I started looking through the files, asking questions and got the company to enroll me in Insurance courses. The College of Insurance was across the street, and I consulted fire codes, insurance policies and fire extinguisher catalogs in their library. I was learning what I had never had the luxury of being able to do before: research. The first time I had to translate a proposal for purposes of insurance of a nuclear plant, I got a call from the head man in that department, congratulating me on the job I had done. "Compares favorably with what we are used to," he said. What an upper! What happened was that I consulted a document in the files similar to the one I was tackling for guidance, but when I saw that my predecessor had used the word "nucleus" instead of "core", I realized that the files were useless to me. I went across the street to the library and looked up "nuclear plants." I immediately found all the terminology I needed.
It takes a great deal more than that to be a good translator these days, of course. [...] | Tõlkijad lihtsalt ei saanud tunnustust, nad soovisid teenida, et saada hakkama. Väga vähesed inimesed olid vaid koolitatud tõlkijateks, aga enamusel oli korralik kõrgharidus ja korralikud teadmised keeltest, vähemalt nende emakeelest. Mul oli sõber, kes sobitus täpselt sellesse kategooriasse ning mu sõprusringkond laienes ja hõlmas ka tõlkijaid. Ma avastasin, et nad on palju huvitavamad inimestena ning, et meil on samad elukogemused. Mul ei ole kunagi olnud probleeme saada sõpru, aga tundsin ennast alati ’’teistmoodi’’ ja ma olen kindel, et nemad tundsid sama. Kui mu sõber jäi pensionile, soovitas ta mul ennast asendada. Astusin nüüd edasi kindlustus valdkonda, millest ma midagi ei teadnud. Seal oli ma samuti ainuke tõlkija ning mul ei olnud piisavalt palju, millele toetuda. Kuigi see oli samm edasi. Uuel töökohal hakkasin faile läbi vaatama, küsimusi esitama ja ettevõte registreeris mind kindlustuskursustele. Kindlustuskolledž asus üle tee ja ma uurisin nende raamatukogus tuletõkkekoode, kindlustuspoliise ja tulekustutite katalooge. Õppisin seda, mida mul polnud kunagi varem olnud luksust teha: uurimistööd. Kui pidin esimest korda tõlkima ettepanekut tuumajaama kindlustamise eesmärgil, helistas mulle selle osakonna juhataja, kes õnnitles mind tehtud töö puhul. "Võrreldes sellega, millega oleme harjunud, on hea," ütles ta. Milline ületamine! Juhtus see, et uurisin juhiste saamiseks failides sarnast dokumenti, mida käsitlesin, kuid kui nägin, et mu eelkäija oli kasutanud sõna "tuum" asemel sõna "südamik", mõistsin, et failid on minu jaoks kasutud. Läksin üle tänava raamatukokku ja otsisin "tuumajaamad". Leidsin kohe kogu vajaliku terminoloogia. Muidugi on vaja tänapäeval palju enamat, et olla hea tõlkija. |