FCE Interview 5

Fail

Interviewer: Sophie, you’re a native English speaker and you’ve been working as a translator for some time now. How did your career begin?

Sophie: Well, most people in this line of work did degrees in modern languages, but not me – I did business studies. In fact, I’d never considered working with languages at all until a friend of mine, who was already doing translations, noticed that I often read books and magazines in Spanish or Italian. (1) It was my favourite hobby and I was out of work at the time so she said. ‘Why not try doing some translating?’ So I did. and I found it good fu l 1 and fairly easy, at least in subjects I knew something about.

Interviewer: Such as?

Sophie: Well, given my educational background they were usually commercial texts, but lots of people can translate that kind of thing so I moved on from those. (2) I’m currently doing a lot of legal texts – the details of court cases can be interesting and the language quite challenging. I’d also like to do some medical translations, but I’ll need to get some good specialised dictionaries first.

Interviewer: And what kind of language causes you the most problems? The kind of expressions used in technology, perhaps, or science?

Sophie: Actually I don’t have much trouble with those as most of the technical terms in the languages I translate from tend to be similar to the English words. And although at first I found some slang words hard to translate, I know most of the common ones by now. (3) What’s still quite tricky. though, is when someone mentions a person or an event. perhaps in their country’s history, that has a particular importance to them but may mean nothing to people who speak another language. In those cases, I sometimes add a footnote with some background information, but it takes time to research that, and you have to be careful what you say – people can be very sensitive about these things!

Interviewer: Yes, I can imagine. So, do you normally deal with big private firms or with state institutions like local government?

Sophie: Well, I was once contacted by an insurance company and I did a job for them, and on another occasion I did some work for the United Nations, but (4) nearly always it’s a case of an agency asking if I’d be willing to do a particular text by a certain date for an agreed fee. It’s all done online these days, of course.

Interviewer: That must speed things up a lot.

Sophie: Yes, but it can still be a very long working day. Sometimes you’re busy from early morning until late in the evening. Though of course on other days you’ve got little or nothing to do, which isn’t so good either, and (5) constantly going from one extreme to the other can really get you down. I don’t mind which part of the day I’m working, though – that’s one of the advantages of working from home.

Interviewer: Yes, I’m sure a lot of people wish they could do that. But don’t you have higher costs as a result? I mean, you have to pay for heating and lighting all day, and a computer…

Sophie: That’s true, yes, and these firms can sometimes be late paying. Whereas your electricity bills and so on all have to be paid on time. But as my home is my place of work, I can use the cost of all those expenses, plus things like paper and printer ink, to reduce my tax bill. Which is great. And that’s just as well because (6) my income has dropped recently. Not a lot, but I’ve noticed the difference.

Interviewer: Why’s that?

Sophie: Mainly because of the economic slowdown. I’m hoping it’ll recover before long.

Interviewer: And how do you see the long-term future of translating? Will it continue to be a good area to work in?

Sophie: Oh, I think so. Professional standards are higher than they’ve ever been, and (7) the increasingly wide range of languages used internationally means that the demand for high-quality translation will keep growing for many years to come. Some people say that one day translators will all be replaced by machines, but I doubt it – language is a human activity which always takes place in context, and only a real person can fully understand that context.

Interviewer: Sophie, you’re a native English speaker and you’ve been working as a translator for some time now. How did your career begin?

Sophie: Well, most people in this line of work did degrees in modern languages, but not me – I did business studies. In fact, I’d never considered working with languages at all until a friend of mine, who was already doing translations, noticed that I often read books and magazines in Spanish or Italian. (1) It was my favourite hobby and I was out of work at the time so she said. ‘Why not try doing some translating?’ So I did. and I found it good fu l 1 and fairly easy, at least in subjects I knew something about.

Interviewer: Such as?

Sophie: Well, given my educational background they were usually commercial texts, but lots of people can translate that kind of thing so I moved on from those. (2) I’m currently doing a lot of legal texts – the details of court cases can be interesting and the language quite challenging. I’d also like to do some medical translations, but I’ll need to get some good specialised dictionaries first.

Interviewer: And what kind of language causes you the most problems? The kind of expressions used in technology, perhaps, or science?

