Her mother tongue is Slovak. She speaks fluent English and Czech, Spanish and French on an intermediate level, and has some basic knowledge of German. Meet Monika Misunova, language editor at Phyron’s technical hub in Dubai.
Hi Monika. As a language editor, what do you actually do?
I’m responsible for ordering new translations from freelancers via Upwork and other platforms, giving them all instructions and a short training on what needs to be done. Then I perform the necessary quality controls and enter the translations into Phyron’s system.
It’s not like translating a book, is it?
No, not at all, basically our freelancers get around 100 key expressions to translate or adapt into the particular language at hand. But each language is unique, so to make the text useful you obviously need to take the particular linguistic patterns into account.
Sometimes Google Translate is useful in the process, but everything needs to be double-checked on local car websites. Besides a correct translation, we must make sure to use the expressions that car buyers in that country really use.
How many languages are up and running now?
So far we have completed British and US English, German, Spanish, Italian, Swedish, Finnish, and Russian. Turkish and Hungarian are underway. And we keep adding more languages as new customers sign up.
How on earth did you end up with an automotive company in Dubai?
(Laughing.) It’s all in my CV. Before joining Phyron I was working as Executive Manager in Slovakia. I also worked several years as Cabin Crew for Kuwait Airways and Gulf Air, so I am quite familiar with the Middle East. And having worked as an Executive Assistant with Yanfeng Global Automotive Interiors… See? It makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?
It certainly does. So, do I even need to ask: How do you like it here?
I really enjoy living in Dubai as it has always been my dream. The city is full of opportunities; you can enjoy your day in many beach clubs, go for lunch or dinner to thousands of different restaurants with a variety of international cuisines, or even do adrenaline activities such as skydiving, zipline, etc.