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Portuguese to English: Edited extract from "Barroco Tropical" by Jose Eduardo Agualusa General field: Art/Literary Detailed field: Poetry & Literature
Source text - Portuguese Ao principio pensei que fosse ansiedade. Estava a meio de uma serie de concertos na Europa, quando comecei a experimentar dificuldades em engolir. Acordava de repente numa cama de hotel, ou na cadeira de um aviao, sentindo-me sufocar. Imaginava coisas: por exemplo, que enquanto dormia arrancara e engolira madeixas de cabelo; que me comecara a crescer um laparo na garganta; que um caroco de azeitona tievesse germinado dentro de mim. Entao apareceu-me um pequeno ganglio no pescoco. Aproveitei a passagem por Lisboa e marquei uma consulta com um otorrinolaringologista, Pedro de Sousa, meu amigo desde ha muitos anos.
- Tenho uma bola de pelo presa na garganta - disse-lhe. - Nao sei como foi la parar.
Pedro me fez uma endoscopia.
- Ha quanto tempo fumas?
- Desde os doze anos...
- Quantos cigarros?
- Depende. Dois macos, as vezes mais.
Nao me perguntou se bebia. Sabe que bebo. Percebi logo que a situacao podia ser grave. Voltei a estrada, mais uma semana, enquanto aguardava o resultado das analises. Acho que nunca cantei tao bem. No palco transformava-me. Crescia, podia sentir a minha pele a iluminar-se . Nenhum dos musicos sabia que eu estava doente. Talvez suspeitassem. Em todo o caso intuiram que aquela nao iria ser uma digressao normal, e deixaram-se arrebatar pelo meu proprio ardor. Eu caminhava agudamente em cima de uma lamina, mas enquanto cantava era feliz.
Ha quem confunda a alegria com a felicidade. A alegria nao se parece com a felicidade, a nao ser na medida em que um mar agitado se parece com um mar placido. A agua e a mesma, apenas isso. A alegria resulta de um entorpecimento do espirito, a felicidade de uma iluminacao momentanea. O alcool pode levar-nos a alegria - ou um cigarro de liamba, ou um novo amor - porque nos obscurece temporariamente a inteligencia. A alegria, pois, tende a ser burra. A felicidade e outra coisa. Nao ri as gargalhadas. Nao se anuncia com fogo de artificio. Nao faz estremecer estadios. Raras sao as vezes em que nos apercebemos no instante em que somos felizes. Eu fui feliz - nos meus ultimos dias - em claroes de assombro. Relampagos de lucidez extrema, de absoluta comunhao com os meus musicos, o publico, as palavras que saiam dos meus labios.
Uma especie de nirvana.
As luzes apagamam-se e eu apagava-me. Nao falava com ninguem. Qualquer gesto me deixava exausta, principalmente porque todos me pareciam inuteis. Fechava-me no quarto, ligava a televisao, e ali ficava. Podiam passar-se horas antes de me aperceber que nao havia imagem alguma. So chuva estatica.
Translation - English At first I thought it was anxiety. I was in the middle of a series of concerts in Europe when I started to have difficulty swallowing. I would wake up suddenly in a hotel bed or aeroplane seat, feeling myself suffocating. I imagined things: for example, that while I was sleeping I had pulled out and swallowed strands of hair; that a leveret had started to grow in my throat; that an olive stone had germinated inside me. Then a small ganglion appeared on my throat. I took advantage of a trip to Lisbon and made an appointment with an otolaryngologist, Pedro de Sousa, my friend of many years.
“I have a hairball stuck in my throat,” I said to him. “I don’t know how it got there.”
Pedro did an endoscopy.
“How long have you been smoking?”
“Since I was twelve…”
“How many?”
“It depends. Two packs, sometimes more.”
He didn’t ask me if I drank. He knows I drink. I soon realised that the situation could be serious. I went back on the road, another week, while I waited for the test results. I think I had never sung so well. On the stage I transformed. I grew; I could feel my skin light up. None of the band knew that I was ill. Perhaps they suspected. In any case, they sensed that this would not be an ordinary tour and let themselves be swept up by my fervour. I was balancing on a knife edge, but while I sang I was happy.
