Roxana is now a little over 39 years of age, her words. A native of Bucharest, she made a pit stop in Greece before settling down in The Big Apple, probably the most unique and popular city on the planet. After spending half of her life mixing words and numbers, the humanities and the mathematics, logic and creativity, she decided to combine them into the ultimate profession<\/a>: she became a translator.<\/p>\n She is the mother of two gorgeous dogs now, living with her husband in Queens, one of the most sought-after boroughs in the city that never sleeps.<\/p>\n Her love towards foreign languages determined Roxana to start a career in the field. As well as her affinity towards extra money. During college, she decided to up her income by working on translations coming from small and medium clients. Her passion for English was embedded in her soul by a \u201cgreat\u201d professor, as she puts it. Back then, kids used to learn foreign languages in school, not on YouTube.<\/p>\n \u201cI first translated during uni, first as a source of extra income while attending classes. My schedule was hectic, as some courses were early in the morning, some during the afternoon, and so on. This made it difficult to get a 9-5 job at the time. At the same time, at that age, you don\u2019t really want to go and ask for money from your parents. This was back in 2002-2003. In 2004 I also took the official exams from the ministries of Culture and Justice, and then I became a certified translator.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Roxana\u2019s adventures in the industry began with her applying to random translation jobs<\/a> online. That\u2019s where she found her first serious clients after the next-door business type. She started translating resumes and then moved on to articles and books. Translations turned into a way of making money and an obsession for her. Roxana was so into translations, she began translating Wikipedia articles as a way to improve and pass the time.<\/p>\n \u201cIt turned into a little bit of an obsession. I first did Wikipedia articles, simply because I was loving it, which was great because I upped my speed and enriched my vocabulary. Of course, there were also setbacks. The publishing house was printing religious books with somewhat of an occult theme.<\/p>\n I was able to work on some books but apparently, my style was not the right fit for them. This is even now, decades later, one of the topics for which I\u2019m not taking in any work. Some other industries I try to stay away from are subtitles and video games. I love playing on my computer, or on the PlayStation but I simply don\u2019t do gaming translations.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n And then the ancient ruins revealed… an American!<\/em><\/p>\n Usually, these interviews require a bit of revision in order to get them on a enjoyable, pleasant narrative flow. To make a story out of them. Thanks to the way Roxana talked about this particular part of her life in Greece, this piece needs barely any editorial intervention.<\/p>\n \u201cAs soon as I was out of college, I became the office manager of a small investment firm in the real estate business. The communication with them was in English so that\u2019s when I really started to speak the language fluently\u2026 and never stopped! In the meantime, I discovered my hidden passion for Greece and the language of the lands.<\/p>\n I started to take Greek lessons with a teacher. A few years later, I left my job to work at the Bank of Cyprus, the Romanian branch. After a few more years, my passion and bonds with Greece expanded, so I just requested a transfer to the Greek headquarters of the bank. Turns out I was so convincing, they let me go! While in Greece, I took an intensive language course at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, and it got me a Greek language certificate.<\/p>\n From time to time I\u2019m doing Greek to Romanian and Greek to English translations<\/a>, just to keep my know-how in line. While in Greece I started to work more and more in the industry. At a certain point, I was making more money from translations than from my job at the bank so\u2026 I decided to go for it and become a full-time translator. That\u2019s when I also started working with Swiss Solutions. Now that I think about it, it\u2019s been 15 years!\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The time spent in Greece was probably the best time of her life, Roxana confesses. The linguist loves everything about the culture and the locals, the perfect weather, the many islands, one more interesting than the other, as well as the places where the old meets the new, with ancient columns mingling with shiny specialty coffee shops. The feeling of being on top of the Acropolis during a concert is out of this world, she keeps teasing us.<\/p>\n \u201cAs translations grew on me and made more of an impact on my life, I also met my future husband, who\u2019s American. Honestly, I would\u2019ve never thought of moving so far away from home. It\u2019s one thing to board a plane and be home in an hour and a half, and a completely different monster to cross the Atlantic and be on planes and in airports for a whole 24 hours. I guess I\u2019ve always been an impulsive person and so I decided to follow my instincts. And moved to another country. To another continent!\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n First days in the Big Apple<\/em><\/p>\n Work and then more work. That\u2019s what a day in the life of a Romanian freelance translator who lives in New York looks like. In order to financially make it in this city, nothing comes easy or cheap. Yet with a bit of perseverance and a clear purpose, people like Roxana can make it even there. She gets up with the chickens, at 6 or 7 in the morning, and dedicates the first hour of the day to her dogs.<\/p>\n \u201cThen I grab my coffee and start with the emails. I work with agencies from Europe, China and the United States. I even worked with people from Bolivia, or South Africa, so my email needs at least an hour per day, usually. After this part of the day ends, it\u2019s time to do my revisions before delivering my work. After delivery, I\u2019m all in for new projects. Luckily, I can never say I\u2019m out of work, which is why deadlines are so crucial to me. Any small issue can ruin the rest of my day, so I try to be as on-point as possible. I ask the same from the people with whom I work. Especially those who own me money\u2026 \u201c<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The Browns casually strolling around in Central Park<\/em><\/p>\n Roxana\u2019s day ends when it may end. She\u2019s got no fixed schedule, just like any freelancer<\/a>. It might be at 6 PM or 11 PM. Sometimes it ends at lunch on a Friday, her \u201crelaxation\u201d day, simply because there\u2019s no delivery to be sent out the next day. On Fridays, Roxana runs away from her laptop, as quickly and as far away as possible.<\/p>\n What are some of the better and then some of the not-so-good things about living in New York? One of the clear positives is the astonishing number of specialty restaurants you can find in the city, Roxana hungrily notes.<\/p>\nFreelance translations for pocket money<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Hired by an \u201coccult\u201d publishing house<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Sunshine and #beachlife<\/em> in Greece<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\nAn American among the Greek columns\u2026<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\nA day in the life of a Romanian New Yorker<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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