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How I became a Translator – Part 1

In this series of blog posts entitled “How I became a Translator”, I will be writing about how I came to be a translator in details. The series will consist of 3 parts, of which the first is the following:

 

Ever since I was a child, I loved languages and I used to speak English and French all the time (my mother tongue is Arabic). I used to write poems, songs, and stories in those 2 foreign languages. My favorite hobby was to write my diary every day. When I grew a little bit older, I started translating poems and songs. My passion for languages became greater.

My love for translation then goes back to the time I was a very young girl. My parents saw that. I remember my father saying: “Well, I could at least have one child to become a translator just like me! I can see that she is good at it. She just needs a small push forward and some guidance”.

I graduated from high school dreaming of studying business administration and establishing my own company. But my parents and especially my father – a translator and an interpreter – had other plans for me. They knew I had a passion for languages, and they wanted me to set my mind on considering them more than just a hobby. I knew I loved the translation major myself, but somehow I just wanted to prove that I can be good at something else as well!

My father did not even let me take the test for the business major in university. I know it sounds like he was controlling my life; sometimes when we are young, we don’t realize that our parents have our best interest at heart and we only think they are giving us a hard time.

In short, I only took the test of the Lebanese University, Centre of Languages and Translation. I passed, got in, and here I am, a first-year university student majoring in languages and translation. It was only a matter of time until I realized that my father chose the right path for me; I was just too stubborn to figure it out all by myself. I absolutely fell in love with the major.

I studied hard, passed all four years, and found myself a fresh graduate holding a BA in Translation, with a great passion for languages and translation techniques.

My father’s wish finally came true. I am proudly “Daddy’s Girl”.

I know I am writing with a lot of affection, but let us not forget a major fact. Sometimes we are too stubborn to follow our passion. I am grateful my father was there to guide me. Maybe it was because he was himself a translator that I did not want to be like him. However, if I were to go back in time, I think I would have still chosen the translation major. After all, it seems to run in the family!

So I was a translator, and my training was economic translation. I wanted it to be so because I still loved everything related to business. My dream of establishing my own business was still lingering in my mind…

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this series, where I will be writing about my first freelance translation job and how I started building my client base.

 

Rania

rania@transpremium.com

I AM RANIA MERCHAK ANDRAOS, A CAREER MOM WITH A PASSION FOR WORDS, FITNESS & HEALTH, AND FOOD! STICK AROUND AND ENJOY THE RIDE AS YOU GET A GLIMPSE OF MY WORLD!

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