The magic of words

The magic of words

November 4, 2012

By: Gina Yoryet Roman

For the last month and a half I've been working with an American company translating/editing medical reports from English to Spanish. This is very infrequent since 95% of my work is in English; Every subject I teach is in English, I write in English, most of my readings are in English, and my  translation/editing/Interpreting work is from Spanish to English.

Throughout my revision I kept bumping into false cognates (pairs of words in the same language or different languages that are similar in form and meaning but have different roots), and other catchy words overlooked by the original translators.

As a Translator and especially as an editor, these things cannot be overlooked because our job is to delve into the terminology and even when finding its equivalent, we have to find the best matching synonym.

Playing with words helps to expand our terminology in a higher level and it is a very aesthetic, entertaining and defying game as words can be twisted, changed, alternated, and used as we wish to create magic alternating their usage in these different forms: as nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, past participles. As Writers and Editors, some may lack imagination, that is  why sometimes their job becomes tedious and repetitive.

The job of an Editor is very demanding sometimes having to trash others' work. Editors are paid for being critical, to see what is wrong with the way words are used to be observative and curios and we have to ALWAYS be alert of the smallest slip ups. This ability of being critical can easily become a disability when it's carried into one's personal life because we tend to focus on the critical aspect of everything and we may miss the good aspects. 

When I first started this game, I was appalled to be critical and even more consternated when my work was trashed because it made me doubt myself more as opposed to being encouraged. Now I still don't like to be critiqued but I take as positive feedback and I actually appreciate it because it helps me overlook my errors and it  forces me to do better.

When I am pushed I am forced to deliver higher quality and sooner or later my superiors will accolade my work. A good example was this Friday when the Project Manager said this to me. "Our final Certified Editor for all IHC/Primary Children's projects told me today that your work is excellent - he is our last pair of eyes to review all work before we send it back to the client, so thank you for all that you do!"

That was a good feeling because I always doubt my abilities so it's great to get another set of eyes to judge my work and give me positive intake.