| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Poll: Have you ever been criticized by a relative for translating a lot? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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Sheila Wilson 
Spain
Local time: 12:56
Member (2007)
English
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Time is precious, and my retired husband doesn't think I spend enough of it with him. But he realises that I'm a workaholic who needs some independence. If it wasn't translation it would be something else. I've never been able to laze on a beach. If I couldn't work I'd take up some voluntary activity, study something, go for self-sufficiency...
| | | | Kay Denney
France
Local time: 13:56
French to English
I've been criticised for working too much, but it's mostly that I'm working when others think I should be cooking. I always say if you want a job done do it yourself.
When I started translating from home, I was actually a stay-at-home mother. I did most translations when my daughter slept and unlike her brother she did have proper naps. She also loved music right from birth so if she didn't sleep enough and a deadline was looming I could put the radio on full blast, surround her wi... See more I've been criticised for working too much, but it's mostly that I'm working when others think I should be cooking. I always say if you want a job done do it yourself.
When I started translating from home, I was actually a stay-at-home mother. I did most translations when my daughter slept and unlike her brother she did have proper naps. She also loved music right from birth so if she didn't sleep enough and a deadline was looming I could put the radio on full blast, surround her with toys and get on with it. I didn't want to do that too much though, especially given that she never really asked for anything. She would have been easy to neglect in fact, but her brother had already taught me that babies need a lot of attention.
So a neighbour actually came to ask if I could look after her baby too once she was back at work. I was flabbergasted: she obviously had not listened when I told her about my translation work. She got in quite a huff when I said that the chances of both littluns sleeping at the same time were pretty slim so I wouldn't be able to work, and while I was doing my best to give my daughter plenty of quality time I would feel terribly guilty to be paid for minding her baby if I had to "neglect" him as I sometimes had to do with my daughter. And of course what she could pay me would not make up for the money I couldn't earn translating if I had two babies to look after. They moved away soon after and I was quite relieved, especially as they didn't like the wonderfully warm and motherly friend I recommended to take "my" place. ▲ Collapse
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Sometimes my mother asks me to take a break, especially during night time. Also my girlfriend, who lives far from me, asks me 'do you really have to work now?'. Anyway, I try to have a balanced life and spend time with my friends whenever I can.
| | | | Mario Freitas
Brazil
Local time: 08:56
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
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My wife used to complain a lot when translation was my second professional activity. Now that she realizes it pays our bills and her things, she doesn't complain anymore.
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Erzsébet Czopyk
Hungary
Local time: 13:56
Member (2006)
Russian to Hungarian
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER
Mario Freitas wrote:
My wife used to complain a lot when translation was my second professional activity. Now that she realizes it pays our bills and her things, she doesn't complain anymore.
My mother until the end of her life did not say a good word about my work she told everyone, she did not have a job she is a freelancer translator... even when she visited the translation office with employees at the time she looked all around in a tiny but well-equipped office then asked the assistant: do you really work here? (a week before of her visit we purchased a huge and nice Konica all-in-one copy machine and I was proud to introduce her my employees, the senior translator and the new place). For her, being an entrepreneur, it was not a "normal" work. And she complained she never saw a BOOK translated by me. Maybe if I would translate a large book and she could see my work printed, she would accept. She wanted me to be a lawyer and I think she never could forgive.
My children several times but after they realized it is a source of income and if the want to go to Italy with a class for 5 days... so where I can get the extra pocket money to cover this? Since then if I work, sometimes a coffee appears beside or a sandwich... and they close the door when they watch TV because they DO know NOW, if I do not work, we have no money to live, that's the case.
But it is very hard to find a balance to maintain a household and the work if you work at home. Since I do not have the separate office now, and the clients come directly to me home, I try to separate my room which is sometimes ... hopeless.
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My partner sometimes. I assume it's simply our minds and thought-processes, they work differently. He is analytical, rational while I'm creative, can get incredibly immersed in things ... a friend once said, my partner's thoughts take the shape of squares and mine are cloud-shaped.
My partner used to say, why can't you just get a "normal" job from 9-5 with a "proper" office, "proper" this and that. It's hard for him to understand that sometimes I'm just on a roll and sometimes that... See more My partner sometimes. I assume it's simply our minds and thought-processes, they work differently. He is analytical, rational while I'm creative, can get incredibly immersed in things ... a friend once said, my partner's thoughts take the shape of squares and mine are cloud-shaped.
My partner used to say, why can't you just get a "normal" job from 9-5 with a "proper" office, "proper" this and that. It's hard for him to understand that sometimes I'm just on a roll and sometimes that happens to be until 3am. He on the other hand drops everything at 4.59pm and what he has dropped stays at his office until the next morning or Monday. My work sometimes follows me around everywhere, including the bathroom. I wouldn't change it for the world of course. When the job is worth it (and I don't mean just money-wise), and more often than not it is, I get immense satisfaction and joy out of even that. That's my understanding of a work-life balance.
Also, just like Erzsébet says, sometimes you don't have anything to "show" for all those hours spent doing something and that can weird people out. When I can, I will send friends and family links to, for instance, websites I've translated and tell them: "Check this out, everything in German - I did that, that is my hard work, my brain made that. Sorry about that time I forgot to pick up Great Aunt Uschi from the airport because of it ..." ▲ Collapse
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