Being in two choirs and having to keep up with the rehearsals and material to prepare is tough, let’s not forget university. We have a life of course: taking singing, piano, and history of music classes, teaching young students music, and playing in an oriental orchestra. However, I cannot deny that music, especially singing, helped me a lot in translation. Singing and translation are very much alike in so many ways:

Memorization: To perform a long and beautiful piece during concerts, you must memorize the entire piece and know when to enter on time. In translation, you have to memorize a lot of new terms and important info. What is the point of being a good translator if you are going to look up each term? Memorization is the key.

Endurance: translating and singing are like a workout: you need physical endurance and energy to be able to sing for 2 hours straight. You also need endurance, energy, and especially high-level concentration to be able to translate each word, to give the exact meaning of the sentence, and not interpret it in a different meaning. If you do not practice translation, you cannot be fully competent in what you’re doing.

Musicality: my favorite, in music its meaning is clear. In translation, you have to speak in a musical way, never in a monotonic way. Imagine an interpreter or a translator talking in a monotonic way, I could already feel the audience getting bored. That is why musicality is very important to the interpreter. Plus, in singing, we also practice breathing exercises, which are essential for translators and interpreters in order to speak and transmit the message clearly to the translator.

Voice control: In music, you have to have control over your voice to sing using a good technique and projecting the sound. The same goes for translation, having control over your voice helps you decide in which tone of voice you want to transmit the message; it helps the translator to win the audience during very long meetings and conferences.

Improving your skills and knowledge: Choir helps singer enrich their cultural knowledge by learning about the socio-political background of the music written in a particular era. Translation also helps the translator improve and enrich their intellectual curiosity because without knowing each and every socio-political factor that played a role in a specific era, they would not be able to fully understand the message of a text from a different culture.

Social life: Choir plays a big part in your social life, you meet new people, and you have to talk to them. In translation and interpretation, you meet a lot of new people at conferences. Communication plays a big role in music and interpretation. You can also make lifelong friends!

… And the list goes on.

As a person who was shy and couldn’t sing in front of her own family because she was nervous, I never thought I would be able to sing, or even speak in front of an audience. Without music, I wouldn’t be able to choose translation as a major.