The Nameless 6

1. What are your hobbies?
Sara Eichman: Well… I don’t really have a hobby. But in my spare time I love to read and dance. Reading is really my greatest passion. I can spend an entire day reading. And if the book is good, I don’t stop reading until I finish it! And dancing, well, I just love it. I do it in my room, where no one can see me. Where I can release myself totally!

2. Do you have pets?
SE: Yes, I have two pets: a hamster named Sakura and a bird named Nita. I like them both, but I really prefer Sakura. She is prettier, sweeter, fluffier, well… I love her most! She is kind of unusual, and that might be my fault… Well, she eats yogurt, cereals, even some deserts… and she loves it! About Nita, she is a sweet little bird. A little noisy, but nice. She lets people touch her, not always, but when she does she’s very sweet! I’d like to have bigger pets, but my mum won’t let me…

3. How’s your relationship with your family?
SE: Hmm… My relationship with my family... Well, let me start by saying that my parents are divorced, and I live with my mother and my stepfather. I get along pretty well with my mum; actually, she is my best friend (and I’m hers, at least I think so…) and we talk about everything; I tell her almost everything that goes on in my life. With my father, things don’t work out like that. I almost don’t get to see him, although he lives pretty close to me. But I really don’t want to talk about it. Well, I get along well with my stepfather, so there’s no problem. I won’t be mentioning the rest of my family, or people would get bored reading the whole text I would write about them.

4. Do you have a boyfriend? If yes, tell me a little bit about him.
SE: Yes, I do have a boyfriend. His name’s Henry, he’s 23 years old, he’s Venezuelan, but his parents are Portuguese. He lived in Venezuela until he was 10 years old, then his parents decided to come back to Portugal, so he has been living here since then. He lives in Ílhavo, near Aveiro. We have been together since October 2nd, but we don’t get to see each other very much, because Ílhavo is not that close. But things are working out well. We love each other, and that’s what really maters.

5. Where do you live?
SE: I live in Amora, on the south side of the river (Tejo, of course). I like living here, it’s a quiet little town, and there are not much people, not much confusion… It’s a little bit far from the Faculty, but I manage to get there on time.

6. What are your most important goals?
SE: My most important goal is to become independent, to be able to live by myself, without anyone’s help. To have my house, my car, my life! Well, and of course, to be happy!

7. What are your greatest achievements?
SE: In my opinion, my greatest achievement was to be able to put myself in a higher level. I was too naïve, I used to put others before me, and that really got me heartaches. I was never paid back, and people who I thought that were really my friends proved me wrong. Well, nevermind… Now I know how to recognise real friends and I see that as my greatest achievement ever!

8. What’s your favourite colour?
SE: I have two favourite colours: blue and pink! Blue has been my favourite colour since I can remember and pink surged about 2 years ago. Well, there’s not much more to say about that.

9. What are your favourite actor and actress?
SE: I don’t really have one favourite actor or one favourite actress. I have lots of them! I’ll mention some of them… Well, we have Meryl Streep, Kate Beckinsale, Julia Stiles, Dakota Fanning, Angelina Jolie, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Anthony Hopkins, Sean Connery, Johnny Depp, Brad Pit, Bruce Willis, Jim Carrey, Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller, etc.

10. What’s your favourite movie?
SE: Again, I don’t have one favourite movie, I have tons of them! I’ll mention some… The Lord of The Rings (the 3 of them), Save the Last Dance, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Ice Age, Shrek 1 and 2, DareDevil, Elektra, Notting Hill, etc.

11. What’s your favourite song?
SE: About my favourite song, I don’t have only one; it depends on my state of mind. I get attached to songs which mean something to me at the time, and they become my favourite. Then, my state of mind changes, and the song also changes.

12. What’s your favourite singer/group/band?
SE: It works like my favourite music. Always changing!

13. What’s your favourite book?
SE: It’s hard to name just one, because I love a lot of books. So I’ll say the book of life, which we read and add to it every single day. In this book, we can’t go back, but we can solve some things in the new pages that will come. And, very important, we have to try to add the best story to it!

