Meet your CM: Joe

In the latest of our ‘Meet your CM’ series, I catch up with Joe where we talk about passion for translation, language and music — and what binds them all together

Joe and I meet immediately after lunch on a warm afternoon, and starting the interview I remembered thinking that it would be difficult to keep the focus up without lapsing into the inevitable food coma that tends to arrive at exactly that time. I needn’t have worried; just like every team member I’ve interviewed for this series, his enthusiasm is palpable and we set off on what is to be a joyful ramble about language, translation and music.

We start, as I usually do in these interviews, by letting Joe remind me of which language pairs he currently looks after. He tells me that he’s currently managing French, Dutch and European Spanish, among others, and I ask him how he’s found that in the year and three months since he started at Unbabel. “I studied French at university, so it’s been interesting to get into that. I’ve particularly enjoyed launching the Canadian French variant and learning more about the differences between them.” But on a human level, he’s got an interesting take. “One of the things that makes the job more interesting compared to working in a traditional language service [LSP] is that many people in our community are just starting out in translation, and this is refreshing. It’s a great access point for talented people to get into translation without needing loads of experience, and I like that Unbabel gives that opportunity to people who might not otherwise have it.”

Talking about access points is an interesting way to go, I think, and so I ask Joe about how he got started with his languages and with translation. “I’d always been fascinated by French as a child,” he tells me, “and started it at school, as well as doing plenty of exchanges between 15 and 18, then spent six months there before I went to university. I think being there as a child or teenager without the level of French I have today really pushed me to do better — I got energy from being in France and feeling discomfort around not being able to communicate as I wanted, and this spurred me on to improve.”

When it comes to translation though, it’s a whole other story. “So I did some freelance translation from French into English, some of which was awful and some of which was good. But the thing that got me hooked was translating a series of old letters from around 1930, and I had to decipher the handwriting and translate them into English for a private client. I found out through the translation that what started as a correspondence between an artist and their subject subsequently developed into a romance between the two. It turned out to be hugely consequential for the client and it was a fantastic and rewarding introduction into translation.” I’m fascinated by this, and struck by Joe’s enthusiasm when it comes to describing the detail and care with which he deciphered these old letters. “It meant I decided to become a translator myself, and worked for a while doing this in Paris before later deciding to do a postgrad qualification in translation.”

I’m struck at this point by a common thread in Joe’s experience — how he loved the intriguing nature of deciphering these old letters, and how he encouraged himself to learn French from his sincere desire to improve his communication skills in situations where they were lacking. Joe’s a musician, and so I ask him to reflect on this when thinking about music. “There’s definitely a massive similarity between the two,” Joe tells me. “The challenge of mastering music, in the same way as languages, brings you so much joy in terms of communication. A lot of the people I know I’ve become acquainted with through music, and the shared desire to communicate is very similar.”

We’re drawing to the end of the interview, but even as we’re running out of time I’m intrigued by Joe’s use of the word ‘mastering’ there when talking about two things that are famously difficult, if not impossible, to master. He pauses for a moment. “Well, it’s impossible to master, that’s true. My French teacher once told me that learning French is 50% culture. At the time, I didn’t quite understand it, but living abroad really makes you realise how much this is true. With both languages and music, they’re based on communities of people understanding each other, so you’re constantly learning, and there is no end to what you can know.” What a beautiful thought.

If you could recommend one book, film or song to our community, what would it be?

Joe’s choice: Sur la Planche 2013 by La Femme

“This song came out when I was studying French at University and it was one of the first songs in French that I listened to where I understood all the lyrics on the first listen (not so difficult as the lyrics are very simple and repetitive but nonetheless a satisfying feeling for a languages student!)”

If you could say one thing to our community, what would it be?

“Your understanding and appreciation of language and culture (especially your own) makes this community very special and completely unique. Thanks for being a part of it!”