We continue the cycle of interviews with our most loyal collaborators. It’s a way to show our readers the reality of the translator profession and the other profiles that contribute to the hectic activity of an agency.
Her full name is Carmen Fernández Gauchi, but everyone calls her Carmina. She graduated in Translation and Interpretation at the Jaume I University of Castellón and obtained an MBA at the Chamber of Commerce of Granada. After learning about the industry while working as a project manager first and then operations manager in a translation agency, she moved on to teaching courses in CAT tools at the University of Zaragoza and finally decided to go freelance. Over the past ten years she has been translating and proofreading technical and environmental texts from English, German and Italian into Spanish and managing localisation projects.
Let’s start from the beginning: how long have you been translating?
This year marks my 20th anniversary as a translator. Time goes by so fast! I was fortunate enough to find a job shortly after graduation, and since then I have never stopped progressing in this profession, which I have chosen and love.
How did you get started?
Like the majority, I guess: by bringing my resume to the translation agencies I was interested in. I got lucky: at one of them they weren’t planning to hire anyone, however, they were having an increased workload. I walked through the door holding my printed resume in my hand and the owner of the company said: “Can you proofread? Sit down at that table, grab some papers from this pile I’m working on and let’s see what you can do.” He liked my work, started sending me freelance assignments and, a few months later, offered me a full-time position at the office. I stayed there 7 years, learning most of what I know about the world of translation.
How long have you been working with Qabiria?
I can’t remember! It must be since 10 years. If I remember correctly, I got to know Qabiria through the company where I worked. Upon going freelance, I ended up at some industry event where I shared my business card with them. At some point they began to rely on me and we haven’t stopped working together ever since.
What do you appreciate about this collaboration?
What I appreciate most about Qabiria is the way they treat me as a team member and not as an external provider. They rarely impose deadlines, prices, or conditions. They always ask, they value my opinion, they take suggestions, they accommodate my schedule if they can... It’s not the usual client-service provider relationship, but rather a collaboration between colleagues that makes me feel part of a small community.
And what would you improve?
I can’t think of anything specific to improve. My only regret is not participating in group chats and interacting less than I would like to with the rest of the team. I’m usually quite busy with my translation work and, in order not to lose focus, I try to avoid communication channels other than phone and email, so sometimes I feel disconnected from the rest of the Qabiria team.
What is the most interesting project you have participated in (with Qabiria or not)?
I have been involved in many interesting projects over the past 20 years. But I would say that one of the most challenging as well as fun was when, at the agency where I worked, I coordinated the translation of the first books of elBulli, the legendary restaurant of Ferran Adrià and Juli Soler, into English, German, Italian, French and Japanese.
It was a project with countless pieces to fit together, many translators, proofreaders and graphic designers working together, a tight delivery schedule, mixed text and multimedia content, and such an innovative gastronomic terminology that in some languages it didn’t even exist! Now avant-garde cuisine is more widespread, but what name would you give to a "spherification" in Japanese in 2003?
It was a very challenging project, with many hours of work and a few sleepless nights, but one that I thoroughly enjoyed (as well as saving a couple of recipes to wow guests when I host a dinner party).
What is your typical work day like?
Even though I work from home, I try to keep a steady schedule. I get up, sort myself out, tidy up the house a bit to feel comfortable for the rest of the day, eat breakfast, make myself some tea, and start translating at 9 am. During work I follow the Pomodoro technique, meaning I focus on a task for 25 minutes, followed by a 5-minute break where I get out of my chair, and so on. At 1 pm I go for a walk to stretch my legs after the hours of sitting. When I get back I cook, eat, rest a bit and get back to the office at 3 pm. I spend one hour working on my own clients, then from 4 to 7 pm I connect remotely to the office of a Munich-based company for whom I work 3 hours a day as project manager on technical localization projects. This company forwards their phone calls to me, I log into their office computer via a gateway and put myself in charge of management. At 7 pm, workload permitting, I turn off the computer and turn to my hobbies: I workout a bit, play my guitar for a while, recover some ongoing restoration work or head over to the nearest hardware store to buy materials for my next do-it-yourself project.
What is currently the biggest challenge for a translation professional like you?
I mainly focus on translating technical and environment-related texts, and there are a growing number of clients in this industry looking to reduce costs and deadlines with machine translation. I consider machine translation a tool, not a substitute for a professional translator, so one of the biggest challenges is educating clients on a smart use of translation engines to shorten deadlines and adjust costs without affecting the quality of their texts.
“I think fortune has always smiled on me. Wherever life has taken me, I have enjoyed the moment and used it as an opportunity for growth. I hope to keep it up.”
Besides translating, how do you spend your time?
I enjoy learning and doing a variety of things: I’ve given ballroom dancing classes, played on a regional basketball team, enrolled in courses about photography, sewing... But my two main hobbies for the past couple of years have been playing guitar and restoring furniture and accessories.
Until 2020, I lived in Munich. With the pandemic, I decided it was time to come home, live a quieter life, close to family and do something I had wanted to do for years: attend music theory and guitar lessons. Although my initial objective was to have some fun, as well as a little excuse to go back to social life, it turns out that the guitar is a challenge that never fails to motivate and excite me. Last December I gave my first concert, and I hope there will be many more!
On top of that, when I had to spend so much time at home because of the coronavirus, I started renovating small items in the old apartment I bought: I would paint a lamp, glue a table.... The idea was to apply my zero waste philosophy to my home renovation as well. On a trial and error basis and thanks to tutorials on the internet, I tried my hand at increasingly laborious tasks: I’ve restored my grandmother’s rocking chairs, two nightstands from my grandparents’ house as well, a couple of chairs I’ve found in the attic, built myself a simple desk, renovated the laundry room... And there is so much more to do! Therefore I think I will stick with this hobby for a long time to come.
How do you see your future? Will you continue to translate or devote more time to your passion?
In fact, translation is my passion. I always say that I was very fortunate to find out very early on what profession I liked and was good at, and to be able to devote myself to it. Some people spend their entire lives looking for it! So I’d like to continue translating for many years to come. But at the rate the world has been changing lately, who knows what the future holds? Maybe in a few years I’ll be just as happy organizing homes in Marie Kondo’s style (another one of my great passions), or restoring furniture professionally, or maybe I’ll become a zumba instructor (also on my wish list).... I think fortune has always smiled uponon me. Wherever life has taken me, I have enjoyed the moment and used it as an opportunity for growth. I hope to keep it up.
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