There are people who confuse joy with happiness. Joy does not resemble happiness, unless in the way that a rough sea resembles a calm sea. Only the water is the same. Joy is the result of a numbing of the spirit, happiness of a momentary enlightenment. Alcohol can lead us to joy – or smoking a joint, or a new love – because it temporarily eclipses our intelligence. Joy, you see, tends to be stupid. Happiness is something else. It doesn’t roar with laughter. It doesn’t announce its arrival with fireworks. It doesn’t rock stadiums. Rare are the occasions when we notice our happiness in the instant in which we are happy. I was happy – in my last days – in flashes of wonder. Lightning bolts of extreme clarity, of absolute communion with my musicians, the public, the words which came from my lips.
A kind of nirvana.
The lights went down and I shut myself down. I didn’t speak with anyone. Any kind of movement left me exhausted, mainly because they all seemed futile to me. I shut myself in my room, switched on the television and stayed there. Hours could go by before I would notice that there was no image at all. Just static snow.
Portuguese to English: Extract from article on educare.pt - 07 de September 2015 General field: Social Sciences Detailed field: Education / Pedagogy
Source text - Portuguese Educação pré-escolar: públicas virtudes, vícios privados
O alargamento da universalização da educação pré-escolar a todas as crianças a partir do ano em que atinjam os quatro anos de idade (anteriormente eram cinco), concretizado pela Lei n.º 65/2015, de 3 de julho, coloca algumas questões interessantes.
A compreensão da lei e dos seus sentidos extravasa, muitas vezes, o “reporte” empírico da informação contida nos textos jurídicos ou a descrição minuciosa dos trâmites legais. Este é um desses casos. Esta medida, adotada pela Assembleia da República, merece aplauso pelo seu alcance prático na vida das crianças e das suas famílias e corrige uma debilidade do nosso sistema educativo. Contudo, nem tudo o que parece é. Pondo de lado este hábito encantador de proceder a importantes “reformas” em finais de legislatura, remetendo a sua execução para um governo que há de vir, ficou claro, mal se percebeu o alcance desta inovação, prevista para o ano letivo 2016/2017, que não foi analisado se e em que medida a legislação já existente assegurou a universalização da educação pré-escolar para todas as crianças a partir dos cinco anos, tal como previa a Lei n.º 85/2009. Esta dimensão é muito importante porque não faltam alertas sobre algumas fragilidades na organização e funcionamento da educação pré-escolar, que podem comprometer o objetivo de a qualificar como uma componente essencial do sistema educativo.
Translation - English Pre-school education: public virtues, private vices
Some interesting questions are raised by the extension of universal pre-school education provision to all children, starting from their fourth year of age (previously it was five), as set out by Act 65/2015 of 3rd July.
Understanding the law and its significance often goes beyond the empirical “reporting” of information contained in legal texts or the detailed description of legal procedures. This is one such case. This measure, adopted by the Portuguese parliament, deserves praise for its practical influence on the lives of children and families, and addresses a failing of our education system. Nevertheless, all is not what it seems. Setting aside the charming habit of putting important “reforms” in motion at the end of the parliamentary term, leaving their execution to an incoming government, it is clear, barely having understood the scope of this new measure, which is expected in the academic year of 2016/2017, that there has been no analysis of if, and to what extent, the existing legislation, according to the Act 85/2009, had guaranteed universal pre-school education to all children of five years and older. This dimension is very important, given the abundant warnings heard regarding certain weaknesses in the organisation and running of pre-school education, which could compromise the aim of making it an essential component of the education system.
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Graduate diploma - Chartered Institute of Linguists
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Years of experience: 22. Registered at ProZ.com: Jun 2014.
Professional translator and interpreter of Portuguese and Danish, based in Scotland. Over 15 years' experience in translation, as well as language teaching and learning. Additional professional background in voluntary sector, community work and education, in the UK and Brazil.
I translate from all varieties of Portuguese into English and interpret between English and Portuguese. I also translate from Danish into English. Areas of specialisation include education, social sciences, medical/health and public sector, marketing and creative writing.
Available for online interpreting or in-person in Fife, Edinburgh and Glasgow areas.
Keywords: Portuguese, Danish, Translation, Interpreting, video interpreting, Scotland, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Fife, qualified. See more.Portuguese, Danish, Translation, Interpreting, video interpreting, Scotland, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Fife, qualified, experienced. See less.
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