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31st translation contest: "A translator's life" » English to Tetum

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Source text in English

[...] 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. [...]

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Entries (3 total) — Expand all entries

[...] Iha tempu uluk, tradutór sira la hetan rekoñesimentu, sira la hein moris di’ak, hetan de'it atu hela bein-bein.
Ema uitoan maka hetan formasaun nu' udar tradutór, maibé barak liu mak iha edukasaun sólida no koñesimentu sólidu kona-ba lian sira, pelumenus iha sira-nia lian rasik.
Ha 'u iha kolega ida ne' ebé tama loos ba kategoria ne 'e no ha' u nia kolega sira aumenta tan hodi inklui tradutór sira seluk.
Hau hetan katak sira ema interesante liu, no hau deskobre katak dala barak ita iha esperiénsia moris hanesan.
Ha'u nunka iha dificuldade atu halo kolega sira, maibé ha' u sempre sente "oin seluk" no ha 'u fiar katak sira mós sente.
Bainhira ha' u-nia belun reforma ona, nia rekomenda ha' u atu substitui.
Agora ha 'u tama ba rai ne' ebé ha 'u hela ba Reinsurance, ne' ebé ha 'u la hatene buat ida.
Ha' u mós nu 'udar tradutór mesak, no la iha buat barak atu monu fali ba kotuk.
Maski nune' e, ida seluk hakerek fali.
Iha hau nia servisu foun, hau hahú buka arkivu sira, husu pergunta no hetan empreza nee atu estuda deit hau iha kursu seguru sira.
Koléjiu Segurus mak liuhosi estrada, no hau konsulta ona ho kódigu ahi, polítika seguru no ahi hamate katalog sira iha sira-nia biblioteka.
Ha 'u aprende buat ne' ebé ha 'u nunka hetan hanesan luxu ne' ebé uluk ha 'u nunka bele halo, hodi dehan: peskiza bá.
Uluk nana' in ha 'u tenke traduz proposta ida kona-ba seguru husi sentrál nukleár ida, ha' u simu telefone husi ulun mane ida iha departamentu ne 'ebá hodi fó parabéns ba ha' u kona-ba serbisu ne 'ebé ha' u halo ona.
"Kompara ho buat ne 'ebé uluk ami uza ba Maromak", nia dehan.
Buat ne' ebé aas liu iha leten!
Buat ne 'ebé akontese mak ha' u konsulta tiha ona ho dokumentu ida iha arkivu sira hanesan ha 'u hasoru matadalan, maibé bainhira ha' u haree katak ha 'u-nia predesesór uza ona liafuan "nukleus" duké "prinsipál", ha' u hatene katak arkivu sira-ne 'e la vale ba ha' u.
Ha 'u la' o liu dalan ba biblioteka no hateke ba sentrál nuklear sira.
"Ha 'u hetan kedas terminolojia hotu ne' ebé ha 'u presiza.
Ida-ne' e iha buat barak liu fali ida-ne 'ebé atu sai tradutór di' ak ida iha loron hirak ne 'e, hosi kursu ne' e. [...]
Entry #35414 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
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Tradutór sira la hetan rekoñesimentu, sira laiha espetativa atu hetan osan barak, maibé sira kontinua sobrevive. Ema uitoan deit mak treinadu hanesan tradutór, maibé sira ne’e maioria hetan ona formasaun universitária no linguístika ne’ebé forte, pelu menus iha sira nia lian inan. Hau iha kolega ida ne’ebé fiar nian aan katak nia tama iha kategoria refere no nia hanesan ema ne’ebé haluan ha´u nia amizade ho tradutór sira seluk.Interresante tebes mai ha’u hasoru ema hanesan sira no desekobre katak dalabarak ami iha esperiénsia moris ne’ebé hanesan.Ha´u nunka hetan problema bainhira halo belum ho ema seluk, maibé ha’u sempre senti ha’u nia aan “diferenti” no ha’u garante katak sira mos senti ida ne’e.Bainhira ha’u nia kolega reforma tiha husi nia funsaun, nia rekomenda ha’u atu troka fali nia fatin.Agora ha’u hola parte iha setór ida seguro tebes, iha ne’ebé ha’u la hatene buat ida.Ha’u mos hanesan úniku tradutór iha área refere no ha’u laiha rekursu barak mak atu rekore ba, bainhira ha’u iha dificuldade.Maibé, ida ne’e hanesan passu ida atu avansa mesak…
Iha ha’u nia kna’ar foun, ha’u komesa konsulta fixeiru sira ne’ebé ha’u iha, halo pergunta no konsegé hetan empresa ne’ebé fasilita ha’u liu husi seguru kursu nian. Kursu fatin lokaliza iha dalan ninin, iha ne’eba iha mos biblioteka iha ne’ebé ha’u uza hodi konsulta kódigu inséndiu sira, kontratu seguru nian no katalogo sira konaba extintor sira nian.Ha’u apreende sa ida mak ha’u seidauk kompreende, no hetan maneira apreendisazem ida ne’ebé luxu teb-tebes oinsa atu halo peskiza.Ba dahuluk ha’u tenki traduz proposta konaba seguransa sentral nuklear nian, ha’u simu kontaktu husi Xefi Departamentu, nia kongratula ha’u ba serbisu ne’ebé ha’u halo tiha ona. “Halo komparasaun ida diak los ho sa ida mak ami uza iha ne’e”, nia dehan. Ida ne’e furak los!Maneira ne’ebé mak ha'u uza hodi hamosu resultadu tradusaun ida ne’e maka liu husi halo konsulta ba dokumentu sira iha ha’u nia arkivu ne’ebé hanesan ho dokumentu sira ne’ebé ha'u uza hodi hetan orientasaun,maibé ha'u deteta katak ha'u nia predesessor antes ne'e uza tiha ona liafuan “nukleu” ein ves de “sentral", ha'u hatene arkivu sira antes ne'e ha'u iha mesak la útil deit. Ha'u tenki hakat liu fali ba dalan sorin, ba liu to'o iha biblioteka hodi buka hatene konaba liafuan “sentral nuklear sira". Ha'u hetan kedas terminologia sira ne’ebé mak durante ne'e ha'u presiza.

