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: Reunion Island, Indian Ocean
Current work title: French to English freelance translator
Languages you have studied or currently speak: English (native), French, Reunion Creole; Korean, German, Spanish & Portuguese (basic).
The project you’re most proud of: translating thousands of words of MMORPG dialogues written by a well-known author.
Your current computer setup: a 27” iMac, and a Mac Book Pro when I’m on the move.
Do you own a smartphone? If yes, which one? iPhone 4
Favourite gadget (apart from computer & smartphone): not sure if it counts as a gadget, but I have an enormous mug that holds about half a litre of tea. The cupboard is full of other mugs, but I keep on washing and using that same one – I love it.
Next conference/event you’re planning to attend: A “speed business meeting” to be held by a local businesswomen’s networking organisation.
How many hours per day do you usually work: generally 8am to 7pm with breaks for lunch and sport.
Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Ambivert – I can do well both socially and individually and I like interacting with people. I need time and space on my own, but I also need people to talk things over with people I trust. I sometimes like spending time with others, but not always. I can do things alone, but I don’t like spending too much time by myself.
Are you an early-riser or a night owl? Definitely a night owl!
What do you listen to while you work? I love music but not while I work. I don’t have A/C and for most of the year I generally have the window open and listen to the birds outside.
And a few non-work related questions to get more personal 🙂
Next city & country you want to visit: City: Atlanta to see my brother again. Country: Oman (for the scuba diving).
What everyday thing are you better at than anyone else? I make an excellent banana loaf.
Favourite vacation place: Maldives
Favourite book: Leaving Mother Lake by Yang Erche Namu
Favourite song: Map of the Problematique by Muse
What are you currently reading: Fuir by Jean-Philippe Toussaint
Author bio
Catharine Cellier-Smart has been translating from French to English since the early 1990s, and became a full-time freelancer in 2011. Born in London, she’s lived on Reunion Island, a French overseas department in the south-west Indian Ocean, for 20 years. She is a member of the French National Translators’ Association, SFT. You can find her on Twitter @Smart_Translate, (voted 12th in the 2013 Top Twitterers Language Lovers competition) as well as Facebook and Google+. She blogs at A Smart Translator’s Reunion.
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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Do not miss the video of our interview with Catharine. It was a terrific interview!
thanks for making it happen, Al!
Thank YOU, Catharine, for allowing us to convince you to do the interview. Memorable, wonderful, interesting, and full of interesting information, links, travel spots, scuba diving, photography, hiking, and on and on.
I loved it!
Very interesting interview recording, Al!
I’m so glad you started this series, Catherine. It is actually very interesting to get a glimpse into the lives of people I’ve been following and admiring professionally.
Cath, I’ve told you before I envy you for living in such a beautiful place. My partner has a huge tea mug as well. And I see that the club of people who like working in silence is growing 🙂
Al, thank you for sharing this video. I actually ended up watching quite a few videos on your channel (and subscribed as well). It was so lovely to hear the voices of Catharine, Catherine and Judy – I had listened to Marta and Valeria before, so I was familiar with their voices.
I am so looking forward to the next ‘interview’.
Thank you for sharing the interview Al, it was great to see Cath’s interview again. I miss those interviews and the EPT’s 10 language-related items in less than 10 minutes. I know they took a lot of time to do (you can tell by how great and well-prepared they were) but I really really enjoyed them. If you ever need a hand to get them going again, I’m all yours.
Will we see you at the ATA in San Antonio? Pls. say yes!!
And last but not least, we would all love to read your answers to these questions too, so say the word and I’ll send you the template 🙂