20 (or so) questions on how Charles Ek works
This series of posts was inspired by Lifehacker’s How I Work series, which I’ve been reading for quite some time and thoroughly enjoy. It’s about time we discover how our colleagues work and get to know them a little better.
If you want to participate in this fun series, send us an email at info@linguagreca.com so we can send you the Word template where you can fill in your answers and your bio (incl. your site/blog/social media links) and then send it back to us as an attachment along with your photo (optional but preferred). If you don’t like any of the questions, just delete them and add your own. You can read the previous interviews here.
Location: London, UK
Desired location: Exactly where I am. Possibly a bigger house, but I can’t complain!
Current work title: Freelance translator, interpreter, voice over artist, speaker, consultant, juggler, communicator, problem-solver…
Desired work title: All of the above – unless I can be person of the year on the Time or something 😉
Languages you have studied or currently speak: English, Italian, Spanish, French – working and active; Portuguese, Japanese studied and still under construction.
The project you’re most proud of: Hard to say. Each and every one of them is special but I guess the time I interpreted for the live launch of XBox One this year has to be 2013’s highlight.
Your current computer setup: iMac 21.5”. Yes, I’m a Mac girl and proud of it. Looking forward to upgrading my MacBook to a Mac Air (11’’ preferably)
Do you own a smartphone? Of course! iPhone 5.
Favorite time of the day: it really depends. Not a morning person but I have no preferred hour. I can say Saturday is my fave day though.
Favorite gadget (apart from computer & smartphone): (apart from computer & smartphone): I use my iPhone for everything and also have an iPad. I think my phone is my body’s appendix, really.
Next conference/event you’re planning to attend: I’m going to beat small events here and there but the bigger one coming up is BP14 in Budapest, where I’m a speaker and also will be running a The Freelance Box event with Marta Stelmaszak.
How many hours per day do you usually work: 8-9 a day, not necessarily in a standard 9am – 7pm format.
Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Super extrovert! But I do get my downtime and my antisocial moments. I hope you’re never catching me in one of those…
Are you an early-riser or a night-owl? Used to be a night-owl, but I’m trying actively to become more of an early bird and get my 8.hour beauty sleep. Check my progress via #earlyriserchallenge !
What do you listen to while you work? Sometimes I play Spotify (you can follow my playlists), sometimes I need complete silence… it depends on the type of translation and the day of the week. I love Ryuichi Sakamoto when I need to focus.
And a few non-work related questions to get more personal.
Your babies or pets, incl. names and ages:  Does a boyfriend count? Fabio, almost 33 🙂
Next city/country you want to visit: Tokyo. I’ve been meaning to visit for years…
Favorite vacation place: Isola d’Elba, where I lived for 2 years or Polzeath, Cornwall.
Favorite book: The Secret Garden, one of the first I’ve ever read.
Favorite song: So hard to pick one… at the moment I’m in love with ‘La Tua Voce’, Gianmaria Testa.
What are you currently reading? I seriously feel ashamed… but I have not enough time to read more than the ITI Bulletin or my food cooking instructions these days. My list has ‘Lean In’, by Sheryl Sandberg on it but also many, many more.
Author bio
Valeria Aliperta (member of IAPTI and Head of External Relations, Associate of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting, Member of the Chartered Institute of Linguists, member of ASETRAD) is a conference interpreter and translator working from English, Spanish and French into Italian. Her fields of expertise are IT, fashion, design, marketing, legal and advertising. With a spot for blogging (http://rainylondontranslations.posterous.com) and social media (she organised the Tweet-Up at the 2010 ITI Conference), she was listed as 15th Top Twitterer and 21st Top Facebook Page in the Language Lovers 2012 contest. Along with talks and webinars, she writes articles and guest posts on branding / corporate identity and regularly contributes to the ITI Bulletin. She recently launched Rainy London Branding, an all-new sister site to Rainy London Translations, entirely dedicated to branding and identity consultancy www.rainylondonbranding.com.
About the author
Catherine Christaki has been a full-time English-Greek translator since 2001 and co-owner of Lingua Greca Translations since 2012. She specializes in Information Technology, Medical, and Technical texts and loves writing for the Adventures in Technical Translation blog. She regularly shares her experience and insight on social media and blogging for translators, giving interviews and presenting at conferences. Connect with her on Twitter @LinguaGreca.
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Just what I thought – an extrovert 🙂 It seems we are not that rare of a breed among translators. I watched the XBox One launch on Youtube and you were fantastic, Val.
The Secret Garden is one of my favourite books too!