14. What’s your favourite writer?
SE: Well, maybe Jane Kathleen Rowling, the author of Harry Potter, and Jostein Gaarder, who writes very sage pieces of work.

15. Do you have a religion?
SE: Not really.

16. What’s your favourite quote?
SE: I have some favourite quotes:
-> Don’t worry, be happy!
-> Love is just a state of mind, a puzzle made of pieces you can’t find.
-> Don’t ask “Why?”, ask “Why not?”!
-> I am my own mirror.
And there are more, bur for now it’s enough.

17. When you were little and people asked you what you wanted to be when you grew up, what was your answer?
SE: Well, I used to tell people I wanted to be a mermaid. Pretty cool, don’t you think?

18. Tell me a funny story which happened to you.
SE: It happened once, at Christmas time, when I was little. My mum was on the phone, and left me alone near a Christmas tree full of candies. Well, I ate a lot of them (I think there were only a few left), and when she got back to the living room, she noticed that there were a lot of candies missing. She asked me what had happened to the candies, and I answered something she would never forget. I told her that the Cookie Monster, from Sesame Street had come into our living room and had eaten all the candies which were missing. She laughed a lot, of course, and that became a story which will remain in our memories forever.

Labels: Interview

Posted by Joana Carlos at 11:30 pm | Permalink | Comments

Questions/Answers

1) Why did you choose this course?
André Carvalho: I have chosen this course because I’m very fond of English and I always wanted to study it more effectively. Besides, translation was one of my goals last year, and I’m very happy that I got accepted in this course.

2) How many languages do you speak? Where did you learn them?
A.C.: I currently speak English, French, and Portuguese of course. I learned English and French at school and/or watching movies, etc…

3) After completing this course, what do you want to do?
A.C.: I would like to either start enrolling for my first real job, connected with translation or travel to Great Britain, mainly England and spend a year there, either studying or working… but who knows?

4) Do you intend to leave the country to get a job? Or do you have hope to get one here?
A.C.: I don’t intend to leave the country to get a job, but I wouldn’t mind it. Working/studying abroad sometimes help quite a lot in building your experience in working with foreign languages.

5) Being in translation, do you think of opening a new translating company or join an already existing one?
A.C.: Well, when it comes to translating companies, I intend to join an existing one or work abroad. When I feel that I’m confident or fully experienced to be responsible for my own translating company, I will definitely try to own one.

6) What do you think of the national aspect of translation?
A.C.: The national aspect of translation has been increasing a little in the past few years. Finally translation courses are gaining more interest than in the past. It’s fairly reasonable simply because there are various areas in which it can be used, and there are more to come (politics, technology, software, medicine…). Yes, indeed, translation is shining more than ever these days, at least in my viewing.

7) What do you think of this course and the people in it?
A.C.: In my point of view, this course is great, and the people here are all different from each other, but that’s what makes them very nice to work with. I feel as if I belong here and others feel the same.

8) Which translation area attracts you the most?
A.C.: I’m still a bit undecided about what areas affect me more. Maybe software, marketing and some recent ones, simply because there is a lot of media and job opportunities about them presently. But like I said, I’m still a little undecided…

9) Do you intend to do a part-time job during holidays so you can practice translation?
A.C.: I wouldn’t mind doing a translating job during the holidays. Like I said before, I’m still a little “fresh” in the translation business and I intend to use all that I learned here in the professional areas.

10) Is this course what you expected it to be?
A.C.: This course is better than I expected to be at first. The teachers explain the theory well, I have a nice working environment and the people there are very social. Yes, it’s a good course all round in my viewing.

11) Many people are talking about doing a master degree in translation. Do feel like doing it as well?
A.C.: If I feel confident at the end of this course, maybe I plan to enroll in that adventure. Like I said, I like what I do; translation is a nice course, and if I get the hang of it, maybe I will study it more professionally, who knows?

