In the Kitchen with Nete Poret

Nete Poret’s Danish roots are paying off. Her work as a translator of American television and movies into to Danish keeps Poret in touch with Denmark while never having to leave her home in Sparta. Born in the United States, but raised in Copenhagen by her Danish mother, Poret returned to America after 20 years to pursue a graduate degree in engineering at Johns Hopkins University. While there, she was a co-op student for the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) and in 1995 was transferred to the environmental branch and was made a full-time employee of the navy. Not only did she land a job but also her husband Jay, whom she met on her first day at Johns Hopkins. ”The navy decided they needed an environmental engineer, so I went back for a masters degree part-time at University of Maryland. I couldn’t make up my mind what kind of engineer I wanted to be,” said Poret. ”The end result was an MSE in Materials’ Science and Engineering.” Poret left her navy job after having her first child in 2000. ”It was cheaper for me to stay home,” she said. Her husband’s work as a scientist for Picatinny Arsenal brought them to New Jersey. Through the Internet, Poret stumbled upon the translation work: ”I have been keeping up with Danish moms through Yahoo groups. And I saw that they were looking for a translator for television programs. On a lark, I put together a resume and sent it into a translating company and two months later they contacted me.” The companies are located in California and everything is done via email. Depending on the company, the material is turned around in either 24 hours or two weeks. Poret gets paid per video minute normally 42 minutes a show. ”It can be anything from comedy to drama. I have translated dialogue from Seinfeld and the West Wing. My first project was an episode of Perry Mason from 1957,” she said. She finds the older series easier to translate because the speech is simpler. Her translations are put into subtitles, but the voices remain the same. Danish people speak English quite well and one of the reasons is because television is not dubbed in Denmark, said Poret. But like any other job, challenges are presented. ”American humor can be hard to translate. And with Sopranos, Sons of Anarchy and the Simpsons, the curse words can be difficult to translate,” Poret said. ”You have to be creative and relay the humor in the way the Danish would get it. You also have to show the emotion and intent behind it.” Medical shows present some difficulty as well. "To translate the medical equivalent and expression is hard. In English, a lot of these words have Latin origins which you don’t have in Danish.” That is when Poret turns to her research skills by investigating on the Internet as well as looking for the word in Norwegian or Swedish, both similar to Danish. “As an engineer I was trained for research, so that skill comes in handy for translating.” When back in Denmark visiting family, Poret rarely sees her work. But she did find a DVD there of a movie called CJ-7 (the Chinese version of Star Trek) that she translated and is credited for at the end of the movie. “I bought it for $8 — I was so excited, but otherwise I have not seen my name on TV in Copenhagen.” With her two children growing older, Poret looks forward to making use of her multiple degrees and returning to her professional engineering career. But for now, she is enjoying what she is doing. She is sharing a handed down recipe — Mormor’s Chili — meaning Grandma’s Chile in Danish. Mormor’s Chili con Carne 1lb ground beef or turkey 28-oz can tomatoes 1 can baked beans, vegetarian style - 14-oz 1 can of beans (14-ounce, black beans, kidney beans or cannelloni beans) drained and rinsed 1 large onion, chopped 3 cloves of garlic, crushed or minced 2 green bell peppers chopped 10 oz mushrooms, sliced 3 Tbs olive oil 1 tsp oregano chili powder to taste vegetable, chicken or beef broth cube Heat oil in a pot and sauté onions to translucent. Add the meat and brown until it is no longer pink; add tomatoes, oregano, garlic and chili powder. Let it simmer over medium-low heat for 20 minutes, then add baked beans, bell peppers, mushrooms and broth cube. Continue to simmer for another 20 minutes.