In the last blog I mentioned one disadvantage of being an Interpreter.
So on this post I am going to mention some positive aspects of the interpreting
profession.I am sure all of you would be intrigued by this.
Last year a Film Production company approached me ( they made a Film on Global
Warming and it was filmed in Bangladesh).In the Film there were some interviews
with the local Bangladeshis.They were non English speakers.So the Director wanted
me to go to their offices and sit down and watch the clips and translate it for them. can you think of any more Glamourous job than that ? Has this tickled your
imagination? I hope it has. I certainly found it very interesting and satisfying!
Interestingly enough, few weeks later a foreign student approached me for a similar project. That student chose to go to Bangladesh for their Post graduate research and guess what ? Made a Film ! Again, I had to provide the interpreting service for the interviews on the Film.But this time, it was at the IT Resources room/ Laboratory
of the University rather than the offices of the Film Director where I did the Translation.
Continuing on the same theme, only last week I was approached by some body to translate some film clips for an Aid Agency.Unfortunately though, this time, I could not take up the offer. I was too busy ! Can you imagine ? Some of you probably would have killed to get such an opportunity!I am sorry , I don't say this to brag or to demean you, but only pointing out the interesting possibilities that you could come across in this Field. And I may be wrong; may be some of you would not be as thrilled as myself to get this kind of opportunities.
I think I better finish here today.I will talk about other interesting aspects of Interpreting profession in the future posts.Bye for now.See you later.
Sunday 22 February 2009
Friday 13 February 2009
Ordeal of an Interpreter !
O.K; last time I promised to tell you few things about my experience
of working in the community.I will just mention some of the lighter
things rather than going in to any serious stuff.
I hope you would get some amusement and entertainment at my expense.
May be you can give me some tips on how to avoid this kind of suffering.
Alright, what I want to mention first of all is having to work closely
with people having bad breath ! As interpreter you have to be in close
proximity of the people using your services.You need to be quite close
to them to be able to listen to them and also to speak to them. So there
is no escape for the poor interpreter ! You need to endure this experience
for as long as necessary !Having arrived at the venue and after starting
your assignment you can hardly leave ! How do you tell somebody you have just
met that their breath smell without being rude ?
And don't worry, I don't just mean that its just people from our
community suffer from this embarrassing problem. Some of the English
speakers I have worked with also suffer from it.
But I think it is worse in our community because a lot of people in our
community has the habit of chewing Paan and Betel Nuts( and smoking).And I find that
that also gives out some unpleasant smell.Ofcourse people who chew Paan
would disagree with me.But what do you think ?
of working in the community.I will just mention some of the lighter
things rather than going in to any serious stuff.
I hope you would get some amusement and entertainment at my expense.
May be you can give me some tips on how to avoid this kind of suffering.
Alright, what I want to mention first of all is having to work closely
with people having bad breath ! As interpreter you have to be in close
proximity of the people using your services.You need to be quite close
to them to be able to listen to them and also to speak to them. So there
is no escape for the poor interpreter ! You need to endure this experience
for as long as necessary !Having arrived at the venue and after starting
your assignment you can hardly leave ! How do you tell somebody you have just
met that their breath smell without being rude ?
And don't worry, I don't just mean that its just people from our
community suffer from this embarrassing problem. Some of the English
speakers I have worked with also suffer from it.
But I think it is worse in our community because a lot of people in our
community has the habit of chewing Paan and Betel Nuts( and smoking).And I find that
that also gives out some unpleasant smell.Ofcourse people who chew Paan
would disagree with me.But what do you think ?
Monday 2 February 2009
Bengali / Sylheti Interpreters
Well, it's been a while since I added something on this blog.
Now that I have some time on my hand today ( as it has been the
heaviest snowfall in London for as long as I can remember),I feel
compelled to write something.
Yes, I started this blog so that Bengali/Sylheti interpreters or
any language interpreters for that matter could help each other,
give tips to each other or just have a common forum for interpreters
or would be interpreters.
well, I am glad that I started this.Because through this I have got
to know few people and I have been able to offer help (albeit not much)
to some readers of this blog.
It's interesting because people from as far as the USA have contacted me
regarding Bengali Interpreting jobs after coming across this blog.
Some agencies also have contacted me after reading my blog.So, overall
it's been a good experience for me.
sometimes I can be a bit radical in my views and I have expressed some
strong views in the past.But I do not do that to hurt anyone's feelings.
I just do that in good humour.So I hope my readers would see those comments
in that light.
And yes, it's always a pleasure to hear from somebody who has read the posts.I love getting your phone calls and emails.So don't be shy, if you come across this blog and like it (or even dislike it), or you feel that I could help you in any way
for your interpreting career,do get in touch.
I have done some interpreting at the GP surgeries recently.It has been an interesting experience ! I will write about some of those experiences in the next post.(ofcourse maintaining confidentiality; I won't name any names or disclose anybody's personal details; that would be against the ethics of Interpreters.)so keep checking this blog regularly ! I have also posted a couple of other blogs. If you click on the link that says 'view my complete profile' you will find them.Why don't you check them as well? I think you will like them.
Now that I have some time on my hand today ( as it has been the
heaviest snowfall in London for as long as I can remember),I feel
compelled to write something.
Yes, I started this blog so that Bengali/Sylheti interpreters or
any language interpreters for that matter could help each other,
give tips to each other or just have a common forum for interpreters
or would be interpreters.
well, I am glad that I started this.Because through this I have got
to know few people and I have been able to offer help (albeit not much)
to some readers of this blog.
It's interesting because people from as far as the USA have contacted me
regarding Bengali Interpreting jobs after coming across this blog.
Some agencies also have contacted me after reading my blog.So, overall
it's been a good experience for me.
sometimes I can be a bit radical in my views and I have expressed some
strong views in the past.But I do not do that to hurt anyone's feelings.
I just do that in good humour.So I hope my readers would see those comments
in that light.
And yes, it's always a pleasure to hear from somebody who has read the posts.I love getting your phone calls and emails.So don't be shy, if you come across this blog and like it (or even dislike it), or you feel that I could help you in any way
for your interpreting career,do get in touch.
I have done some interpreting at the GP surgeries recently.It has been an interesting experience ! I will write about some of those experiences in the next post.(ofcourse maintaining confidentiality; I won't name any names or disclose anybody's personal details; that would be against the ethics of Interpreters.)so keep checking this blog regularly ! I have also posted a couple of other blogs. If you click on the link that says 'view my complete profile' you will find them.Why don't you check them as well? I think you will like them.
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