By Lucas Du Berger Deret
During my internship at Cartier et Lelarge, I had the chance to work with a friendly team of professional translators.
My job was to use a variety of softwares to translate the documents I was given, mainly advertising brochures, job offers, activity reports and memos. These documents came from companies and organizations in various fields, such as business telecommunications, the mining industry and patient advocacy.
Every day, I was able to view and organize my tasks on a user-friendly program, and since we were all working remotely, I communicated with other Cartier and Lelarge employees mainly through an instant messaging application. At first glance, it seems like a lot of software to learn, but once I got used to it, I built it into my daily routine.
During my internship at Cartier and Lelarge, I learned a lot about the practical side of translation. In fact, from the very beginning, I wrote down all the feedback that I received from my revisers in a dedicated notebook, to build up a little personal “bible” of translation tips. With this and the generous help of my colleagues, I was able to improve, little by little.
I felt a warm camaraderie at the many “Fika” breaks that I attended, even though I didn’t often speak up myself. Near the end of my internship, one of the firm’s founders announced her retirement at one such event. The moment was tinged with sorrow—one of the cornerstones of the firm was leaving before I had even finished my internship, before I had had a chance to work with her. By the end of my experience, however, I hope to develop deeper relationships with my colleagues.
This article is part of our Intern Perspectives series. Read more here.
