My First Cebuano Translation Job

I’ve been writing scripts in Cebuano for more than two decades. The first time i wrote in Cebuano was when i made it to the pool of radio reporters of DYKC in 1987.

I have had about 7 years experience in editing news scripts in Cebuano while working at ABS-CBN news departments in Cebu, Iligan, and Davao.

I have been teaching Cebuano Journalism at the University of San Jose Recoletos’ mass communication department since 2007.

But only this week that i got a professional job of translating English articles to Cebuano. It’s for a fee and my clients are nursing students from another school.

In short, i am translating items related to nursing and medicine. Here are some of it:

• When your baby is upset, fussy, or crying, how good are you at soothing him or her? (translation: Kon sa higayon nga ang imong bata tandogon, gisapot o naghilak, unsa ka kamaayo mopahupay o mo-am-am niini?)

• How good are you at keeping your baby occupied when you need to do housework? For example, how good are you at finding things for the baby when you need to do the dishes. (translation: Unsa ka kamaayo moseguro nga malingaw lang ang imong anak samtang ikaw dunay gitrabaho sa balay? Pananglitan, unsa ka kamaayo mangita og butang o angay himoon sa imong bata aron ka makalihok sulod sa balay?)

Choices for the answer of the questions include:

• not good at all (dili gyod maayo)
  
• not good enough (dili tanto maayo)
• good enough (Paigo lang)
• very good (Maayo kaayo)

More translation jobs:

• Knowing immunization schedules (Kasayoran kanus-a angay magpabakuna.)
• Recognizing congestion (Pag-ila sa paghuot sa dughan)
• Recognizing constipation (Pag-ila sa constipation kun ang kalisod paglibang)
• Recognizing gas pains (Pag-ila sa sakit sa tiyan tungod sa panuhot)

#1 Rule in Cebuano translation: NO LITERAL TRANSLATION. Otherwise, you’ll end up changing the message.

UPDATE!

After this translation, i’d got more translation jobs. The latest is just this month of June 2013 when i edited an already-translated info-material. I earned a little out of it. You can hire my professional services for Cebuano translation at negotiable rates. 🙂