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31st translation contest: "A translator's life" » English to Shona » Entry #35809


Source text in English

Translation #35809

[...] 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. [...]
[...] Kuva mushanduri raisava basa rinoshamisira, nekuti mari yaitambirwa yaiva shoma, kaingova kamariwo. Vainge vakanyatsodzidziswa basa rekushandura vaingova vanhu vashomanana, asi vazhinji vavo vaive vanhu vakadzidza, vaine ruzivo rwakakwana rwemimwe mitauro, kusanganisira mutauro waamai vavo. Ndaiva neshamwari yaive muchikwata ichi, uye shamwari dzangu dzevashanduri dzakawedzera kusanganisira vamwewo. Ndakatoona kuti vaive vanhu vainakidza, zvakare kakawanda kacho takanga tasangana nezvakada kufanana muupenyu. Handina kumbobvira ndanetseka nekuwana shamwari, asi ndaiwanzonzwa kunge "ndisinganyatsokwana kwana" pakati pavo uye ndinofunga kuti kana naivo vaitozvionawo. Shamwari yangu payakarega basa nekukura, yakanditsvagira basa payaishanda. Ndiko kupinda kwandakaita pabasa remaInishuwarenzi, iro randakanga ndisingatombozivi zvangu. Asi, ndakanga ndatoyambuka....

Ndiri pabasa rangu idzva, ndakatanga kuongorora mafaira aivamo, ndichibvunza bvunza zvakare kambani yakandiitisa kosi dzeInishuwarenzi. Koreji yeInishuwarenzi yaiva mhiri kwemugwagwa, saka muraibhurari yavo ndakaverenga mitemo inoshandiswa kana zvinhu zvatsva nemoto, mapolicy einishuwarenzi, nemabhuku ezvinoshandiswa kudzima moto. Ndakatanga kudzidza chimwe chinhu chandisina kumbobvira ndaita, chinoitwa nevagoni zvavo: kutsvakurudza. Pekutangisisa ndakashandura pepa raitsanangura kuti sei inishuwarenzi ichidiwa pamuchina wenyukriya, ndakafonerwa nemukuru wedhipatimendi iroro, achindikorokotedza nekushandura kwandakanga ndaita. Akati, "Zviri nani chaizvo pane zvatinomboshandurirwa." Kusimudzirwa kwakadii! Zvakaitika chaizvo ndezvekuti ndakaverenga rimwe pepa raiva mumafaira kuti rindibatsire. Pepa iri rakanga rakada kufanana nerandaishandura, asi pandakaona kuti vakarishandura vacho vainge vakashandisa shoko rekuti "nyukriya" paida kunzi "pakati", ndakabva ndatoona kuti mafaira aya hapana kana zvaaizombondibatsira. Ndakaenda kuraibhurari yaiva mhiri kwemugwagwa ndikatarisa pakanzi "nuclear plants." Ipapo ipapo ndakabva ndaona mashoko ese andaida.

Mazuva ano zviri pachena kuti zvine basa rinopfuura ipapo kuti munhu ave mushanduri akanaka. [...]


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