20 (or so) questions on how Anna (@AnniTranslator) 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: Southall, London, Great Britain
Desired location: Hong Kong. I’ve lived in Hong Kong for a few years and miss it very much since I’ve moved out to London this year.
Current work title: Translator.
Desired work title: Translator, I love my work 🙂
Languages you have studied or currently speak: I’m native Polish speaker, fluent in English, a bit rusty but still fairly fluent in Russian and Ukrainian. I speak basic Cantonese and can read and write some traditional Chinese. I have also learnt at one point or another German, Latin, Czech and tried to self-teach myself Hungarian and Irish. I bet you can tell I love languages! 😉
The project you’re most proud of: Items’ tags for a museum in Ireland. It took a lot of research to get all historical names correct in my target language, but it was a lot of fun and very satisfactory.
Your current computer setup: One laptop with Linux, one laptop with two different distributions of Linux and Windows 7.
Do you own a smartphone? Yes, Sony Experia. It’s useful when a client says “I’ll send you a file soon, please confirm asap” and you need to go shopping for groceries. You can do both!
Favorite time of the day: Evening.
Favorite gadget (apart from computer & smartphone): My ebook reader.
Next conference/event you’re planning to attend: The Freelance Box and a powwow in London.
How many hours per day do you usually work: Not enough.
Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Definitely an introvert. I feel most comfortable with people I know and I don’t mind sitting in silence with my friends.
Are you an early-riser or a night-owl? A night-owl, but the best time to work is early afternoon. Nights belong to books.
What do you listen to while you work? Usually nothing.

And a few non-work related questions to get more personal.
Your babies or pets, incl. names and ages: I have two adorable cats: Beanie, a boy, is disabled and the sweetest cat in the world. He’s six years old. Marigold, a girl, is a real kitty lady. She DOES remember cats were worshipped in Ancient Egypt. She’s six and a half years old.
Next city/country you want to visit: Scotland.
Favorite vacation place: Hong Kong.
Favorite book: I can’t choose just one.
Favorite song: There isn’t just one. I like movie soundtracks, especially anything by Two Steps From Hell duo.
What are you currently reading? “The Left Hand of Destiny” by Herzler and Lang (a Star Trek book), “Voices” by Vornholt (a Babylon 5 book) and “Lost Languages, The Enigma of the World’s Undeciphered Scripts” by Robinson.

Author bio

Anna Kandula is an English/Russian/Ukrainian to Polish translator, currently based in the United Kingdom. She started working as a translator in 2006 and works mostly with manuals and user guides. Recently, she added IT and software to her fields. She is a sci-fi fan, Linux geek and cat lover. You can connect to her at LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/mannakandula.