ProZ.com translation contests »
31st translation contest: "A translator's life" » English to Kurdish » Entry #36089


Source text in English

Translation #36089

[...] 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. [...]
Wergêr zêde nedihatin hebandin, jixwe hêvîyeke wan a wisa mezin jî tunebû ji aliyê aborîyê ve, hema ew bû jiyana xwe pê derbasbikin. Gellek kêm kes wekî wergêr hatibûn perwerdekirin, lê gellek ji wan xwedî perwerdehîyeke qahîm a zaningehê bûn, û xwedî şarezayîyeke qahîm a zimanzanîyê, qet nebe ya zimanê xwe bûn. Hevaleke min jî hebû ku diket di nava vê kategorîyê, û bi çend wergêrên din, hejmara hevalên li derdora min her ku diçû zêdêtir dibû. Li gorî min ew mirovên pir balkêş bûn, û bi min wisa dihat ku piranîya serpêhatiyên me yên jiyanê dişibîyan hev. Naskirina hevalan nû bi min qet zehmet nebû, lê belê ji bo min her wext hestekî cuda bû, bê guman ji bo wan jî. Dema hevala min malnişîn bû, wê ez di şûna xwe da pêşnîyar kirim. Êdî ez ketibûm jiyana Reinsurance’a ku di derbarê wê de qet fikreke min nebû. Herwiha ez tekane wergêr bûm di wir de, zêde jî tiş nîn bû ku ez pişta xwe lê bispêrim. Lê ew gaveke ber bi pêş ve bû.

Di karê xwe yê nû de, min despêkir çavên xwe li dosyeyan gerandin, pirsyar kirin û bi rêya kompanyayê min xwe ji bo kursên Insruance’ê da nivîsandin. The College of Insurance li aliyê din ê kûçeyê bû. Min di pirtûkxaneya wan de, li mevzuata êgir, polîçeya sîgortayê û katalogên vemirandina êgir nihêrîn. Ez fêrî tiştekî dibûm ku pêştir bi tu awayî bextewerîyeke wisa bi destê min neketibû: fêrî lêkolîn kirinê. Yekem cara ku min wergera pêşniyarekê ya li ser sîgortekirina santraleke nukleerî kir, telefonek hat ji min re, ji serokê beşê bû û ez pîroz kirim ji bo karê ku min pêk anî. “Her wekî wan xebatan e ku em lê elimîne” wî got. Çi xweş! Ya ku min kir ew bû ku min li belgeyek nihêrî di nav dosyeyan, ku ew jî dişibiya ya ku min pêştir çav lê gerandibû ji bo ku rê nîşanî min bike, lê dema ku min dît ew kesê berîya min di şûna peyva ‘gewherê’ peyva nûkleus bikaranîye, min bawerî pê anî ku ew dosye bêkêr bûn ji bo min. Ez çûm wê aliyê kûçeyê,ji bo pirtûkxaneyê, ez ketim li du peyva ‘santralên nûkleerî’. Min yekser hemû bêjeyan peydekirin yên ku pêwîstîya min pê hebû.

Helbet, îro ji bo ku mirov bibe wêrgêrêkî baş, zêdetir hewldan pêwîst e.


Discuss this entry