Interview with Georgia Davanelou

Georgia Davanelou
Translator of technical texts

Georgia Davanelou specializes in the translation of European pharmaceutical patents. Yourtranslator asked her about her work, how she specialized in this type of texts and what she’d like to say to translators who are interested in working in this field.

Tell us a bit about yourself. What sparked your interest in translation?

I loved foreign languages ever since I was a little girl (I only speak two other languages besides Greek, the usual “English-French” pair), but I never liked the thought of teaching them. I would say that my interest in translation occurred randomly; it was never a childhood dream. In my last year at school I had to take some translation classes to prepare for the foreign language tests in the Greek university entrance exams — back then we still had the three orientation subject system. I realized that those were the only classes I wasn’t bored to attend during the week. I looked into it a bit more and I figured I’d like to learn how to translate, mainly in order to translate literature, which was my passion. Of course things took a different turn, but that’s the story of how I became a translator!

You mostly translate technical texts. In which sectors do you specialize and how did you manage to get to this point?

I specialize in the translation of European pharmaceutical patents (it is indeed as boring as it sounds!). My attempts to make my way into literary translation did not bear fruit, although my bachelor and master’s degree had a relevant orientation. When I came back from France I was looking for work and I ended up collaborating with a company in this sector. I started hesitantly translating this type of texts, as I had no particular talent for Physics, Chemistry and Biology, and then I gradually started to work more and more on these subjects. I have now been working on this type of texts for 12 years, so you could indeed say I’m a specialist!

What are the difficulties inherent in this type of texts? How do you approach terminology challenges? Do you mostly do your research with dictionaries or online? 

When you first see a text like this, it looks like gibberish — at least that was my first impression of them. They are usually very long and contain terms from the fields of medicine, chemistry, biology, biochemistry and pharmacology. They consist in great part of laboratory experiments, so you have to be extra careful with numbers, units of measurement, etc. All translators know that what seems like only a minor mistake, i.e. writing “ ml” instead of “μl”, can render an entire text, or a scientific experiment in this case, useless.

I do my terminology research partly online, using dictionaries, glossaries, translation forums or online papers relating to the same subject. However, what I’ve found most helpful, especially when I first started out, is people: I have spoken with doctors, pharmacists, chemists, biologists and any other professionals you can think of. What makes a difference is that this way I get a general explanation and not simply the translation of a word in Greek, so I can be confident that my translation is indeed correct.

When you spread yourself too thin out of anxiety to make ends meet, you end up with no specialization and have no idea what your audience and your market is. Most importantly, you must not be afraid of saying “This is something I don’t know”.

Do you have any tips for colleagues engaged in this sort of work or translators who are interested in taking it up?

Generally speaking, I avoid giving advice in the field of translation. I consider myself a language lover and ultimately a lover of translation as a process, but not an ardent one. Translation may well be included in universities’ humanities departments and serve the people, but at its core, it is a rather lonely profession. Translators are not surrounded by people while working, even though they actually work for the people. I often get tired of translation, as I feel it doesn’t satisfy my social and outgoing self.

As regards technical translation, if someone wishes to work in this sector, I would advise them to choose a field, two at most, and delve into them. When you spread yourself too thin out of anxiety to make ends meet, you end up with no specialization and have no idea what your audience and your market is. Most importantly, you must not be afraid of saying “This is something I don’t know”. On the contrary, by admitting you don’t know something, you start looking for the answers, asking questions and opening up. No one is a know-it-all, we all keep learning as we go.

What is your view on the future of the profession, taking into account the latest technological developments?

I assume you mean translation engines such as Google translate etc. Well, these machines do quite a good job and indeed they are constantly evolving. However, I’m confident that nothing can be compared to the human factor and the abilities of the human mind. There will always be something wrong, something that gets mistranslated and makes the reader wince. And I’m only referring to technical texts that have a strict, plain style and terminology. In literature, or even in journalism, non-human translation is poor and often even funny. As long as there are words and a need for communication, translation will always have a place and a future in this world.