Translations
Since 1997 I’ve worked as a free-lance translator from English
to Czech and Czech to English. Because I have the added benefit of
having a native English-speaker editor and writer at home as a husband,
we focus on translations into English.
My projects tend to fluctuate between web-development and translations,
the main reason being that I like change in my work schedule and
the challenges. Very often these two fields go hand in hand, from producing
original copy-writing in Czech or English to developing the brand
and
the website and translating the final presentation.
Creative Translations
Besides regular business documentation, contracts and communications
for legal firms or scientific grant proposals, I specialize in
what I call creative translations. These are translations requiring
some
creative input on part of the translator and editor, not just an
accurate transfer of information from one language to another.
These texts need
to appeal to a particular audience and at the same time sound natural
and fluid.
Typical needs for creative translations include promotional texts
for websites, flyers or Powerpoint presentations (such as product
and service
descriptions), FAQs or customer-service instructions. This is usually
a combination of copy-writing and translation.
I also work for leading advertising agencies, because most campaigns
tend lose all their glory and punch when simply translated. The
shorter the brand, motto or headline, the more impact it carries
and its
supporting text usually needs to be rewritten. This is also true
on the conceptual
level, when I translate Powerpoint presentations for advertising
agency clients.
But of course, my favorite work is translating literature, may
it be fiction, non-fiction or poetry. Being a writer myself (and
having
many
of them as close friends), I have an understanding for balancing
author need for sustaining content and style, with the customs
and interests
of the target readers, who enjoy texts that don’t feel like
translations. This is a real and interesting challenge.
Milestone Projects
In
case of larger projects, I lead a team of trusted translators (many
of them writers or journalists themselves) who collaborate with my
husband as a single editor maintaining style and continuity. Among
these cases was a translation of an encyclopedic publication called
Moravian Dominions of the Liechtensteins and Dietrichsteins into
English.
The 600+ page book covers a thousand-year
family history of the
Liechtenstein
and Deitrichstein
aristocracy in Europe and was commissioned by His Highness, Crown
Prince Hans Adam II of Liechtenstein.
Probably my most difficult, but also most successful work so far
is my cooperation with Slovak writer Róbert Gál.
Róbert
writes experimental prose, often in the form of short aphorisms
packed with neologisms, double meanings, philosophy and irony.
Excerpts from his novels have been published in many international
literary
magazines and selected for the 2012
Best European Fiction anthology
by Dalkey
Archive Press. In this case I translated from Slovak to English,
then worked directly with Robert, a translation editor (my husband)
and
a literary editor from the publishing company.
My project portfolio is available at: www.translation-proofreading-webdesign.com
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