12) What do you consider to be the class which is more connected with you and your future translation area?
A.C.: At first, I thought it was well, English (duh…), but with the increasing and high variety of translation course classes and choices I’ll pick Technical and Cientific Terms, since any translator or individual should learn something about almost any aspect of culture.

13) If you would like to study abroad, which country would you pick and why?
A.C.: I would pick the United Kingdom, simply because I wouldn’t mind practicing the native tongue there. One thing is speaking with a Portuguese who speaks well English. Another is speaking with an Englishman with the English accent.

14) What do you consider to be the main characteristic of a translator and why?
A.C.: It’s hard to pick one only characteristic for a translator, since he needs a lot of them to get the engine starting. I’ll pick some of them, creativity, clarity, high perception, a rich vocabulary… all these and lots more eventually make translating companies to beg for you…! (Joking)

15) What is that one thing you treasure the most above all that is material and substantial?
A.C.: I don’t think there is anything that important to me, since I’m not very materialistic. But maybe third parties might assume I like something that strongly, I don’t know… and I don’t care...

16) Do you consider yourself special in any aspect or area? What makes you different from another person? Explain.
A.C.: I don’t consider myself special… and everyone’s different from each other, making the world a happier or sadder place to live… that’s all I can say…

17) If you would pick an animal that is your very personality in any way, who which would it be and why?
A.C.: Let’s see… I would pick the bear. This mild creature enjoys sleeping through winter, and I indeed enjoy sleeping, lol… He’s neutral, calm, but often charges when he’s angry, again, like me. I dunno if bears have feeling or not, but as far as I know, though I seem to be that irrelevant and “far-away” sometimes, truth is, I’m closer than you think. Anyways, that’s about it and I don’t enjoy talking about myself, since I usually am more concerned about third parties than a “runt” like me…

18) Putting aside your professional goals, which are your personal ones?
A.C.: My personal goals… to get married, but goodness, not anytime sooner…! To love and be loved… To bring fear and be feared… to laugh and not to be laughed at… and to drink till I do a belly flop… “Life’s a game, but there’s only one try, enjoy it”.

19) Sometimes being a college/university student requires a lot of sacrifices. Is there any sacrifice you needed to do in order to fulfill your dream?
A.C.: If there was a sacrifice, I would do it… I am looking forward to a high ranked professional translator job, and for that I sadly need to get my study on… ouch…

Thanks for having the patience to read this, I know I hadn’t ^^

Labels: Interview

Posted by Anonymous at 1:06 pm | Permalink | Comments

1) Do you intend to do a part-time job during holidays so you can practice translation?
André Pereira: No, I don’t see what I could do to practice. Work at MacDonald’s attending foreign costumers? No thanks…

2) Is this course what you expected it to be?
AP: Yes. Everything that I wanted! I’m very happy!

3) Many people are talking about doing a master degree in translation. Do feel like doing it as well?
AP: Yes, doing that gets me closer to a job, I think… And I would feel fulfilled.

4) Forgetting for a while your professional goals, which are your personal ones?
AP: Getting married and go to Japan.

5) Sometimes being a college/university student requires a lot of sacrifices. Is there any sacrifice you needed to do in order to fulfill your dream?
AP: Play videogames and watch anime will be consequently less than study time.

6) What do you consider to be the class which is more connected with you and your future translation area?
AP: Computing applied to Translation at the moment is the best class as it is connected with my future goals.

7) If you would like to study abroad, which country would you pick and why?
AP: Definitely UK.

8) What do you consider to be the main characteristic of a translator and why?
AP: Its eloquence perhaps and his/her language know-how.

9) What is that one thing you treasure the most above all that is material and substantial?
AP: I could say my girlfriend, but she’s not material…so I’ll have to say my videogames.

10) Do you consider yourself special in any aspect or area? What turns you different from another? Explain.
AP: I get along fine with computers, don’t know why, I just understand and work fine with them. So, no problems with that. My English is very good because I was 7 years among Americans.

11) If you would pick an animal that is your very personality in any way, who which would it be and why?
AP: A cat; I’m very dependent and independent at the same time. I’m my own boss and answer to nobody. I love to be alone as much as I love people. I like to help them and expect them to help me. I’m very nice, caring and cute.

