Lucy Brooks

Question and Answer

• What is your name?
  • Lucy Brooks
• Where do you live?
  • Worthing in the UK
• What made you decide to become a translator or interpreter?
  • It's something I always wanted to do but wasn't sure how to start out. Eventually I took the plunge and never looked back
• List one strength that you think sets you apart from your colleagues.
  • Ability to write well in my mother tongue
• Name the one thing that you most enjoy in your translating or interpreting career.
  • Being involved in a project as a member of the team, not just a nameless cog in a machine
• We all have worked on those not-so-perfect assignments. Write about one such assignment that was not ideal and what you learned from it.
  • I took on a job for which I wasn't prepared. To be fair, the client told me it was on a subject I am familiar with and at first it looked like that. But as I got further in, I realised I was out of my depth. I learned to know my limitations. It knocked my self-confidence, which sometimes is no bad thing. It keeps you on your toes.
• If you could go back in time to when you were just starting out as a translator or interpreter, what advice would you give to your younger self?
  • Be self-confident in your pricing strategy. Work out what you NEED to earn, and what you can do in the time available. From that you can work out what you need to charge.
• Name one resource – such as a phone app, CAT tool, website, and so forth – that you find especially helpful in your translating or interpreting work.
  • MemoQ
• What's the best book you've read this year?
  • A Man Called Ove

Read the New York Times bestseller that has taken the world by storm!

Meet Ove. He's a curmudgeon—the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window. He has staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. People call him "the bitter neighbor from hell." But must Ove be bitter just because he doesn't walk around with a smile plastered to his face all the time?

Behind the cranky exterior there is a story and a sadness. So when one November morning a chatty young couple with two chatty young daughters move in next door and accidentally flatten Ove's mailbox, it is the lead-in to a comical and heartwarming tale of unkempt cats, unexpected friendship, and the ancient art of backing up a U-Haul. All of which will change one cranky old man and a local residents' association to their very foundations.

A feel-good story in the spirit of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, Fredrik Backman's novel about the angry old man next door is a thoughtful exploration of the profound impact one life has on countless others. "If there was an award for 'Most Charming Book of the Year,' this first novel by a Swedish blogger-turned-overnight-sensation would win hands down" (Booklist, starred review).

Biljana Knezevic

Question and Answer

• What is your name?
  • Biljana Knezevic
• Where do you live?
  • Vancouver, Canada
• What made you decide to become a translator or interpreter?
  • I love to make it easier for people to talk to one another
• List one strength that you think sets you apart from your colleagues.
  • Extensive experience
• Name the one thing that you most enjoy in your translating or interpreting career.
  • Meeting new people and learning about various topics
• We all have worked on those not-so-perfect assignments. Write about one such assignment that was not ideal and what you learned from it.
  • I interpreted once for a rehab centre and I had to know all the bones they were mentioning and I had a hard time with it. I decided then to learn anatomy and physiology and now it is much better when I interpret medical issues
• If you could go back in time to when you were just starting out as a translator or interpreter, what advice would you give to your younger self?
  • To learn medical terminology and not to avoid it
• Name one resource – such as a phone app, CAT tool, website, and so forth – that you find especially helpful in your translating or interpreting work.
  • proZ
• What's the best book you've read this year?
  • A Hundred Years of Solitude

Artem Nedrya

Question and Answer

• What is your name?
  • Artem Nedrya
• Where do you live?
  • Jersey City, New Jersey USA
• What made you decide to become a translator or interpreter?
  • The desire to have no bosses over me, the need for a steady income
• List one strength that you think sets you apart from your colleagues.
  • Patience, Creativity
• Name the one thing that you most enjoy in your translating or interpreting career.
  • Freedom of working where and when I need
• We all have worked on those not-so-perfect assignments. Write about one such assignment that was not ideal and what you learned from it.
  • When done translating a complex PT presentation, a CAT tool saved my work in a "soup" of skewed formatting. I had to spend almost 2 hours fixing that and missed the deadline. TAKE-AWAY: Allow extra time in case of any technology kinks.
• If you could go back in time to when you were just starting out as a translator or interpreter, what advice would you give to your younger self?
  • Either I don't have that vantage point yet, or I have done nearly at the top of my abilities and I am lucky to tell I don't know what would I have changed.
• Name one resource – such as a phone app, CAT tool, website, and so forth – that you find especially helpful in your translating or interpreting work.
  • My personal glossary
• What's the best book you've read this year?
  • Introduction to Russian-English Translation
    by Natalia Strelkova

This text provides Russian-English translators with essential tools needed to improve their translation skills.
Russian is the most widely-spoken Slavic language, and its 280 million speakers make it the fifth most-spoken language in the world. Seven chapters cover topics such as: The Translation Process, What is Accuracy?, How Professionals Maneuver around Difficulties, Achieving Readability and Notes on Everyday Russian Culture, among others.

This practical, hands-on book is suited for anyone involved in Russian-English translation, including professional translators, interpreters, and advanced students. The emphasis on translating journalistic idiom and the conversational Russian of everyday life, plus dozens of examples and practice exercises, prepare the user for the day-to-day work of translating and editing.

Peter A. Gergay

Question and Answer

• What is your name?
  • Peter A. Gergay
• Where do you live?
  • San Francisco, CA
• What made you decide to become a translator or interpreter?
  • Having been bilngual and having a love of words, I decided to become a Hungarian < > English translator and interpreter.
  • By now, however, I accept assignments only as a translator and editor
• List one strength that you think sets you apart from your colleagues.
  • Keeping up with the evolution of the languages
• Name the one thing that you most enjoy in your translating or interpreting career.
  • The details of my work
• We all have worked on those not-so-perfect assignments. Write about one such assignment that was not ideal and what you learned from it.
  • I received a document that was long and translated terribly. This was obvious to me immediately. I was supposed to edit it but wound up re-writing the whole thing. In retrospect , I should not have accepted this edit job or, at least communicate ,that it took a re-translation to do it.
• If you could go back in time to when you were just starting out as a translator or interpreter, what advice would you give to your younger self?
  • Order & take Practice Tests for the Certification Examination of the American Translators Association (ATCA) and, on their basis,sit for a Certification Examination as soon as possible
• Name one resource – such as a phone app, CAT tool, website, and so forth – that you find especially helpful in your translating or interpreting work.
  • Specialized Dictionaries
• What's the best book you've read this year?
  • Gilbert Harrison: The Enthusiast