Interpreting, translation and language services from Tampere region to you!
Sanaraja Oy (where Oy stands for Ltd or Limited Company) was founded by two creative women from South Karelia. Wordsmithing is in our blood via regional customs and culture, and we handle our assignments with the appropriate vigor, which is at the core of our attitude. While we do not take things too seriously, we carry out each assignment with care. Our professional translations are of the highest quality and we have gained expertise not only during our studies at the University of Eastern Finland, but also in working life before and after founding our own company.
Language is a beautiful, living entity, and we think that its multifaceted expressive power should be celebrated. Translation is not just taking words from a language and transferring them to another according to predetermined formulas. We think that the field of translation should not be treated too seriously, but instead leave room for everyone’s own expression! One of our goals as translators is to increase people’s knowledge of translation and language in general.
Our mission as promoters of multilingual communications is to use our words and “bring the message across the border”, which is also referenced in our company name. “Sanaraja” can be read as “word limit” or more literally as “word border”. In our company name, we want to highlight the understanding of “border” as a junction point, the kind of which is formed when languages and cultures interact.
Asta
Asta got interested in languages already in elementary school, where German was her language of choice. She has become familiar with languages and different cultures through several languages, but English has captured her interest in a special way. Asta has even completed two degrees in English; first the Bachelor of Hospitality Management degree, and later the Master of Arts degree at the university of Eastern Finland.
During her studies at the university, Asta’s minor subjects were Translation and Finnish Language as well as German, Japanese language and culture, and Interpreting. She wrote her Master’s thesis on the past, present and future of machine translation. AI and machine translation are becoming an increasingly significant part of a translator’s job, and understanding that is important. AI is, after all, a tool of the future.
Travelling, languages and cultures are close to Asta’s heart, and she believes there’s always more to know about the customs of other cultures. She has taken full advantage of the opportunities for exchange studies and employment abroad. These journeys took her to Taiwan, Japan, Russia and Great Britain.
In interpreting, Asta’s tasks have included educational interpreting, liaison interpreting remotely for public administration, conference interpreting in academic subjects (e.g. a four-day conference in Joensuu, Eastern Finland) and interpreting discussion sessions. She also has extensive knowledge and professional competence to familiarise herself with different fields and interpreting within them. In addition, her diverse expertise in translation and different editing jobs consists of texts from several fields, such as consumer electronics, politics, online commerce and software. Asta’s education in the field of tourism and her work experience in the restaurant industry offer an excellent foundation for offering high-quality language services for clients in these industries.
Sanaraja Oy
Asta Munnukka
asta(at)sanaraja.fi
Leenu
Language skills, multilingual communications and encounters between cultures have always been important to Leenu. Girl Guiding, an exchange semester in Canada and working in Great Britain and the United States have accumulated her a network of friends around the globe. Her interest in the English language specifically guided Leenu to study English Language and Translation in the University of Eastern Finland, and even before that, she has invested in learning languages, for example in her International Baccalaureate diploma studies.
In the university, Leenu expanded her international understanding and literary competence through her minor subjects – Interpreting, French Language, Literature, Japanese Language and Culture and Studies in Internationalisation.
The love for translation, on the other hand, was kindled by the legendarium of Leenu’s favourite author, J. R. R. Tolkien. Leenu produced her “first translations” in elementary school, when she translated texts created by Tolkien fans into Finnish for her friends to read, consulting an old dictionary in the process. Her love for Tolkien’s works was also evident on her translation path well into adulthood — for example, she wrote her Master’s thesis on culture-specific expressions in the two Finnish translations of The Hobbit. As a creative person, Leenu imagined at the beginning of her studies that she would become a literature translator, but through her minor studies, interpreting captured her interest in a surprising manner.
Leenu has accumulated experience in interpreting especially with public administration, medical field and corporate human resources. Telephone interpreting is at the core of Leenu’s expertise, and the assignments have ranged from interview situations to medical liaison interpreting. With companies, Leenu has received outstanding feedback, especially on the precise content of interpreting, remarkable memory and efficient use of notes for her work. These interpretations have shown concretely, how important the interpreter’s work is in getting everyone’s voice heard, and delivering the message to the recipient accurately.
Her translations, in turn, have focused on education and training, EU communications, and software and user interface translations. Thanks to her strong competence in searching for information, Leenu has the skills to familiarise herself with numerous different subjects, and she finds learning new information along with her work to be one of the most rewarding aspects of translation.
Sanaraja Oy
Leenu Miikki
leenu(at)sanaraja.fi