Labels: Interview

Posted by André Pereira at 6:56 pm | Permalink | Comments

Labels: Interview

Posted by Joana Carlos at 12:54 am | Permalink | Comments

1.Why did you choose this course?
Geossara Costa: It was very difficult to choose a course because I like almost everything, but my love for learning and understanding other languages was bigger.

2.How many languages do you speak? Where did you learn them?
GC: My mother language is Creole, a dialect from Cape Vert, so including it I speak four languages, with Portuguese, English and French. The three last languages I’ve learned in school.

3.After completing this course, what do you want to do?
GC: In this moment I’m thinking about doing a master degree in translation and if possible travelling for a while so I can meet Japan and England.

4.Do you intend to leave the country to get a job? Or do you think you'll get lucky and get one here?
GC: I’d like to leave Portugal. It would be like a dream coming true if I could work as a translator in another country.

5.Being in translation, do you think of opening a new translating company or join an already existing one?
GC: I think that it’s too soon to talk about it. But I would work in an existing company first, so that I could learn how it works and how to maintain it and be successful.

6.What do you think of the national aspect of translation?
GC: The truth is that I’m not very aware of what’s the national aspect of translation. I only know what I’m told, and it’s not pretty…

7.What do you think of this course and the people in it?
GC: Great and great.

8.Which translation area attracts you the most?
GC: I love subtitling. I hope I’m able to do it in the future, but I love translation in the general, so I’ll be happy with anything.

9.Do you intend to do a part-time job during holidays so you can practice translation?
GC: That would be great. I think it’s lacking in Portugal the opportunities for us to know better our future jobs, that’s why there aren’t many good professionals.

10.Is this course what you expected it to be?
GC: Yes it is. I’m not disappointed at all with my choice. While I was in high school, I was constantly thinking about what I should do, what course to choose, so I’ve chosen the one I thought that was the better… so for a while I was scared, thinking that maybe I had chosen the wrong one. I glad that for now the doubts are gone.

11.Many people are talking about doing a master degree in translation. Do feel like doing it as well?
GC: Yes. Like I said before, I would love to do it. But that’s something to do while working, so we can improve our skills.

12.What would you consider to be the class which is more connected to you and your future translation area?
GC: Probably Computing applied to Translation, because like I said before I wish to do subtitling in a not very distant future.

13.If you would like to study abroad, which country would you choose and why?
GC: Well, right now there are two countries I’m looking forward to meet, and they are England and Japan, and that’s because those are the countries that most attract me, not only for their landscaping but also because of the development and languages.

14.What do you consider to be the main characteristic of a translator and why?
GC: That’s something I fell I can’t answer yet, once I’m still learning.

15.What is that one thing you treasure the most above all that is material and substantial?
GC: Hmm… I’m not sure if I understood the question, but for me honesty is the main quality that someone must have. We must be honest to ourselves and to others so we can be like we really are.

16.Do you consider yourself special in any aspect or area? What turns you different from another? Explain.
GC: I don’t consider myself special or different, only someone who knows can say that.

17.If you would pick an animal that is your very personality in any way, which would it be and why?
GC: There’s only an animal that I love above all others and consider to be “my other half” (no, it’s not the man… just kidding. :p) and it’s the Orca. Orcas are amazing animals, and unfortunately misunderstood, like sometimes I think I am. But there is a bigger explanation for this, but it’s to long for me to give it now, I would have to put it in another topic.

18.Forgetting for a while your professional goals, which are your personal ones?
GC: Well, for now I don’t think of getting married, what I intend to do is to get a house of my own, when I finish the course, and to be financially self-governed.

19.Sometimes being a college/university student requires a lot of sacrifices. Is there any sacrifice you needed to do in order to fulfil your dream?
GC: Not me, but my mom. She is the one working really hard so that I can fulfil my dream, that’s why I have to be successful, for me and for her!

Labels: Interview

Posted by Geossara Costa at 11:11 pm | Permalink | Comments