Atu sai tradutor ida diak iha loron ohin, ita tenki esforsu maka’as liu ida ne'e.
Entry #36395 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
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[...] Tradutór sira labele hetan rekonhesimentu, sira labele hein katak sira bele hetan moris ki'ik liu, de'it bele sobrevive. Ema kiik de'it ne'ebé hetan formasaun ba tradusaun, maibé barak maka iha edukasaun kualifikadu iha universidade no konhese solidu kona-ba língua sira, iha minimu língua nia. Ha'u iha amigu ida mak fó hamutuk ho kategoria ida ne'e no sira nia krúz ho tradutór sira seluk mós amply. Ha'u hetan sira nudar ema ne'ebé boot liu, no ha'u deskobre katak ita boot hamutuk iha esperensia vida ne'ebé simila. La ho problema ba ha'u atu hetan ema boot, maibé ha'u senti katak "diferente" no ha'u konfiadu katak sira mos senti ona. Kona-ba amigu ha'u nia, wainhira amigu ha'u aposenta, nia rekomenda ha'u nudar substituisaun nia. Agora, ha'u lakohi servisu iha área Reasseguramentu, ne'ebé ha'u seidauk hatene barak. Ha'u mos maka tradutór ida mak iha, no laiha ne'ebé bele hola baze. Maibé, liu liu, ne'e hanesan de'it mais boot...

Iha servisu foun ha'u, ha'u hetan atu hare katak ne'ebé iha pasta sira, atu husu pergunta no ha'u hasoru kompañia atu inskreve ha'u iha kursu Seguru. Kolejiu Seguru nian tuir malu, no ha'u konsulta kódigu fogo, polítika seguru no katalogu espintór fogo sira iha biblioteka sira nia. Ha'u hela ho oportunidade atu hetan sa deit tanba pesquisa, ne'ebé ha'u la iha antes ne'e: peskiza. Iha ohin loron, ha'u hetan karik la'ós data atu tradús proposta ba seguru ba usina nuklear nian, ha'u hetan telefonata husi xefe departamentu ne'e, parabéns ha'u tanba servisu ne'ebé ha'u halo. "Kompára favorável ho ne'ebé ita uza normalmente," nia ko'alia. Ki'ik de'it! Ne'ebé akontese, ha'u konsulta dokumentu iha pasta ne'ebé fo indikasaun ida atu hare komo hamutuk ba orientasaun, maibé ha'u hare katak predecessor ha'u nia uza "nucleus" iha kotuk deit "core", ha'u konprende katak pasta sira la'ós ajuda ida ba ha'u. Ha'u simu biblioteka iha leten dalan, no hare ba "usina nuklear". Ha'u halo imediatamente kumpretera hotu kona-ba términu ne'ebé ha'u presiza.

Hodi sai tradutór di'ak iha loron ne'e, presiza maka ne'ebé boot liu, klaru. [...]
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