Anne, one of Okodia’s professional translators, has been surrounded by languages for most of her life. In fact, she´ll always remember falling in love with them at only 10 years of age. It was at this age that she was introduced to the world of languages English was the first language she came into contact with English at only 10 years old, and she fell head over heels in love with it; so much so, that she later decided to become a professional in the thing she loved the most: languages. And her defence, we have to say that is extremely good at it.
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1. How do you think translation and interpretation contribute to our day-to-day lives in society?
Apart from being the link between people and situations that would otherwise be deft of understanding, or collaboration… translation also helps to keep the richness and diversity of worlds languages alive. I believe that a respect for languages and the efforts to keep them alive are invaluable.
2. What’s the best advice you can offer, that you didn’t know when you ventured into translation?
I received excellent advice from a university professor: before putting pen to paper (which nowadays would be before typing), pick up the document, read it, as many times as you need, immerse yourself in text, understand the message, identify style, etc… and then: translate!
3. Which translation specialisation do you think brings more benefits to society and why?
That’s not really for me to say. Translation is obviously necessary for doing business, as the economy makes the world go around, as well as international politics, translating films… but I believe it’s important in all areas.
4. What kind of translation motivates you the most?
Above all, translating something original and well written is more important than the field.
5. Which translation specialisation do feel is particularly important?
Medical translation, as it is one of my specialities… But as I mentioned before, I see all translations as important.
Travel and languages, Anne’s main passions.
Let’s find out a little more about you:
Translators have some strange habits while they work, what’s yours?
Having water close by, silence or soft music…
What do you loathe and why?
Manipulation and narrow-minded people. As I believe that single-mindedness is creating chaos in the world.
Which languages hold a special significance for you, and why?
Spanish is very special to me; studying it in school at 12 years old to be with my friends, and then choosing it later as my second language, have led me to come to Spain and make it my home.
When you are faced with a difficult translation problem, is the first thing you do to solve it, and why?
I don’t often come across extremely difficult problems; if it’s medically related then I would ask a French doctor I know for feedback. If it´s from another area then I’d search on the Internet, or possibly ask the client.
Which place would you choose to escape from the world?
It depends what mood I’m. A village in the Pyrenees, a beach in Tarfia… Or one of the places I dream about, where the culture is far removed from my own, would be Asia, for example (which I have yet to discover).
What is the most interesting place you have visited? What appealed to you the most about this place?
When I was 18 years old, I went to the Ivory Coast to visit one of my sisters who was living there with her husband. I remember travelling through small villages in the Savannah, with the children have never seen a white skin before, as well as many other things. It was a very powerful experience
