国外优秀口译/笔译员每天的工作和生活是怎样的~

 

圈圈有话说

如果大家读过我以前的一篇文章自由译者必读|七个国际博客与网站，或许知道Judy和 Dagmar Jenner是谁。

这是一对双胞胎姐妹花，会西班牙语、德语、英语和法语，出生在奥地利，而长在墨西哥城的一个双语家庭中（语言环境真是得天独厚！），目前在拉斯维加斯和维也纳(奥地利)经营翻译、口译和文案业务。

出版了一本书《Entrepreneurial Linguist》，同时运营着一个翻译博客“Translation Times"，在2013年荣获Proz的Community Choice奖。

我今天随便翻她的博客，读到了一篇很有趣的文章，特别分享给大家。

说实话，最近我经常嚷着忙死忙死了，但坦白说，其实一天内我做完的事情只有这两个妹子的大概五分之一。

就她居然能面不改色地应付邮箱中一百多封未读邮件，我就能给她当场跪下了~

在短短一天内，她可以handle回邮件（报价/接单/外包/开发票），做翻译，做审校，写文案，做口译，做瑜伽……

简直精力无穷，还特么酷毙了~

原来笔译/口译的生活可以这么丰富多彩，充满无限可能~真是非常令人向往了。

好了，废话不多说，我搬来了原文，一起来读一读吧。

版权归属Judy和 Dagmar Jenner哦。

We frequently receive questions about how we organize our days and how exactly we get everything done. The truth is that we don't always accomplish what we set out to do, but we give it the good old college try. We have one very serious rule that we always abide by: we never miss a deadline, ever. Anything else that doesn't have a deadline is less important, and as you will see, some things simply don't get done. Judy will start our two-part series with an overview of her day. Dagy's will follow.

Here is my day on a random weekday in April:

7 a.m. I am trying to follow in my twin's footsteps and get up earlier to get more done, but I am definitely not an early morning person, as opposed to my hubby, who is bouncing off the wall, taking our dog Luna for a walk, and paying bills starting at 5:30. 

This is also his favorite time to talk to me, as I am most likely to agree to anything. This is how we ended up with a current major backyard remodel. I grab a quick bowl of cereal with him, pet Luna, and send hubby off to the office to play nicely with the other attorneys, which he usually does.

7:30 a.m. I am at the computer, sorting through the 100+ e-mails that came in during the night. I already responded to the most important ones from my Android while still in bed, so I now decide what's important and what has to be taken care of immediately.

 I answer some requests for price quotes, correspond with existing clients about projects, and receive a new project from one of my favorite clients, which I outsource to my superstar English->Spanish translator, Dolores Rojo Guiñazú, who's also a dear friend of ours. I negotiate a good deadline so she has plenty of time, and she responds within five minutes that she can take the project. I am completely buried in work, so everything that comes in this week will be outsourced to our superstar contractors.

8:30 a.m. I get a friendly reminder from my twin, Dagy, that I still have not proofed and edited her existing translation from a long-time client that she sent yesterday.

 I do this right away -- it's an interesting business correspondence between two parties who don't speak the same language. Her translation is very strong, but I still have some comments and corrections. We are very happy with the end result. 

Dagy integrates my changes, we discuss a few more details via instant message, and she delivers the project to the client. He responds saying that in his next life he would like to have our language and writing skills. This very sweet comment made my day. I read the American and Mexican news online, but don't have time to read the Austrian press. I listen to National Public Radio in the background, and they are doing a fundraiser that just started today. I grab my wallet and donate.

9 a.m. I jump in the shower to get ready for my 11 a.m. interpreting assignment at a deposition for a civil litigation matter. I'm not having a great hair day, so I throw my hair in a ponytail and put on a black suit. I continue working and answer 23 e-mails. I grade some assignments submitted by my students in the Intro to Interpreting class at UC San Diego-Extension (online) and review the grade I received a few days ago myself when I took a mock exam for the federal interpreting certification exam (I passed the mock). I receive a large project from an existing client. She's pre-paid all her translation work for the year (amazing), so I move her project to the top of the projects list. This is a project I must do myself, busy or not.

10 a.m. I turn in a short personal document translation that Dagy had proofed for me overnight.
It was due at  5 p.m., but I turn in in at 10 a.m. and include the invoice in the same e-mail. The client is delighted, says everything looks good and provides payment within.... 5 minutes via PayPal. I am floored. 

I turn in one more short copywriting project that's due later today and get a response from my editor that she loves the article, but that I did not include one of the sources. I apologize, look up the source, and add that to the online system so the article is now complete. I issue two more invoices (using Translation Office 3000) before I have to leave the house. I pack my yoga bag because there's some hope I will work out on the way back from my interpreting assignment.

10:20 a.m. I jump in my Prius and drive the 15 miles to my interpreting assignment. I arrive significantly earlier than 11 a.m., which is one of my good/bad habits. I have 15 minutes, so I answer some more e-mails on my Android. I receive a phone call from a potential client who has an urgent request, who then calls back within a few minutes saying he doesn't need the project after all.

11 a.m. As a certified Spanish court interpreter in Nevada, I have the necessary certification to interpret at this deposition, and it's pretty routine. I chat with the court reporter and try not to speak with the deponent without her attorney present, which can come across as rude. However, my code of ethics is pretty strict on this, so I make a quick (unnecessary) trip to the bathroom to avoid any chit-chat. 

The deposition is going smoothly until the defense and the plaintiff's counsel disagree over a technicality, so angry comments are flying back and forth, which I dutifully interpret for the deponent. She's confused and asks if she should respond to comments along the lines of: "Let the record reflect that counsel is being completely unreasonable."

 I interpret her question, and her lawyer says no, she only has to answer questions directed at her. The final 30 minutes go well, even though the deponent is speaking so loudly that occasionally the poor court reporter has trouble hearing me, as I am doing simultaneous interpretation, albeit without any equipment.

12:40 p.m. I break my own cardinal rule and eat a banana and a granola bar in my pristine car before rushing across town to make it to Bikram yoga (yoga practiced in a very hot room). I am a terrible yogini, but I certainly try. Everyone in the room is at least twice as flexible as I am. The instructor asks me to set an intention for the class, and I settle on survival.

未完待续~

https://translationtimes.blogspot.com/2013/04/a-day-in-life-of-busy.html

很拉风的圈圈

跟两位前辈比起来，我简直游手好闲，成天摸鱼，效率低到可怕……

忏悔ING……

还有杭州一秒入夏，想灌冰啤酒冰荔枝……