All STB project managers agree that Sonia is an invaluable member of our freelance team. She consistently delivers top-quality work and earned special praise this quarter not just from the in-house team, but also from other freelancers who called her translation ‘fluid’ and ‘flawless’. She also took on a tricky project that included handwritten medical notes and delivered in batches which allowed us to meet a tight deadline. Read on for a short interview with this quarter’s winner.
Hi Sonia, congratulations on becoming STB’s latest Star Translator! We’d love to learn a bit more about you, so can you first tell me what motivated you to become a translator?
My favourite subjects at school were languages and English and I have always enjoyed the challenge of turning a text in another language into a piece of natural-sounding English. I was also attracted by the variety offered by the profession as there are practically no limits to the type of document you could be asked to translate.
What do you like most about being a freelance translator?
Although working alone can be stressful, I take a lot of pride in the fact that everything I translate has been completed by me alone and there is a great deal of satisfaction to be had from producing a piece of work that you are proud of, especially when you receive positive feedback from a client. Finally, I really value the flexibility of being able to fit my work around life with two small children and one very elderly cat.
How did you find yourself specialising in legal and pharmaceutical texts?
This is primarily due to the high volume of work in these areas, but I do really enjoy working in these fields. Both legal and pharmaceutical texts tend to be written by people who are experts in their field and are designed to be as clear and accessible as possible, which means that they are normally very nicely worded – a lack of ambiguity is always appreciated as a translator!
Moving on to outside of work, do you have a favourite book in any of your languages?
My favourite books in Spanish are the Shadow of the Wind series of novels by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, which are real page-turners, full of mystery and they paint a really atmospheric picture of Barcelona in the 1940s. My favourite book in Polish would be the hauntingly sad but beautiful The Pianist by Władysław Szpilman. In Russian, I enjoy a good crime thriller by Aleksandra Marinina.
Finally, if you could hop on a plane tomorrow, where would you travel?
Tough question and I can’t choose just one place! I love a city break and my top five cities would have to be: Istanbul, Prague, Edinburgh, Copenhagen and New York.
All excellent choices – I think I’ll go plan my next holiday now! From all of us at STB, thank you for your hard work Sonia!
