About me
Hello there! Welcome to my website. This is Betül Mulbay. I am currently pursuing my dream degree--Translation & Interpreting Studies at Boğaziçi University (Boun) and this entry is mainly about how come this is my dream degree along with my other interests.
Interest in languages
I have always been interested in languages since I started learning English. My second foreign language happened to be Korean, which I acquired before I knew, from the Korean TV shows and music I occupied myself with during my teen years. It's arguable whether Arabic or Spanish is my third foreign language and I reckon this naming tendency depends pretty much on your standing point. My high school offered Arabic as a second foreign language after English, yet it is not safe to say I "acquired" it then. I truly became conversational in Arabic just last summer after taking a course, by that time I was already conversational in Spanish. So, you see the roots of the problem--which one to name as third and what should be the criteria, starting earlier or acquiring earlier? (anyways, it's not that important). In university, I chose to study Spanish turning Japanese, French, and German down, which are the array of obligatory languages for Translation studies students. My reasoning was simple yet effective (I hope) enough: I had no special interest in whatsoever the languages offered and Spanish being the most spoken language after English pushed me to take it. However, I fell in love with Spanish soon and now I am quite content with my choice. Moreover, I am among the initiators and directors of the Spanish student community at my university (La Comunidad Hispana). I was interested in sign language, as well. In the summer of graduating from high school, I started to learn Turkish sign language, but the intense tempo of the university halted the process. In my second year, this passion of mine was revived and I took a 101 Turkish Sign Language (TİD) course. Now, I am miserably mixing each language I know and as I make progress in one of them, I regress in the other one. In short, my dream of being a polyglot turned me into someone who practically knows "zero" language.
Interest in translation
Evidently, knowing languages and translating are two different things, if not deployed at the very end of a continuum (to be discussed at length in the following entries). I started translating very early (in 8th grade) as a pastime activity (quite amateur, still learning the language, so no bragging is intended here). Later on, I have done some fan-subbing, the largest of them being the subtitle translation (and editing) of Produce 48 which lasted three months (both the show and translation period). Then, I have also done some freelance jobs and voluntary translating in TedTranslators. Realizing that while translating my heart flutters, I decided to be a translator one day.
Other interests
I try my best to capture the moment. Therefore, I can be seen around with my phone taking photos non-stop very easily. Also, I enjoy editing videos for the same reason as photography. You can see, for instance, the interview series I did from here in order not to forget our freshmen-selves. I enjoy close-reading literature and cinema, which I acquired thanks to the education I got from Boun. I hope to publish entries on close reading of books, stories, movies, and TV series. I enjoy creating content, be it Instagram reels or YouTube videos, like the interview project I referenced above. I like listening to podcasts, which led me to produce my own series that I am thankful for (Boğaziçi 101).
I perceive myself as rather poor at articulating my ideas. So, I genuinely hope this blog will help me get better at putting my thoughts into order and writing them eloquently.
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