The irreplaceable translator conquers Brazil ... and Portugal

We interview Rosangela Fasolato, a Brazilian translator, who worked on the Portuguese version of our book "The Irreplaceable Translator"

In March 2017, we published a book entitled The Irreplaceable Translator, the subtitle of which, "specialization and positioning for translation professionals," well sums up its contents.

In fact, the idea behind the book was to present some useful strategies for those new to the field of translation, particularly technical translation. The text, derived from an online course taught for STL Training of Pisa, explores some aspects of personal branding and offers insights and practical tips for improving market positioning.

After publication, we received several reviews and positive comments from colleagues and aspiring translators. This modest success naturally filled us with satisfaction, but we were even happier when a special request came to us: translating The Irreplaceable Translator into another language, portuguese.

The request came to us through Babelcube, a platform that connects ebook authors with translators willing to translate in exchange for a portion of royalties. This mode of collaboration has given rise to some controversy, mainly due to the fact that many copies sold are needed to repay the translator for the hours spent. A few years ago we explored this topic in another article, "Translating ebooks: is it worth it?", to which we refer.

Commercial considerations aside, we were honored that someone wanted to translate our book. After an exchange of messages and the necessary formalities to start the collaboration, The Irreplaceable Translator is also available in Portuguese thanks to Rosangela Fasolato, whom we thank.

Rosangela is Brazilian, lives in Padua and has worked as a translator since 2008. We asked her if she would be willing to be interviewed to better understand the reasons for her choice, and this is the report of our chat.

"Translating The Irreplaceable Translator was a challenge for me, and challenges attract me!"

D. - Hi Rosangela, first of all we thank you for your time. I start immediately with the question that many will have wondered: why did you want to translate just The Irreplaceable Translator, with the myriad of books that are on Babelcube?

R. - Hi Marco, thank you for your attention. Translating The Irreplaceable Translator was a challenge for me, and challenges attract me. It is that moment when I can challenge myself, translating a book written by another linguist, with a successful career. At the time I proposed, I knew it would be a challenging job. I wasn't thinking about financial gain, but about personal, inner growth, that ability to say to oneself: "I did it!" And who knows, feeling like an irreplaceable translator myself!

D. - I thank you for the kind words. Tell me, have you translated any other titles on this platform yet? How did it go? Would you recommend it to other fellow translators?

R. - Yes, I have already translated three books on Babelcube, but with you this is the first time I have also had the opportunity to receive comments and a request for some changes to the translated text. The others, I handed them in and they were immediately accepted. I wouldn't recommend using Babelcube as a source of income, but to translate literature in your spare time because you take pleasure in doing it and want to keep yourself trained, that’s it, for that it can be a good choice.

D. - Before we talk about the book, tell us a little more about yourself. How did you come to this profession? What are your aspirations?

R. - In 2008, after a period living in the United States, I went to a translation agency in downtown Rio de Janeiro to request translation into Portuguese of my two children’s school documents. The person who took care of the documents, at that time the administrative manager of the agency, asked me if I had ever worked with translations by inviting me to take a test. This was also a challenge. I worked for that agency as a freelance contributor for six years until the employer passed away and the agency was closed. I moved on with some private clients and a dream: moving to Italy. I realized it, however, I could not imagine that the worst was yet to come. Shortly after the transfer, in mid-2016, I was in fact in an accident, later undergoing surgery on my right shoulder with total functional loss of the arm. Rehabilitation lasted for more than a year. In that condition Babelcube helped me, because toward the end of rehabilitation, I slowly began to translate again. My aspiration is to rebuild my life and career by starting from now.

D. - You will certainly succeed, Rosangela, we wish you well. Going back to The Irreplaceable Translator, was there any point in the book that you found particularly difficult to render in Portuguese? Why?

R. - The difficulties in rendering this book into Portuguese are met with that usual "distrust" we must have when we reflect on the meaning to be given to the word in a given context. It’s about considering the circumstances, the time, and the intentions with which something was said or written in another language. Here I quote Millôr Fernandes, a Brazilian author, cartoonist, humorist, and translator, who said: "The distrust for everything I read - and moreover, also for everything I see, hear, smell, or touch, is what makes me a decent translator." That is, you have to start from the principle that you don't know anything, look with suspicion at even that word that presents itself as too obvious, and have the curiosity to search and research.

"You have to start from the principle that you don't know anything and have the curiosity to search and research"

D. - How did you approach the translation? Have you planned a certain number of words per day, per week? Tell us something about the method you followed.

R. - Yes, all my work is planned. The moment an assignment comes to me, I make a timeline for myself to follow, usually using the simplest one, a daily page count of the original based on the deadline. I am shortening this deadline by at least three days and reserving others for review (in case of longer, non-urgent work). I always keep this timeline by my side and mark each accomplished day. However, many times it happens to be so concentrated in translation to the point of going beyond the daily schedule. Other times, I find myself waking up in the middle of the night with the right word in mind or with the realization that I have made a mistake on a certain page. Thus, during all these years I have never missed a deadline, in fact many times I finish the work early.

D. - What are the peculiarities of the market for translation to and from Portuguese? Would you recommend the study of this language to college students?

R. - Portuguese is a language spoken by more than 250 million people in the world. From 2008 to 2012, when developed countries claimed to be experiencing difficult times, Brazil made the world believe that it was out of any crisis and booming. At that time there was also a boom in translation. There was no shortage of work; in fact, there was far too much. In 2013, difficulties were already visible. There was still work, mainly from English, with 70 percent of the market, followed by Spanish, French and Italian, but conditions were not what they used to be. Today Brazil has plunged into not only an economic but also a political, social and cultural crisis, and the translation market has significantly decreased. As in Italy, training in the field is not compulsory for practice, however, it is important to learn translation techniques, update continuously and specialize. I hope that Brazil will soon be able to get out of the current crisis and really get back on the path of development. When this happens, as a country with a large population, there will also be a renewed interest in the Portuguese language with the resulting benefits for the translation market. I at least hope so.

We hope so too, Rosangela. We thank you infinitely for this conversation and for the excellent work you did on the text.