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31st translation contest: "A translator's life" » English to Shona » Entry by Ritalee Monde


Source text in English

Translation by Ritalee Monde (#35260)

[...] 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. [...]
[...] Vashanduri havana kuzivikanwa, vaisatarisira kuwana mari yakawanda, kungopfuura. Vanhu vashomanene zvikuru vakarovedzwa chaizvoizvo savashanduri, asi vazhinjisa vakanga vane dzidzo yakasimba yekoreji uye ruzivo rwakasimba rwemitauro, kanenge mutauro wavo vamene. Ndaiva neshamwari yakawira muchikamu ichocho uye shamwari dzangu dzakawedzera kusanganisira vamwe vashanduri. Ndakavawana vachinyanya kunakidza sevanhu, uye ndakaona kuti taiwanzova nezviitiko zvehupenyu zvakafanana. Handina kumbobvira ndanetseka kuita shamwari, asi ndaigara ndichinzwa "zvakasiyana" uye ndine chokwadi chekuti ivo vakazvinzwawo. Shamwari yangu payakaenda pamudyandigere, yakandikurudzira kuti ndimutsive. Ini zvino ndapinda munzvimbo yeReinsurance, yandaisaziva nezvayo. Ini ndaivawo ndega muturikiri ipapo, uye ndakanga ndisina zvakawanda zvokudzokera pazviri. Nekudaro, yaive imwe nhanho kumusoro ....

Pabasa rangu idzva, ndakatanga kutarisa mafaera, ndichibvunza mibvunzo uye ndikaita kuti kambani inyore ini muzvidzidzo zveInishuwarenzi. Koreji yeInishuwarenzi yakanga iri mhiri kwemugwagwa, uye ndakabvunza macode emoto, mitemo yeinishuwarenzi uye mabhuku ezvokudzimisa moto muraibhurari yavo. Ndakanga ndichidzidza zvandakanga ndisati ndambova neumbozha hwekukwanisa kuita kare: tsvakurudzo. Nguva yokutanga yandaifanira kushandura chirevo chezvinangwa zveinishuwarenzi yefekitari yenyukireya, ndakafonerwa nomukuru wedhipatimendi iroro, achindikorokotedza nebasa randakanga ndaita. "Tinoenzanisa zvakanaka nezvatakajaira," akadaro. Chii chepamusoro! Zvakaitika ndezvekuti ndakabvunza gwaro mumafaira akafanana nerandakanga ndichibata kuti rinditungamirire, asi pandakaona kuti akanditangira ashandisa izwi rekuti "nucleus" pachinzvimbo che "core", ndakaona kuti mafaera akange asina basa kwandiri. . Ndakayambuka mugwagwa kuenda kuraibhurari uye ndakatarisa kumusoro "nuclear plants." Ndakabva ndatowana mashoko ese andaida.

Zvinotora zvakawanda kupfuura izvozvo kuti uve mushanduri akanaka mazuva ano, hongu. [...]


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