Equipped with some craziness towards language, English in particular, I decided to continue my study in 2003 in Semarang State University, commonly known as UNNES, majoring in English Education. It was designated to prepare me and other students to be English teachers. Cornered with incapability of affording my daily needs, I turned my eyes to look for a job. While my fellow students usually chose to teach, thanks to such financial incapability, I decided to take the job as translator. It was Mr. Rahmad Ibrahim who hired me as his translator. With limited linguistic resources in English, I strove to cope with this. As the time went by, I got acquainted to English. To my own surprise, it was in this language-related service that I found some joy I could not get somewhere else. Undoubtedly, I indebted much to Mr. Ibrahim for what I have got.
In April 2011, however, I decided to be a freelance translator. It was a hard decision, though. I remember when I was just about to began this career, my PC could not be operated. My repairman said that I had to buy a new one. The last fee I received was supposed for my second child birth. I knew that the early phase of a beginning translator like myself would be hard. Purchasing new PC would even worsen it. And that was it, I had to buy new PC, otherwise, I would not be able to earn anything. Unpredictably enough, however, once I bought one, the orders came over and over again. When I finished an order, the other one came by, like it would not stop. In the end of the month, my second child was born. What I was worried about before–being incapable of paying the cost for my second child birth–never came true. I could pay it in cash. And it was just one among many problems I had to deal with.
I do think that I have to thank some of my senior fellow translators for this. Mas Ahnan Alex and Mas Wiwit Tabah Santoso were some of them I indebted further for their assistance. They kept providing me with valuable advices to deal with any difficulty I encounter in the process of being a freelance translator based on their own experience. It was Mas Ahnan Alex who advised me to make this blog, though.
Being capable of surviving in my first month, I am now ready to face the world and say proudly that I am a FREELANCE TRANSLATOR.
Semarang, May 23rd, 2011
Sudiatno
simpleandhumble 
Selamat berkarya –
Selamat menterjemah –
Salam dari Bekasi – Jakarta
Terima kasih, pak M. Laut. Dukungan dari bapak dan kawan-kawan penerjemah lain sangat membantu menumbuhkan keyakinan pada diri saya sendiri bahwa penerjemahan bukan merupakan pilihan yang salah untuk dijadikan sarana menjemput rezeki dari-Nya.