Thursday, March 08, 2012

A Challenging Project

I've just started a challenging project. Actually, I didn't come up on it on my own ha ha...OK, here's the story. About a week ago a customer asked me if I could translate a book to English (from Finnish, obviously). I told him I wouldn't know if I could do it or not, but I'd give it a try.

FYI, the said customer had once asked me where I came from, what I did prior to moving to Finland, etc. So he knows that I was a book translator in Indo and that I majored in English literature. That was probably one reason why he asked me that question.

Anyway, he then said that he had written a book in Finnish - thus he wanted to know if I could translate it to English. We didn't have time to talk more that day 'coz I had other customers to serve, so we left it at that. The next time I came to work, though, I found a book in an envelope in my locker (the customer had probably given it to my coworker and told her it was for me). He wrote his name, addy, and phone number on the envelope. I was GLAD to know it wasn't a book of poetry!!!! :-D

I didn't have time to read it because of the wedding party I had to go to last week, so I only started this project this week. It IS challenging 'coz I have never translated any book into English - plus the original language is Finnish. But it's gonna be an interesting project for me. It's been years since I last translated a book (5 years ago), so we shall see how it goes. One thing is for sure...I'll use the dictionaries A LOT - including the online English dictionaries ha ha ha ha ha ha ha...Another sure thing to happen is that it's gonna be A SLOW project. :-D



P.S. One thing I love about life in a small village is that even though there aren't many "activities" and "places to go" here (no university, just a handful of foreigners) , life feels considerably simpler here and I get to meet familiar faces a lot (esp. through work). And it's nice to be able to banter with customers whose faces I remember, even though I don't necessarily know their names.

REALLY thankful for this job that allows me to meet and interact with many people...

6 comments:

  1. How cool! If you have any questions I can answer (since I don't speak Finnish nearly as well as you do!) please feel free to shoot me an email. Considering how well you write English, I am sure you'll be able to do a great job. Have fun!

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  2. @Elena: THANKS A LOT for your offer, Elena. Will email you whenever I'm in doubt. :-D

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  3. Challenging and interesting indeed!
    I wouldn't know where to start if it were the other way round, so well done for someone knowing you could do this and beginning this challenge!

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  4. Good luck, Amel. I am sure you can. You have plenty time, enjoy the challenge :D

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  5. That's great Amel. When you need a proof reader... you know where I am. :D

    What kind of book is it?

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  6. @Mrs. Rainbow: Oh yeah, I intend to use your help about proofreading my translation later on. :-D

    The book isn't that thick. It's filled with short stories, but I think the main character is the same (I've only translated 2 stories so far).

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