My job: Translator spins a web of words

Name: Vikki Rangi
Age: 48
Role: Website translator for Maori Television
Working hours: Eight-hour days, Monday to Friday
Average salary: $40,000-$70,000
Qualifications: Certificate in Office Systems - Wairarapa Polytechnic

Describe what you do.

I translate English to Maori or vice versa for our website. I translate about 90-95 per cent of the work on the website. The rest is translated by production companies and the top two news stories are translated by staff members on the news team.

First we have to "rinse" the information through Notepad and load it on to the website. Rinsing is removing any formatting before we start. Then we have to find, swizzle (technical method) and load pictures that match the translations; it can take all day.

Since I've started this job, I've learned lots about creating banners, loading media publications and other mind-boggling things that used to sit outside my triangle (cooler than a square).

Because we have to stay ahead of our schedule by several weeks, another major task is chasing up the schedule and producers because the schedule can change at any given time and it's an advantage to be prepared for that.

There are many other tasks involved, but putting them down in print doesn't do them any justice; it's more interesting to do them than write about them.

How did you come to be in this role?

Before Maori Television I worked for Mana Maori Media as a "reo journalist". This entailed interviewing people over the phone in Maori and getting their stories heard on Maori radio stations around the country.

I started at Maori Television three weeks before the launch as a te reo adviser/translator, and then I went into a subtitling role.

Both positions require employees to be proficient in the Maori and English language, particularly subtitling because you have to you have to fully understand the Maori to translate into appropriate English.

The website translator position became available in December 2008. I applied for it, and the rest is history.

How did you become a proficient Maori speaker?

Maori was the only language spoken in our Ruatoki valley. We knew no English until our parents got a radio and we heard the BBC news! This was rural Aotearoa in the 60s and we kids thought aliens were invading.

What training or experience is important with this job?

Oral and written proficiency of the Maori and English languages is essential.

The technical things I needed to learn more about were the loading of pictures and text on to the website, and the creating of banners.

I also needed computer skills, internet savvy and knowledge of Adobe Photoshop. I'm still coming to grips with Adobe Photoshop and in the meantime work on Gimp, which is like a baby version of Photoshop. It's an awesome challenge.

What skills or qualities do you need?

Patience is a necessary quality, and the skill to prioritise and manage time effectively. Again, proficiency in oral and written Maori and English languages is the main skill needed. A lot of content arrives in English so we ask production companies to send details several weeks in advance so that we have time to translate. It wasn't like that at the beginning though, it was hectic and a lot of work was taken home to complete in the weekends.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

Doing something like the experts that you learned the week before! Also, working alongside two other digital natives; Sandy Hodge is our online manager/webmaster and Bea Ashby is our content co-ordinator. We are known as Te Tokotoru a-Paetukutuku - the Website Trio!

Most challenging part?

Remembering all the different moves and passwords when inputting and changing things on the site.

Another challenge is finding suitable translations for weird English words; "flash drive" doesn't actually mean a drive that's flash, or "logging on" has nothing to do with wood.

There's an endless amount of techno words and translating them is fun. It's an amazing virtual world in which we spend our working days.

How would you define success?

Getting lots of positive messages and emails from viewers congratulating us or thanking us for having such a wonderfully informative and clutter-free website.

Why is a website presence important for Maori Television?

As the only indigenous broadcaster in the country, Maori Television needs a website presence to connect with our people around the world to inform, educate and add the flavour of home to their lives no matter where they may live. Also, through our website and television station non-Maori can access past, present and future information about our culture and the Maori world in Aotearoa.

Advice to someone wanting to do same thing?

Grow your Maori and English vocabulary every day. Listen well, learn well, observe well and enjoy!

Where would you like to be in five years?

In New York working as a language consultant for Avatar 2.