I've just been reminded that this month marks 23 years since I did my first ever paid translation assignment! Woo hoo! 🎉
My, how time has flown by. It just seems like yesterday. But to put it into perspective, Olivia Rodrigo wasn't even a twinkle in her parents' eyes then.
So what did I do at that first job?
I had only been in London, UK for a few months and had sent my translation CV to a number of language-oriented recruitment companies. In 1998 I had gained NAATI accreditation in Australia as a professional translator for Macedonian, Serbian and Bosnian into English, so I was hoping that being in Europe would provide a greater opportunity to use these qualifications... and it did!
Out of the blue on a cold February day I received a call from one language service provider (a company that still exists and was in contact with me for another translation job recently) asking if I could go and translate the dialogue from the footage of an interview with a Serbian volleyball player. I immediately said yes, and that Saturday I happily made my way to some industrial park in west London for my first paid translation job. Honestly, it looked no different from The Office UK.
It was a rather rudimentary set up: I had to watch and listen to the rushes from an interview, then enter the time code and translation onto a Word file. The translation later would provide the basis for a voiceover using snippets from the interview for a sports TV show.
Later I was informed it was for Trans World Sport, the world's longest running weekly international television sports show, with the interview being broadcast a few weeks later on Channel 4 in the UK. I'm sure I have a digitised version of it on some external hard drive at the back of a cupboard.
It took a number of hours to translate the interview (the volleyballer's muffled speech and rather boring answers didn't help) but in the end I felt so accomplished.
I must have done a good job because for the next year I was called on a regular basis to translate interviews with various Serbian, Bulgarian, Bosnian and Croatian sports stars, the best being Croatian skiing legend, the effervescent and naturally witty Janica Kostelić, who just shone with positivity and joy. Not at all surprising but her brother Ivica was the complete opposite.
I also provided the translation for an interview with 1990s Bulgarian football star, Yordan Letchkov. Sorry to say but Mr Letchkov was not the most eloquent of speakers. His answer to one question was a 15-second string of 'ums' and 'ahs' that I simply translated it as 'yeah'. The interview was filmed in the premises of his notorious Imperia discotheque on the outskirts of his hometown of Sliven. After a constant stream of complaints over the loud noise at night from his disco, Letchkov decided that the best solution would be to become mayor so that he could set the rules. So he made a bid for the mayorship of Sliven the following year... and won. As for his time as mayor, well...
In April 2010, the Sliven Regional Court dismissed Letchkov after being charged for official misconduct, but the Burgas Appeals Court restored him to his position two months later. Letchkov lost the mayorship in the 2011 local elections after 8 years in the post, by which time many in Sliven were angry that the roadworks on many of the city's main streets were left unfinished. While he was mayor, the streets that led to Letchkov's hotels in the Sliven were given priority in being renewed with new bitumen, greenery, pavements and street lighting. There was also the dispute (that went to court) between Letchkov's administration and the company working on restructuring Sliven's water supply. Letchkov the Mayor also showed much disrespect to journalists and police officers. Charming!
Unlike Letchkov's political career, my translation career has grown immensely since those early days, venturing into more areas of specialisation, being presented with many opportunities, and having provided professional service to the satisfaction of many long-term clients. I don't leave virtual potholes for others to fix. Actually, I'm often the one who fixes the potholes created by others less capable.
Since 2002, every time I head off to Heathrow Airport, I go past that industrial park where it all started and think of the journey I've had so far, as well as the journey to come. Join me!
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