Lately, I have emailed companies in Rio offering my services to translate their websites available in Portuguese only.
After all, this year we are going to host the FIFA Confederations Cup, plus Catholic Church’s World Youth Day. Next year, we will welcome the FIFA World Cup and in 2016, the Summer Olympics. Therefore, the population of foreigners in the city will make history. Many people will seek restaurants, cafés, shops, super markets and – oh my, look at that – they will not understand a single word of their websites if there isn’t an English or Spanish version available. In my opinion, these are plenty good reasons for a shopowner to take in consideration the investment of translating their website and get new customers.
New customers?
One of those who I emailed was really welcoming, and was pleased with the idea of having a bilingual menu. He asked me for a budget. I sent him my price, along with the price chart recommended by the Brazilian Translators Union, so he could see what a great discount I was offering him – since he was a brand new customer and such. The fella replied asking me if I agreed to work on an exchange basis.
I decided to look up the word in the dictionary, because maybe he did not mean give-and-take. Just maybe.
Definition
There it is, on Longman:
exchange
1 giving/receiving [uncount. and count.] the act of giving someone something and receiving something else from them
Yes, indeed, he had offered me food in payment for the translation of his restaurant’s website. Sounds like a delicious idea, only if I did not have any bills to pay. It’s a pity the mobile network operator still does not accept spaguetti as payment, nor the light bill comes in Brazilian codfish balls. Also, my rent can’t be paid in portions of petit gâteau.
Personal investment
I won’t even get started talking about all investments my family made so I could be a skilled translator today. I mean, I am now able to convert into English terms such as arroz à grega (Greek-style rice), batata noisette (noisette potatoes) or pudim de leite condensado (sweetened condensed milk pudidng). Though I’m quite sure you food industry people must think these terms have no translation because such food is too Brazilian.
No problem, I am also able to convert technical terms of the oil and gas industry, as well as of capital market, insurances agreements and others. Maybe these types of texts value me more as a professional, considering that up to this moment such clients never offered me payment in barrels of oil, preferred shares or losses.
And I am only publishing the English version of this post so that maybe people recognize all the work I had to find the English equivalent of all terms correctly and value my profession a bit more.