Rowie Watkeys
We publicise a member profile on Mondays here on our website, Facebook page, X @NWTN_UK and LinkedIn. If you want to join us in this opportunity to share a little about yourself with your fellow NWTN members, download the questionnaire from the Member Resources area and send it to our Comms Officer.
Where do you live/work?
Ilkley, near Leeds.
Are you mainly a translator or interpreter or both? What languages?
Translator, from French and German into English.
What are your specialist fields?
Marketing, fashion, food and drink (particularly wine/champagne), retail and luxury goods.
What’s the strangest/most interesting project you’ve ever worked on?
The most interesting project I’ve translated was a set of reworked fables for a French champagne company blog.
Tell us about a particularly proud moment in your translation career:
Receiving really positive feedback on a big German fashion project. The previous translator they had used had really mucked up, so I was pleased to hear that they loved my work – and that I restored their faith in translators!
Tell us two reasons why you like being a translator/interpreter:
Getting to use my languages every day and solving particularly difficult linguistic problems.
What is the most interesting place where you have lived/visited?
Probably an 11-metre square chambre de bonne on the top floor of an old building in Paris. It had no lift so I used to have to carry my shopping up seven flights of stairs. It was when I’d just graduated and couldn’t afford much – it had a fold-down bed, shower cubicle, hob and sink all in one room! I had to use a shared bathroom in the hallway… But if I stood on my tiptoes on the sofabed I could see the Eiffel Tower, which somehow made it all worth it!
What are your plans for professional development or a new field you’d like to work in?
I would like to become an MITI in the next year or so. I’m an avid sports fan, so I would love to branch out into sports translation.
Tell us something not many people know about you:
I have my PADI licence in scuba diving.
