Zingterview with a Translator: Rafa Lombardino
On an all-consuming passion for translation, changing people’s perception of translators, and more.
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Today we meet the wonderful Rafa Lombardino! Rafa was born in Brazil and has been living in California since 2002. She became a professional translator in 1997, is certified by the American Translators Association in both English-to-Portuguese and Portuguese-to-English translations and has a Professional Certificate in Spanish-to-English translations from UC San Diego Extension, where she started teaching translation classes in 2010, including “Tools and Technology in Translation,” which was also released in book format. She is the President & CEO of Word Awareness, hosts the Translation Confessional podcast, and specializes in Technology, Marketing, HR, EH&S, Education, Health & Wellness, Audiovisual, and Literature.
Let’s see how Rafa describes her translation life 👇
If people could understand the first thing about translation and interpretation, I’m sure what we charge for our professional services would no longer come as a surprise to those who think it’s all done with the touch of a button.
Let’s begin at the beginning. How did you become multilingual?
I was born in Brazil and, even though we have English classes at school from a very early age, it was only when I was 11 that things started to get serious. In 5th grade, we no longer had playful classes to learn the name of colors and animals, or some children’s songs in English. We got books, exercises, tests―it became a real school subject. Once I realized I could actually learn English as a second language, I begged my parents to enroll me in language classes as an after-school program. I graduated from language school at 17, got hired to teach English at another school, and started translating on the side. The rest is history.
How and/or why did you become a translator? (And do you suck the life out of words for immortality purposes, or to pay the rent?)
When I started working at a language school, I was teaching English to children from 4 to 40 years old! People would stop by the school when they needed something translated from English into Portuguese. The school directors and other teachers would always dismiss it, saying they specialized in teaching English, not translating it. I’d always jump at the opportunity and started translating anything I could get my hands on, from articles for someone’s college project to love letters. Then, when I went to journalism school, I met my mentor. He was our Instrumental English professor, but ran a translation company with his wife as his day job. He started assigning me projects and she explained to me how a translation business is run. I learned a lot from them, especially that translating was a career, not just a side job. Fast-forward 25 years since my first translation project, that’s what I’ve been doing for a living all along and it’s the sole income at our household―my husband has been my business partner since 2008, taking care of all tasks not related to translation.
How much of a coincidence is it that you ended up on this path? How much of a choice?
It’s hard to say, really, because I’ve always been in love with languages. When I realized there was someone behind the words that magically appeared on the bottom of the screen whenever we watched a foreign movie or whenever I bought a book that had been originally written in another language, I thought that was something I would like to do―I just didn’t know how to go about it when I was young, because the image of a translator/interpreter was kind of relegated to the shadows while I was growing up in the 80s and 90s. I guess the closest we’d get was when we’d watch the Oscars with simultaneous interpretation on TV. When I started working at a language school and translating on the side, I still didn’t think it was a career path. Once I actually met someone who did it for a living, that’s when it clicked. I translated as a freelancer all through college and kept doing so when I moved to California in 2002, when telecommuting work was in its infancy. I soon started my own translation company and never looked back.
Is life everything you thought it would be, and more? What did you think it would be?
Life is definitely a juggling act when you work for yourself. I do enjoy the fast-paced routine, even more so because I get to work alone most of the time, have decision-making power, and most often don’t have to depend on anyone else to get my part of the job done. I just organize my schedule, sit down, and get to work. Sometimes there are a few surprises along the way, but I’ve learned to deal with them after all this time. Above all, I do enjoy the fact that I own my time and can balance work and family in my own terms.
What is it you love about your lifestyle as a translator?
The freedom to make decisions. I must say I’m a bit impatient, so I couldn’t imagine myself trying to plan my work week while depending on someone else. Even when clients mess up something in their own projects and everything becomes urgent because there are little fires everywhere, I can ultimately make a decision on whether to accept or decline their projects because I’m an independent contractor―or even make them work on a more realistic timeline so that all parties involved are happy with the outcome. The latter happens more often than not and clients do stick around, because they appreciate the added support and see me as part of their team.
What was your darkest moment as a translator?
