Translation
is about creating communication. This means that whatever the qualities of the
original text, I have to output something which will reach the target
readership and be readable. The customer pay for words translated, but he is
really hoping for words that will be read. He wants his message to cross the
language barrier: in a word, he wants communication.
I started
translating aged 9 from French and Latin, and had 9 'O' level passes by the age
of 12. This got me entry to Downside School. Later I read Modern Languages at New College, Oxford, followed by two years at the School of Oriental and African Studies learning Chinese
and Japanese.
After a
year as in-house translator for C.Itoh trading company in London, I quit translating to pursue the
life of a musician. Now in my fifties, after 7 years lived in Spain and 11 years in France, I have come full circle back to translating,
though I still take a break now and then to scrape my fiddle.