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Who are you? Please introduce yourself Do you translate, interpret, or both? What are your areas of specialism? I guess I\u2019m probably a specialist in IT and in marketing texts. There was a time that I specialised in online courses and I was doing them all the time \u2013 big, 40,000-word projects. And then the company decided that they didn\u2019t want to use translators any more and moved on. But recently I was approached by a luxury brand, so suddenly I\u2019m doing marketing for luxury brands. And I\u2019m fine with that! So I\u2019m not a really niche translator.<\/p>\n Why did you decide to get into translation or interpreting? And then a friend of mine did the DipTrans, just on a whim. He wasn\u2019t a translator at all, he was working in IT like I was. And he did it, and he passed, and I thought \u201cHold on, why don\u2019t I try this as well?\u201d So it was a bit of an on a whim thing, a personal challenge to see if I could do it. I took the exam. The first time round I passed two out of three papers, and the second time round I passed the final paper. And I got the DipTrans and thought \u201cRight, I can become a translator\u201d. But I also thought I\u2019d have to become freelance and didn\u2019t think I could do that, so I kind of just forgot about it for about… thirteen years! Yes, I got my DipTrans in 2007, and I started working as a translator in 2020.<\/p>\n I\u2019d always been employed and couldn\u2019t imagine how I would be a freelancer. I thought I didn\u2019t have the right personality, I wouldn\u2019t be able to find clients. I dismissed the idea of being in-house because I thought I\u2019d need more than one language combination. So I essentially built my own barriers. I never really tried to pursue it. And then a bit later I was still fed up with my job in IT, so I started joining translation Facebook groups and just lurking, observing what was going on, working out how it all works, how you charge for it, agencies.<\/p>\n And then in 2020 I\u2019d come to the end of an IT contract that I was working on and I said \u201cI\u2019m going to do something different. Here\u2019s a thing that I can do remotely, this is a job that has always been remote and so it should work\u201d. I still procrastinated for ages, but then I got a mentor and the mentor forced me to contact agencies, and it just took off from there.<\/p>\n But I think my background has been really useful in my translation work. At first, I underestimated all of the prior experience I had. I just thought \u201cOh I\u2019m just changing completely to a new job, I won\u2019t have anything useful to bring, I don\u2019t have a background in translation\u201d. But I have a background in business and I\u2019m working<\/em> with businesses. I understand how businesses work, what their concerns are. So it\u2019s definitely an asset I didn\u2019t realise I had when I started out as a translator.<\/p>\n What\u2019s your favourite type of project? Also the project I\u2019ve just completed with the luxury client, which is a magazine, I think it\u2019s a half-yearly magazine, with a different theme for each edition.\u00a0 They commission external contributors, and the articles are quite literary, philosophical, quite poetic. Really something to get your teeth into. I was mostly the proofreader for this project, I\u2019d love to take on the translation for future issues if they\u2019ll have me. It was almost literary translation, but short pieces, and that really gave me an appetite to do more stuff like that. I love more creative, poetic work.<\/p>\n What do you do outside of translation or interpreting? Suzie is a French to English translator specialising in IT, marketing and communications.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>I\u2019m Suzie Withers, I\u2019m a French to English freelance translator, based in the UK, in Southampton, on the south coast.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>I don\u2019t do interpreting, it scares me. People have said to me that I\u2019d be a really good interpreter, but it\u2019s too scary, too on the spot, too pressured. I like to take my time and compose my thoughts and compose my writing. So that works better for me.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>I spent a long time working in IT and not using what I had studied at university. I studied French literature, philosophy, I lived in France, I loved it. And then somehow I ended up working in IT and not using French at all. And for many years that bothered me.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Well, I did used to enjoy translating online courses \u2013 online IT courses. Because I had the whole course and I was responsible for it from start to finish. So I could ensure that the whole thing had a logical flow. And I could almost test out the course, because I would learn by going through it. And when it came to the quizzes I could think \u201cDo I know the answers, have I explained it clearly enough so that someone can answer this question?\u201d So that was a really nice, satisfying type of project to do.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>I sing a lot. I\u2019m the lead singer with a band, a rock\/pop covers band. I\u2019ve also just started learning to play bass guitar. I\u2019ve always wanted to learn… I\u2019ve always been drawn to bass lines \u2013 a lot of the music I like has strong bass lines. I swim, I run, I walk, I enjoy nature and wildlife photography.<\/p>\n