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