Olga, our Senior Translator Coordinator Intern, started her adventures at Gengo as a Russian to English translator. She quickly moved on to become a Senior Translator in the pair, and is now working with our translator team in the Tokyo office. Born in Riga, Latvia, Olga moved with her family to the Canadian city of Toronto in her early teens. After noticing that she had been inadvertently translating after moving to Canada, she decided to pursue translation as a career.

What languages do you speak? Why/how did you learn them and how do you maintain proficiency?

My parents strongly believed in the importance of language studies, so I began learning English at an early age. Being immersed in an English-speaking environment during the critical period of language learning helped me acquire native fluency in English along with my native Russian abilities.

As Canada has two official languages, I learned French at school. While growing up, I spoke Russian at home, English with my friends and tried to make sure I still had enough time left for French, too. I studied French at university, where I also signed up for Japanese history courses. It wasn’t long before I fell in love with Japanese history and culture; Japanese language soon followed and I studied it on my own.

How did you become a translator? Do you translate full-time?

After obtaining a degree in Linguistics and History from the University of Toronto, I worked full time as a freelance translator from my home in Toronto. A few years into my translating career, I found Gengo through a colleague and started working with them.

What has been your most enjoyable and most challenging translation experience?

I felt most challenged while working on several large multinational sports events, one of them being the 2014 Sochi Olympics. That was an intense three weeks where deadlines were extremely tight, texts would come in constantly and the expectations for quality were extremely high. A project of that size, where your translations are seen by millions of people, doesn’t come along very often so it was a very exciting time!

I greatly enjoy doing historical translations and have been fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to translate several handwritten documents that are over a century old. It fascinates me how things like that have been preserved. It’s always exciting to think about the time and place where those texts originated and appreciate the journey they have taken.

What’s your favorite thing about being a translator?

Variety is the one aspect of translating that I greatly enjoy and that suits me very well. No two texts will ever be the same, and a translator will never have two identical work days. This never-ending diversity of texts, subject matters and stories fuels creativity and is an endless source of inspiration for any translator.

Although I don’t get to do this often, I love the opportunity of working from anywhere that has an internet connection. The internet has really revolutionized the translation industry since the time of the typewriter—I’m not bound to any one location and have the freedom to move to another country if I choose, or simply take my work outside with me if I need a change of scenery.

Describe your office setup or workspace.

Like most translators, I worked out of my home in a quiet residential area. Becoming an intern at Gengo really turned my world upside down; I moved from an area of two-story houses and greenery to the tall office buildings and bright lights of Tokyo. I now work with a team of amazing people in a busy Tokyo office with a magnificent view of the metropolis.

Based on your specific cultural expertise, what are the best books or movies you would recommend to others?

Lately I have been reading and re-reading a number of Russian classical writers such as Tolstoy and Pushkin. Not only has their writing stood the test of time, it is always a wonderful experience to immerse yourself in a distant bygone era. As this year marks the 200th anniversary of Mikhail Lermontov, I recommend taking some time to rediscover his works, especially his poetry. His poem “Mtsyri” is an excellent place to start!

What is your favorite snack to eat while you work?

Sometimes when I’m really into translating a text I may forget about everything else—snacking included. I try not to snack while I work, but do always have some water on my table.

What are your preferred translation tools?

Research is a big part of my job, as language is ever-changing and new words tend to creep up on you. I have a great variety of online resources that I call on throughout my daily work, including Wikipedia, several Russian to English dictionaries such as multitran.com as well as English dictionaries such as Merriam Webster. My favorite is thesaurus.com for when you need to find a word that’s just on the tip of your tongue.

What’s your favorite productivity tool or service?

I don’t use any translation software when I work. However, Google and Yandex are indispensable tools as I can quickly use these to look up a wealth of information from place names to historical facts and figures.

What is your top tip for those who are just starting out?

Know your limits and work within them. As a freelancer, you get the freedom to choose which work you agree to take from a client and which deadlines you are going to commit to. As you are still learning about what you can do in a given day, don’t push yourself too hard to deliver, for example, ten different documents in a single day. It’s very easy to burn yourself out trying to cater to every client’s deadlines.

Another important piece of advice is to translate and then translate some more because this is the only way to improve. Although not an easy thing to find, seek out feedback on your translations as it may prove to be an invaluable resource to help polish your skills.

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