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31st translation contest: "A translator's life" » English to Afrikaans » Entry by Gert Van Jaarsveld


Source text in English

Translation by Gert Van Jaarsveld (#36175)

[...] 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. [...]
[...] Vertalers kry gewoon nie die erkenning wat hulle verdien nie. Hulle verwag nie om hoog te lewe nie, net om te oorleef. Baie min mense is opgeleide vertalers, maar die meeste het 'n behoorlike tersiêre opleiding en n grondige kennis van tale; ten minste van hulle moedertale. Ek het 'n vriend gehad wat presies in hierdie kategorie geval het terwyl my vriendekring uitgebrei het om meer vertalers in te sluit. Ek ervaar hulle baie meer interessant as mense en het ervaar dat hulle soortgelyke lewenservarings as ek het. Ek maak maklik vriende, maar het altyd 'anders' gevoel. Ek is seker hulle het ook so gevoel. Toe my vriend afgetree het, het sy my aanbeveel as haar plaasvervanger. Ek was toe in die herversekeringsbedryf waarvan ek niks geweet het nie. Daarby was ek die enigste vertaler en het min rugsteun gehad. Dit was egter n trappie hoër ...

In my nuwe werk het ek begin om deur lêers te blaai, vrae te vra en die maatskappy sover gekry om my in te skryf in versekeringskursusse. Die versekeringskollege was net oorkant die straat en ek het vuurkodes, verskeringspolisse en vuurblusserkatalogi nagegaan in hulle biblioteek. Ek was besig om iets nuuts te leer wat ek nie bevoorreg was om vroeër te doen nie: navorsing. Die eerste keer wat ek 'n voorstel moes vertaal oor die versekering van 'n kernkragaanleg, het ek 'n oproep van die voorman van daardie afdeling gekry wat my gelukgewens het met die taak wat ek verrrig het. "Dit vergelyk gunstig met waaraan ons gewoond is," het hy gesê. Dit was n riem onder die hart! Wat eintlik gebeur het is dat ek as rigtingwyser 'n dokument in die lêers nagegaan het soortgelyk aan dié een wat ek moes vertaal. Toe ek sien my voorganger het die woord "nukleus" gebruik in plaas van "kern", het ek besef die lêers is nutteloos. Dis toe dat ek oorkant in die biblioteek "kernaanlegte" gaan naslaan het. Ek het dadelik al die termonologie wat ek nodig gehad het, gevind.

Dit is natuurlik 'n groot uitdaging om vandag 'n goeie vertaler te wees [...]


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