Sophie: Actually I don’t have much trouble with those as most of the technical terms in the languages I translate from tend to be similar to the English words. And although at first I found some slang words hard to translate, I know most of the common ones by now. (3) What’s still quite tricky. though, is when someone mentions a person or an event. perhaps in their country’s history, that has a particular importance to them but may mean nothing to people who speak another language. In those cases, I sometimes add a footnote with some background information, but it takes time to research that, and you have to be careful what you say – people can be very sensitive about these things!

Interviewer: Yes, I can imagine. So, do you normally deal with big private firms or with state institutions like local government?

Sophie: Well, I was once contacted by an insurance company and I did a job for them, and on another occasion I did some work for the United Nations, but (4) nearly always it’s a case of an agency asking if I’d be willing to do a particular text by a certain date for an agreed fee. It’s all done online these days, of course.

Interviewer: That must speed things up a lot.

Sophie: Yes, but it can still be a very long working day. Sometimes you’re busy from early morning until late in the evening. Though of course on other days you’ve got little or nothing to do, which isn’t so good either, and (5) constantly going from one extreme to the other can really get you down. I don’t mind which part of the day I’m working, though – that’s one of the advantages of working from home.

Interviewer: Yes, I’m sure a lot of people wish they could do that. But don’t you have higher costs as a result? I mean, you have to pay for heating and lighting all day, and a computer…

Sophie: That’s true, yes, and these firms can sometimes be late paying. Whereas your electricity bills and so on all have to be paid on time. But as my home is my place of work, I can use the cost of all those expenses, plus things like paper and printer ink, to reduce my tax bill. Which is great. And that’s just as well because (6) my income has dropped recently. Not a lot, but I’ve noticed the difference.

Interviewer: Why’s that?

Sophie: Mainly because of the economic slowdown. I’m hoping it’ll recover before long.

Interviewer: And how do you see the long-term future of translating? Will it continue to be a good area to work in?

Sophie: Oh, I think so. Professional standards are higher than they’ve ever been, and (7) the increasingly wide range of languages used internationally means that the demand for high-quality translation will keep growing for many years to come. Some people say that one day translators will all be replaced by machines, but I doubt it – language is a human activity which always takes place in context, and only a real person can fully understand that context.

Interviewer: Sophie, you’re a native English speaker and you’ve been working as a translator for some time now. How did your career begin?

Sophie: Well, most people in this line of work did degrees in modern languages, but not me – I did business studies. In fact, I’d never considered working with languages at all until a friend of mine, who was already doing translations, noticed that I often read books and magazines in Spanish or Italian. (1) It was my favourite hobby and I was out of work at the time so she said. ‘Why not try doing some translating?’ So I did. and I found it good fu l 1 and fairly easy, at least in subjects I knew something about.

Interviewer: Such as?

Sophie: Well, given my educational background they were usually commercial texts, but lots of people can translate that kind of thing so I moved on from those. (2) I’m currently doing a lot of legal texts – the details of court cases can be interesting and the language quite challenging. I’d also like to do some medical translations, but I’ll need to get some good specialised dictionaries first.

Interviewer: And what kind of language causes you the most problems? The kind of expressions used in technology, perhaps, or science?

Sophie: Actually I don’t have much trouble with those as most of the technical terms in the languages I translate from tend to be similar to the English words. And although at first I found some slang words hard to translate, I know most of the common ones by now. (3) What’s still quite tricky. though, is when someone mentions a person or an event. perhaps in their country’s history, that has a particular importance to them but may mean nothing to people who speak another language. In those cases, I sometimes add a footnote with some background information, but it takes time to research that, and you have to be careful what you say – people can be very sensitive about these things!

Interviewer: Yes, I can imagine. So, do you normally deal with big private firms or with state institutions like local government?

Sophie: Well, I was once contacted by an insurance company and I did a job for them, and on another occasion I did some work for the United Nations, but (4) nearly always it’s a case of an agency asking if I’d be willing to do a particular text by a certain date for an agreed fee. It’s all done online these days, of course.

Interviewer: That must speed things up a lot.

Sophie: Yes, but it can still be a very long working day. Sometimes you’re busy from early morning until late in the evening. Though of course on other days you’ve got little or nothing to do, which isn’t so good either, and (5) constantly going from one extreme to the other can really get you down. I don’t mind which part of the day I’m working, though – that’s one of the advantages of working from home.

