german translation
Published on Mar 17, 2019 - Updated on Oct 1, 2024

German Translator in Switzerland:
A Translator Shares Their Life

Although New York and Paris based, MotaWord’s translators represent over 80 languages in 154 countries. How each grew to become a professional translator reflects the cultures that make the world so rich. In this blog, Irena Rullo, a German translator in Switzerland recounts her path to becoming a French to German translator.

A French to German Translator Acquires Her Skills

Growing up, What Languages Were Spoken at Home?

I grew up in the German-speaking part of Switzerland in a family from southern Italy. At home, we spoke Italian and our Italian dialect. At school, I spoke Swiss German with the other children and in class, the lessons were held in standard German. So I think of myself as being native in four languages.

Though Swiss, Irena Rullo does not speak the 4th Swiss language, Romansh. Watch a few people speak this rare language.

How Did You Bring Your Skills up to This Professional Level?

Growing up in a multilingual environment helped the most. Later at school, we also learned French and then Latin. I hated Latin, but now realize it helped me understand the deeper importance of grammar. After school, I started working for the Government that communicates in the three official languages, German, French and Italian. As I know all three languages I often had to translate short internal emails. I always enjoyed those jobs and a couple of years ago became trained as a professional translator.

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A French to German Translator’s Work Habits

Usually, What Language Pairs Do You Work In?

On MotaWord I translate from French and English to German – there haven't been many projects from Italian to German yet. (Irena mostly works on the projects of Avis Verifies and Trading 212)

Describe a Typical Day Working on a Motaword Translation Job?

I don't have a typical day on MotaWord as I still have my regular work. Normally, I check my email or the platform when I come home to see if there are any projects. Sometimes I also work on MotaWord projects during my lunch break but mostly on my day off and on weekends.

Highs and Lows of a French to German Translator

What Do You Most Enjoy About Translating?

The diversity of the topics. Each time I have a new topic I also learn something new; that keeps it interesting. I enjoy also having to be creative, especially when dealing with content that is difficult to translate.

What Do You Least Enjoy About Translating?

If I have absolutely no previous knowledge of a topic it takes me longer to learn the basics and the typical words and formulations. And if I can't find many sources for reference, I'm still not sure of the wording (and I don't like not being absolutely sure).

Any Advice for German Translators Who Are Just Beginning?

Invest time for research at the beginning to grow your knowledge in a topic and the specific terms used. For MotaWord I suggest to always check and learn from the corrections from the proofreader. Also, keep an eye on the translations of others. It helps to see how a problem can be solved (sometimes even in many different ways).

Irena shows how being born Swiss made it easier to be a French to German translator. Switzerland has 4 national languages, German, French, Italian and Romansh. All but Romansh are official languages. This Wikipedia article shows how those languages are distributed across Switzerland.

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Published on Mar 17, 2019

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