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, email us at info@linguagreca.com for the Word template where you can fill in your answers & bio (incl. site/blog/social media) 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. Check out the previous interviews here.
Location: Saintfield, Northern Ireland
Desired location: Right here – we just finished building our house so I am soaking up the newness!
Current work title: Translator and owner at Silver Tongue Translations
Desired work title: See above 🙂
Languages you have studied or currently speak: Spanish and Portuguese at university, French and German at school (and at uni for fun), Dutch from living in the Netherlands for 18 months. Dutch and German are pretty rusty though!
The project you’re most proud of: Helping a group of residents claim compensation for damage done to their land after construction of some (environmentally unsound) infrastructure – I translated the expert reports and environmental assessments.
Your current computer setup: Dell laptop on a riser with second screen and wireless keyboard. I have a PC too but it’s a bit of a dinosaur and sounds like 747 taking off.
Do you own a smartphone? Yes, an iPhone 5S. I adore it, I’m an Apple girl through and through when it comes to phones.
Favorite time of the day: It depends on the day, the season, the weather and whether the kids have been behaving!
Favorite gadget (apart from computer & smartphone): My iPad. Or, if it’s raining, the remote control thingy that opens the garage door 🙂
Next conference/event you’re planning to attend: When it comes to translation conferences, I was hoping to go to BP15 in Zagreb in May, but I think I may be in Australia for that month. We will be visiting family and working from there, so maybe I can attend a translation event while I’m there! On the local front, I’m heading to a Chamber of Commerce event for young business owners in Belfast next Wednesday and there are also a few industry specific events for my specialisms which I hope to attend in London in February and March.
How many hours per day do you usually work: I try to work 9 hours each day.
Are you an introvert or an extrovert? I think I am an extrovert, but on the other hand I am genuinely useless at small talk which makes chatting to strangers pretty intimidating!
Are you an early-riser or a night-owl? I work well in the evenings, but I am trying to get more accomplished from around 6:30am!
What do you listen to while you work? It depends what I’m working on. If I’m writing something from scratch I can listen to music, if it’s a translation and I’m in the zone, I can listen to music…but if there are a lot of unfamiliar terms then I need silence!
And a few non-work related questions to get more personal.
Your babies or pets, incl. names and ages: I have two babies – quite literally 🙂 My daughter, Claudia, just turned two and my son, Gabriel, is five months old. They are the most beautiful children in the whole wide world, although I may be slightly biased.
Next city/country you want to visit: I would love to visit San Francisco. My husband works for a US firm and travels there often – I’d like to join him this year!
Favorite vacation place: My beloved Spain.
Favorite book: Shantaram, by Gregory David Roberts or A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini
Favorite song: Superstitious by Stevie Wonder
What are you currently reading? The Tiger, by John Vaillant
Author bio
Jo Rourke: I’ve been translating for the past 12 years from Spanish and Portuguese into English, though primarily from Spanish. I studied Hispanic Studies at Queens’ University with specialisms in Translation and started doing freelance translation during this time. For many years it was balanced with a full time job, which, although busy, gave me the chance to gain a specialism in technical translation (the environment, engineering and everything in between). I took the plunge to launch Silver Tongue Translations and have been collaborating with some wonderful freelancers for the past few years. When I’m not being a languages geek I’m spending time with my family and friends, knitting (yes, really!) or baking.
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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It is always good to know more about your translator, and sharing this information will help clients give a deeper glimpse on who their translator is as a person. This will certainly encourage further trust and will help form a bond that can promote client loyalty. Hopefully there will be great translation seminars in Australia when you come for a visit.