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Head down, pretty much all day long...
Jun. 21st, 2001 11:42 pm... and I mean long. Here I am, taking a short break from my translation work, and it's what? past 11:30?
I finally finished the Dagestan translation, but I have to polish it a bit and resolve a few questions tomorrow morning before I send it in. I spent lots of time searching the Runet (Russian Internet) for all sorts of strange stuff. What's more, I was finding most of it, but there is more.
I then proceeded to edit a translation having to do with nuclear materials control and accounting. Given my "druthers," I "druther" not edit translations written by others. It's harder work than simply doing translations.
To oversimplify life for a moment, when you translate, you basically read an original text, grok it, and then write the equivalent in the target language. When you edit, you have to read the original, translate it and then compare your translation with the translation you're editing and make any required changes.
One could write a book about what changes might be "required" at any given point in time, I suppose, but the point of my diatribe is to point out that editing is more complicated and more time-consuming than ordinary translation.
Ironically, it also pays less, at least for me. Fortunately, the fellow who translated the item I edited pretty much knows his stuff (he is one of the best in the business, IMHO).
Talking about editing, I finally got all the final corrections in for the article that's to appear in the July issue of the ATA Chronicle. I long ago became used to the sight of my name in a magazine byline, so I'm not overwhelmed about the prospect of being published and seeing my name in print, though I must admit that I am curious as to what the reaction of some of my colleagues will be to some of my ideas.
About one-third into the edit, I got a call from the client asking how I was doing. "Fine," I said. "Do you think you could squeeze in a 6-page translation by tomorrow?" asked my caller. "Sure," I said.
And that explains why I am sitting here at 20 of midnight, working. And why I must curtail this post. I've done a good rough draft... now to check it and get it out the door.
Cheers...
I finally finished the Dagestan translation, but I have to polish it a bit and resolve a few questions tomorrow morning before I send it in. I spent lots of time searching the Runet (Russian Internet) for all sorts of strange stuff. What's more, I was finding most of it, but there is more.
I then proceeded to edit a translation having to do with nuclear materials control and accounting. Given my "druthers," I "druther" not edit translations written by others. It's harder work than simply doing translations.
To oversimplify life for a moment, when you translate, you basically read an original text, grok it, and then write the equivalent in the target language. When you edit, you have to read the original, translate it and then compare your translation with the translation you're editing and make any required changes.
One could write a book about what changes might be "required" at any given point in time, I suppose, but the point of my diatribe is to point out that editing is more complicated and more time-consuming than ordinary translation.
Ironically, it also pays less, at least for me. Fortunately, the fellow who translated the item I edited pretty much knows his stuff (he is one of the best in the business, IMHO).
Talking about editing, I finally got all the final corrections in for the article that's to appear in the July issue of the ATA Chronicle. I long ago became used to the sight of my name in a magazine byline, so I'm not overwhelmed about the prospect of being published and seeing my name in print, though I must admit that I am curious as to what the reaction of some of my colleagues will be to some of my ideas.
About one-third into the edit, I got a call from the client asking how I was doing. "Fine," I said. "Do you think you could squeeze in a 6-page translation by tomorrow?" asked my caller. "Sure," I said.
And that explains why I am sitting here at 20 of midnight, working. And why I must curtail this post. I've done a good rough draft... now to check it and get it out the door.
Cheers...
