{"id":46438,"date":"2017-11-28T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-11-27T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/uncategorized\/faces-of-gengo-kathleen\/"},"modified":"2025-02-07T15:40:54","modified_gmt":"2025-02-07T06:40:54","slug":"faces-of-gengo-kathleen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/community\/faces-of-gengo-kathleen\/","title":{"rendered":"Faces of Gengo: Kathleen"},"content":{"rendered":"An American Fulbright scholarship winner and part-time writer, Kathleen hones her German language skills by translating in her spare time. In this interview, she uses her way with words to share some sage advice to new and aspiring Gengo translators.\r\n\r\nNationality:<\/strong> American of Scots-Irish, German, Polish, & Slovak ancestry\r\nLocation:<\/strong> Phoenix, Arizona\r\nOccupation:<\/strong> Part-time freelance writer and closed-captioner for the hearing-impaired\r\nGengo translator since:<\/strong> December 2015\r\nLanguage pairs:<\/strong> German to English, German to British English\r\n\r\nWhat languages do you speak?<\/strong>\r\n\r\nEnglish and German\r\n\r\nIf you could be fluent in any other language, what would it be and why?<\/strong>\r\n\r\nItalian, for its beauty and musicality.\r\n\r\nDo you have experience living in other countries? If so, where?<\/strong>\r\n\r\nGermany; I had the great good luck to win a Fulbright scholarship to Munich and a separate fellowship to study in T\u00fcbingen.\r\n\r\n
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“The view from the second floor of my house.”<\/em><\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\nOn a scale of 1 to 10, how much do you enjoy being a translator and why?<\/strong>\r\n\r\n10, because it requires a relaxed yet highly alert knife-edge of concentration, “dancing” in the liminal space between two worlds at once!\r\n\r\nHow has translating for Gengo impacted your life?<\/strong>\r\n\r\nIt has made me even more grateful for my highly flexible schedule, allowing me the fun of translating in the middle of the night!\r\n\r\n

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“My unconventional workspace. It’s where I normally do my work on my laptop, sitting up.”<\/em><\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\nWhen you were growing up, what did you aspire to become?<\/strong>\r\n\r\nI wanted to learn about everything, and try my hand at everything!\r\n\r\nWhat quote do you live by?<\/strong>\r\n\r\n\u201cThe world is so full of a number of things, I’m sure we should all be as happy as kings.\u201d by Robert Louis Stevenson\r\n\r\nName three of your favorite translation\/language learning tools.<\/strong>\r\n\r\nLeo German-English Dictionary<\/a>, Linguee, and streaming radio programs from Europe.\r\n\r\nRecommend three of your favorite language-related books\/films.<\/strong>\r\n\r\nI recommend the books, Let Stalk Strine<\/em> by Afferbeck Lauder and Eats, Shoots & Leaves<\/em><\/a> by Lynne Truss, and the film, The King’s Speech<\/em>.\r\n\r\nWhat would you say are the three things you enjoy most about Gengo?<\/strong>\r\n\r\nThe chance to learn about new subjects all the time, the opportunity to hone my language skills, and the flexible scheduling.\r\n\r\n

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“Two favorite hobbies combined in one picture: training Ellie, my rescue dog by the backyard pool where I swim in hot Arizona.”<\/em><\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\nWhat advice would you give to new or aspiring translators?<\/strong>\r\n\r\nTake a playful approach to language, rock back and forth or dance while searching for that elusive phrase. Engage both sides of your brain. Never work so hard you forget the sheer joy of words.\r\n\r\nWhat advice would you give to your 18-year-old self?<\/strong>\r\n\r\nSalvador Dali’s advice: “Have no fear of perfection\u2014you’ll never reach it.”\r\n\r\nWant to become a Gengo translator?\r\n<\/strong>\r\n