Interviewer: Yes, I’m sure a lot of people wish they could do that. But don’t you have higher costs as a result? I mean, you have to pay for heating and lighting all day, and a computer…

Sophie: That’s true, yes, and these firms can sometimes be late paying. Whereas your electricity bills and so on all have to be paid on time. But as my home is my place of work, I can use the cost of all those expenses, plus things like paper and printer ink, to reduce my tax bill. Which is great. And that’s just as well because (6) my income has dropped recently. Not a lot, but I’ve noticed the difference.

Interviewer: Why’s that?

Sophie: Mainly because of the economic slowdown. I’m hoping it’ll recover before long.

Interviewer: And how do you see the long-term future of translating? Will it continue to be a good area to work in?

Sophie: Oh, I think so. Professional standards are higher than they’ve ever been, and (7) the increasingly wide range of languages used internationally means that the demand for high-quality translation will keep growing for many years to come. Some people say that one day translators will all be replaced by machines, but I doubt it – language is a human activity which always takes place in context, and only a real person can fully understand that context.

Interviewer: Sophie, you’re a native English speaker and you’ve been working as a translator for some time now. How did your career begin?

Sophie: Well, most people in this line of work did degrees in modern languages, but not me – I did business studies. In fact, I’d never considered working with languages at all until a friend of mine, who was already doing translations, noticed that I often read books and magazines in Spanish or Italian. (1) It was my favourite hobby and I was out of work at the time so she said. ‘Why not try doing some translating?’ So I did. and I found it good fu l 1 and fairly easy, at least in subjects I knew something about.

Interviewer: Such as?

Sophie: Well, given my educational background they were usually commercial texts, but lots of people can translate that kind of thing so I moved on from those. (2) I’m currently doing a lot of legal texts – the details of court cases can be interesting and the language quite challenging. I’d also like to do some medical translations, but I’ll need to get some good specialised dictionaries first.

Interviewer: And what kind of language causes you the most problems? The kind of expressions used in technology, perhaps, or science?

Sophie: Actually I don’t have much trouble with those as most of the technical terms in the languages I translate from tend to be similar to the English words. And although at first I found some slang words hard to translate, I know most of the common ones by now. (3) What’s still quite tricky. though, is when someone mentions a person or an event. perhaps in their country’s history, that has a particular importance to them but may mean nothing to people who speak another language. In those cases, I sometimes add a footnote with some background information, but it takes time to research that, and you have to be careful what you say – people can be very sensitive about these things!

Interviewer: Yes, I can imagine. So, do you normally deal with big private firms or with state institutions like local government?

Sophie: Well, I was once contacted by an insurance company and I did a job for them, and on another occasion I did some work for the United Nations, but (4) nearly always it’s a case of an agency asking if I’d be willing to do a particular text by a certain date for an agreed fee. It’s all done online these days, of course.

Interviewer: That must speed things up a lot.

Sophie: Yes, but it can still be a very long working day. Sometimes you’re busy from early morning until late in the evening. Though of course on other days you’ve got little or nothing to do, which isn’t so good either, and (5) constantly going from one extreme to the other can really get you down. I don’t mind which part of the day I’m working, though – that’s one of the advantages of working from home.

Interviewer: Yes, I’m sure a lot of people wish they could do that. But don’t you have higher costs as a result? I mean, you have to pay for heating and lighting all day, and a computer…

Sophie: That’s true, yes, and these firms can sometimes be late paying. Whereas your electricity bills and so on all have to be paid on time. But as my home is my place of work, I can use the cost of all those expenses, plus things like paper and printer ink, to reduce my tax bill. Which is great. And that’s just as well because (6) my income has dropped recently. Not a lot, but I’ve noticed the difference.

Interviewer: Why’s that?

Sophie: Mainly because of the economic slowdown. I’m hoping it’ll recover before long.

Interviewer: And how do you see the long-term future of translating? Will it continue to be a good area to work in?

Sophie: Oh, I think so. Professional standards are higher than they’ve ever been, and (7) the increasingly wide range of languages used internationally means that the demand for high-quality translation will keep growing for many years to come. Some people say that one day translators will all be replaced by machines, but I doubt it – language is a human activity which always takes place in context, and only a real person can fully understand that context.