SUMIT SARKAR

2 Sukanta Sarani (4th lane), Nonachandanpukur, Kolkata-700122

Mail IDs and
Home: 00 91 33 25452013 Cell: 00 91 9874633758

Summary

  • In total 24+ years of experience in translating English < > Bengali/Hindi for the Indian, American, British, Israeli, Indonesian, Egyptian and Chinese translation agencies, industrial houses, publishers of science related academic books and NGOs
  • At first it was rather an amateur activity for the NGOs but later on if became a professional practice for Indian and foreign clients
  • Freelancing as a translator and very often proofreading and editing the works of third-parties for the outsourcers abroad (2004 onwards)
  • In house translation, proofreading and editing experience in Kolkata (formerly known as Calcutta) for the publishers of text books related to science based subjects (2001 - 2004)
  • Have translated English < > Bengali/Hindi < > Santal/Ho (tribal languages of India) for the NGOs working in the fields of health, education, environment and legal rights of the poor peoples of rural and urban areas (1991 - 2001)
  • Have translated, proofread and edited documents related to popular science, radioactivity detection systems installed in international borders, court materials related to international legal disputes such as money laundering, migratory labours, fraud by medical companies etc., translation of ICF and other medical texts, as well as health, environment, religion, marketing texts, market survey related questioners, advertising and public relations materials
  • Have a strong organizational and communication skills with an orientation to team motivation and collaboration, and negotiation of changing circumstances
  • Have extensive experience in localization of materials translated by other translators, adapting them to the Indian and Bangladeshi markets

Related Experiences

Full time involvement in on-line activities such as Translation, Editing, Proofreading of text matters and multimedia files [Since Mar ’14]

  • To concentrate more on freelance translation, editing and proofreading activities had to transfer the burden of Earthcare Books to an another able and responsible friend.
  • Got the entire setup stationed in a remote village of Bengal such that during less tiresome periods of the professional life, direct involvement with natural environment could be facilitated by means of organic farming, forestry, craft making etc.
  • In the meantime prolonged involvement in translating Legal, Medical and Educational text matters for so many years have invited the reputation of being an expert of these fields of translation-professions.

Managing publication of original works, translation, editing of books and retail activity of Earthcare Books & Resource Centre, an environmentalist initiative focused on providing resources that help developing eco-friendly, oppression-free lifestyle [Since Mar ’11]

  • Coordinating the publication of books related to biodiversity farming, sustainable architecture, anthropology, conservation of water, community development etc.
  • Selection, evaluation and promotion of English and Bengali translation of books that spread environmental consciousness and help conservation of community-based knowledge system.
  • Coordinating the team work of translation and reviewing of translated works done from English and other vernacular languages; mostly from Bengali and Hindi.

Translation, Editing & Proofreading of Questionnaires of various Entrance Exams & Semesters of B.Tech/M.Tech/PG subjects [Since Aug ’10]

  • Working as a senior translator of bilingual questionnaires intended for various entrance examinations that are being carried out throughout India for professional courses and also for employment examinations of government jobs or jobs created by various government and/or government affiliated institutions
  • Modifying and proofreading the aforementioned questionnaires including the questionnaires of internal exams i.e., semesters of many B.Tech./M.Tech./PG courses of both government affiliated and private institutions, that are received hand-written by original paper setters

Freelance English < > Bengali/Hindi Translation for the overseas market[Since Aug ’04]

  • Have specialized and have concentrated most of the translation activities in the translation of science based subjects in the language pairs English < > Bengali/Hindi
  • Have translated various matters e.g., popular science articles for blogs and websites, health related articles, reports on environmental degradation, government notices conveying legal rights of the emigrant workers, Religious books, localization jobs for the IT industries etc
  • Quick and fast translation is a common practice leaving no room of complaining by the clients be it in the matters of quantity or quality of work
  • A cordial customer relation is always maintained with regular clients through emails
  • Urgent texts, as per requests by known and reputed clients are given due priority
  • On an average 10,000 to12,000 words are translated every week

Translation, Editing, Proofreading & guiding DTP operations for Science related Text Book Publishers of Kolkata[Jan ’01 – Aug ’04]

  • Successfully organized translation (English to Bengali/Hindi in general but in some rare occasions Bengali/Hindi to English also), editing, proofreading and DTP works for the publishers in spite of a very tight schedule (i.e., had to guide the whole process of production of text books to meet the deadline of submitting the prepared matters to the Council, the regulating authority of Bengali Text books)
  • Successfully enforced the SI standards in the tradition of writing science text books for the publishers based in Kolkata
  • Was articulate in helping the writers by standardizing some of their works and thus helped the publishers in editing and translating various text books of science stream

Translation, Interpretation, Surveying for various NGOs [Aug ’91 - Jan ’01]

  • Have surveyed and interpreted while gathering information related to open pit mining going on illegally in the rural belts of West Bengal and adjacent provinces
  • During those days translated various government rules and regulations and the relevant articles of famous writers of other countries into Bengali, Hindi and tribal languages; side by side, translated the grievances of poor, less educated tribal and even rural people into English, officially the most accepted and appreciated language of Indian central government and also its provincial governments
  • Very often contacted translators, assigned them projects and organized them appropriately to meet the deadlines comfortably and edited the magazines circulated by these NGOs in English, Hindi, Bengali and some special issues also in Santhali and Kol (both tribal) languages
  • The DTP of those magazines also was very often guided by preparing some extra layouts for them

Softwares used

  • MS Word, Excel, Nitro - pdf editor, Photoshop, CorelDraw etc
  • Word Fast is used as a CAT tool

Educational Background

  • Bachelor’s Degree in Science, University of Calcutta, India in the year 1991

Availability and other most important professional ethics

  • Availability is almost full time - night and day - unless any job in hand is still not finished.
  • Every job is given utmost importance such that its quality of output could be enhanced even beyond crude economic interests
  • No request of free translations in the name of ‘sample translation’ is entertained although a voluntary involvement in any noble cause is not ruled out
  • Subject to complexities of the job, it is assured that translation of around 2000 to 2500 words can safely be expected in a day
  • Any translation proposal, if agreed, will be appreciated if sent along with a related PO
  • Samples of translations are available on demand

Voluntary translation for noble causes

  • Being a member of Translators Without Borders, have done Bengali translation of 3883 words related to Wikipedia's fundamental health care articles on UTI infections.

(SUMIT SARKAR)

Signature

Dated: 1st April, 2016