I am going to be a translator

I guess I had to write this blog post, because I have officially decided it. Well… kind of. Yes, I am going to become a translator specialised in localization. And a good one, I hope.

As you know, I started this blog because I thought I wanted to become an interpreter, and the fact is that I still want to (why do I have to choose? WHY?), but I have several reasons to decide that I prefer studying translation:

1. Although I liked very much my Interpreting lessons last year, the truth is that I am not used to that kind of stress and it made me feel bad before, during and after class. I only found it rewarding when I did it well, and that didn’t happen usually.
2. They always say that Interpreting can be taught, and I absolutely agree with that, but it is also true that there are some “gifted” students that can do so much better than "normal" people. Sometimes I felt I was the worst student in class, even though I know this isn’t true. Yeah, I am too pessimistic and it doesn’t help.
3. I love reading. I love languages. I love reading and translating documents. When I find an interesting topic, I love translating it (well, it is true that instruction booklets are not usually fun, but still). And I find it rewarding; I am actually good at it, and I feel I never stop learning things.
4. I have discovered the amazing world of localization. I already knew it existed, but I hadn’t thought of it as a possibility. But the fact is that I have always loved anything related to technologies (I did my first webpage at the age of 8, when some people didn’t even know that the Internet existed) and I would love being able to translate software or even videogames. So cool! 

So next year I am going to enrol on translation lessons, but that doesn’t mean that I am not going to learn how to interpret!

I guess that one of the things that made me feel stressed last year was the final exam. Because I was thinking of the exam during the whole year and since I didn’t see a big improvement on my interpreting skills, I couldn’t help but think I wasn’t good enough to pass. And since this year I just have half the usual number of credits (I did too many during the past three years), I am going to attend Interpreting lessons along with would-be interpreters, but I will not do the final exam.

Because… in spite of the things that I said before, I LOVE interpreting so much. It makes you feel stressed, but free. You can play with words; with your language. You can learn things about everything. You can meet people from everywhere. You have the satisfaction of being the only person that can help some people who, without you, couldn’t even say “hello” to each other, perhaps. You have the satisfaction of hearing: “yes sir, I have understood you”.

So I guess I have to change the title of this post:

I am going to be a translator… and an interpreter!

P.S.: … And of course, the best ballet dancer I can! (Is this the year? Will I be on pointe again? We’ll see!)