Behind the screen: Maria Wolf

In this issue: Maria Wolf, Managing Director, Interpreter and Translator

 

• What are the most difficult words to translate?

In French, they talk about “relations sociales” in business contexts to refer to industrial relations and the triangular relationship between employer, employee and trade unions. Sometimes it’s more about a mood or feeling, but on other occasions they’re talking quite squarely about processes. An accurate rendering in German gets clunky, which can be particularly jarring in PowerPoint presentations – and there’s always some aspect missing, or the translation doesn’t quite convey what it’s supposed to.

 

• What is your preferred workspace like?

As a conference interpreter, I like a soundproof, well-ventilated interpreter’s booth where I can see the screen and the speaker, and all the tech works as it should. If the conferences happen to be taking place somewhere interesting and the people I get to work with are nice, then I’m happy. When it comes to my translation assignments and the other jobs I have as a managing director, I prefer to work from my office at home. This way I can give all my tasks my full concentration, dividing them up depending on how I’m feeling that day, and I don’t disturb anyone if I’m talking on the phone or need to move around. I like a clean and tidy working environment with plants around me.

 

• What do you like most about your job?

I love the fact that I work with people who generate content for people and the feeling that I’m providing a service that people value – or at least that I’m making their life easier. Noble intentions aside, I just find my job so much fun: working with such diverse subject matter from all aspects of life, getting to grips with corporate visions and companies’ everyday business, interacting with creative people, and always striving to understand one person’s thoughts and feelings and convey these in another’s words and language – all in the name of understanding and communication.

 

• Dogs or cats?

I’d say I’m more of a dog person, but we’ve never had any pets so maybe I just have romanticised notions about Lassie or Buck, the dog in the Call of the Wild by Jack London. Those dogs did a stellar job of protecting their owners. Plus they never needed to go for walkies at the crack of dawn or in the pouring rain and they certainly didn’t leave any piles of doggy do behind them.

 

• Audiobook or paperback?

I prefer to read my books myself, but they tend to be e-books because I travel a lot and often have more than one book on the go at a time.

 

• Tea or coffee?

Once upon a time I drank the perfect cup of coffee; I’ve been pouring cup after cup of disappointing brown brew down my throat ever since. Seldom has my longing for that original tantalizing taste been satisfied, but that doesn’t stop me from trying.