Behind the screen: Jess Crutchley

In this issue: Jess Crutchley, Senior Editor and Translator

 

• What are the most difficult words to translate?

Weiterentwicklung! It seems like it should be simple but, for me, the literal translation of “further development” just doesn’t cut it. It crops up time and again in the texts we translate and can mean a whole range of different things… advancement, upgrade, improvement, derivative, enhancement … you get the idea. Sometimes it suffices to simply say “development”. But in English, we like to “verb”, so in other cases it’s more natural to work around it by saying that product X has been refined, optimized, revised, improved, insert suitable verb here. As always in our job, context is king.

 

• What is your preferred workspace like?

From a tech perspective I like to work with two screens: one for my actual translation – usually in memoQ or Studio – and one for all my online dictionaries and research. I like the fact that I share an office with some of my colleagues – it’s great that we can bounce ideas off one another. I think I’d get a bit lonely if I worked from home the whole time, although I’m glad that I also have that option.

 

• What do you like most about your job?

For me, every sentence I translate is like solving a puzzle. It gives me an immense sense of satisfaction to come up with solutions that work and sound natural in the target language (in my case, English). It’s extremely demanding intellectually but very rewarding.

 

• Dogs or cats?

I come from a family of dog lovers so if I had to choose, I’d say I’m more of a dog person. But that doesn’t mean I’m thinking about getting one any time soon! My parents have two mad but adorable black labs, Sophie and Ember.

 

• Audiobook or paperback?

I love reading for pleasure but sadly I don’t do it much unless I’m on holiday – then I read loads, usually on my Kindle. Because I spend so much time reading and analysing texts at work, I like to give my eyes (and brain) a bit of a break in the evening and at weekends. I don’t think I’ve ever listened to an Audiobook, but maybe I should try it!

 

• Tea or coffee?

I was born and bred in the UK, so I do love a good cup of what I’d call “proper” tea (strong black tea with a splash of milk – overly milky tea is the worst!). It might sound like a cliché, but if I’m having a bad day or something has gone wrong, then a cup of tea always helps! That said, I’m pretty addicted to coffee as well. I can’t start the day without one!