For years I’ve searched for an interesting way to make a living doing what I love to do most, which is, essentially – finding just the right words.

I wrote for a youth magazine in high-school, published a short novel at 26, wrote another novel that didn’t get published, and finally abandoned my aspirations to make it as a novelist only to discover that translation is a true passion of mine.

I’ve worked as a translator for the better part of my adult life. Well, “translator” is the official title of what I do, but in reality, I have been writing, editing, proofing, adding tech tools to the translation workflow, and leading a shift in the approach to translation in the government agency where I currently work:
I adamantly advocated for a transition to a software-powered workflow and presented a vision for the future of translation in the organization to senior management. I then introduced the change to the translators (a few dozen across the organization) and wrote a short manual, tailored to our organizational needs, to help them with troubleshooting on their own. I have created and managed datasets to enrich the software’s database and finally, pushed for the development of an internal translation engine based on this database.

Today, all of the official translations in the organization are produced in a software- and AI-powered ecosystem, with much quicker turnaround times, a consistent high standard in the texts that are being produced, and easier onboarding of new translators.

My experience in translation has taught me about the importance of clarity in writing, and how people (everyone except language professionals, of course) tend to underestimate it when working with pressing deadlines and endless to-do lists.

I’ve learned first-hand about the power of technology and how using the right tools can boost my writing ability and increase my productivity by several orders of magnitude. I’ve also learned just what it is that makes a text stand out: thought-provoking, original, relatable content and style that sound human, and not as if they were produced by a lifeless, mindless, automated text generator.

And finally, my love for minimalism, which has helped me to keep it simple and stay focused in my personal life, has proven to be an effective working tool as well – the ability to strip things down to their bare essence makes it easier to choose the right words and deliver clear messages.