That’s a pretty hard question… I guess, at a certain level, you can never shake that fear that all clients will disappear and you will no longer make a living doing what you do best. So I guess that’s when things could get very dark―when your livelihood is threatened by outside forces. Fortunately, I haven’t had to face any dark moments throughout my career, but I think that’s the one thing I would fear as a translator.
If you listen to music while working, what’s on your speakers lately? Spotify links or YouTube links are much appreciated 😉
I could talk about music for hours, really. That’s the main on-demand content I had at my disposal while studying languages as a kid, because all I had to do was turn on the radio or play a bootlegged cassette tape until it wore out and I had memorized every line in every song. I do like listening to music while working, as long as it’s in one of the languages of my current project. I get antsy if there’s too much silence, and I can even take little breaks and do a karaoke session here and there!
I guess what plays the most around the house is classic rock in English from the 1960s through the 1990s, since I share a home office with my husband. Besides that, I’m getting into the YouTube Music app now because they have a nice interface for both computers and phones. I used Spotify on my computer for a while, but the app isn’t quite as functional on the phone, so I’m “training” YouTube Music to learn more about my taste and create playlists with music in Portuguese, English, Spanish, and Italian.
I like getting into an algorithm-tailored playlist with random tracks that fit a given mood in a single language, or dive into an entire album by a singer or band I like―back in the day, you’d put a record or cassette tape on and listen to it from beginning to end, side A and side B. All in all, I guess I listen to a lot of what we call MPB, which stands for Brazilian Popular Music and is the stuff I grew up with, mixed in with some Brazilian pop-rock. I also like Italian pop-rock and keep exploring different artists who have interesting songs that will help me expand my vocabulary and learn new expressions. I’m also a big fan of Spanish rock and I lost track of how many times I had the entire discography of Héroes del Silencio or Vetusta Morla going in the background. As you can see, I’m really eclectic when it comes to my musical taste!
If you had a magic wand and a pointy hat that actually worked, what would you change about the translation industry or your working lifestyle?
I guess the first thing I’d try to change is people’s perception about what language professionals do. I’d make the general public see that we work hard and that it takes a lot of skill, preparation, and research to do what we do―and do it right. If people could understand the first thing about translation and interpretation, I’m sure what we charge for our professional services would no longer come as a surprise to those who think it’s all done with the touch of a button. This understanding would also change people’s perspective around the fact that it isn’t something that can be done by anyone who once took a foreign language class or spent a week abroad. I believe a lot of people who are good at sales and lie about their experiences and credentials wouldn’t be getting away with posing as translators and interpreters―or, worse, as the so-called “mentors” who are preying on uninformed people who aspire to become translators and interpreters and sometimes pay a small fortune to try to learn shortcuts from these gurus. Spoiler alert: there are no shortcuts to becoming a translator or interpreter.
What are you doing at home or in the office to be more productive?
Even though I work for myself, I do keep office hours and plan my schedule around the short-term and long-term projects I have lined up for the day, week, or month. I make sure my workspace is comfortable and tidy and I organize everything I need to get the job done. You can be so much more productive and efficient just by organizing your files and records, so everything is easy to find. I also use CAT tools to streamline my work, cut down on rework, leverage repetitions, and increase my chances of finding matches when working with repeat clients. I always try to find ways to use technology to my advantage so that I can focus on work and have all my ducks in a row. Oh, and we also got a new couch with a recliner, so I can work on my laptop very comfortably as well.
Tell us about the weirdest thing you ever translated.
I’d say “blind” captions for pictures that were going to be up on a porn site―I never got to see the images, though. I guess the client was worried translators were going to distribute freely something they were charging access for, so they would only release a list of captions in Excel, just to make matters worse, I suppose. Still, those tend to be very descriptive and repetitive, so it isn’t as interesting a project as one would expect. Apart from that, I had to translate some text messages exchanged between former spouses or lovers, often involving some child custody dispute or quarrels about one party cheating on the other.
What’s the best question that we didn’t think to ask?
“Where do you see yourself in ten years?” I’d love to be semi-retired and travel more often. The kids will be all grown by then, so my husband and I could spend our time visiting different places and adopt a more nomad freelancing lifestyle. I’d like to continue translating to exercise my brain, though, just not in a fast-paced routine anymore. Maybe I’ll be able to live that romantic image we have of literary translators who work on a couple of pages a day while eating brunch at a nice cafe.
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