It’s not everyday people can work in a career in a sport they are passionate about. For Annabelle Briand, she found her niche and passion in sports through translation and horses. In 2020 she got the opportunity to combine the two, and began working for Equestrian Canada (EC), as EC’s Coordinator, Translation.
Briand has worked as a translator and editor in a variety of fields, including the federal government, private legal sector and as a freelancer. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in English French Translation from the University of Ottawa. Her extensive professional experience is coupled with a background working with horses, a passion that strengthens her commitment to the quality of the communication of EC programs and services in both official languages.
With this month being Asian Heritage Month, if you feel comfortable, would you please share a brief background of your Asian heritage?
I was born in Taipei, Taiwan, my birth mother was unable to take care of me, so she brought me to an orphanage for adoption. She went through the files of the available adoption families, and she ended up choosing my mother, due to her smile on the photos. I got to stay in touch with my birth mother until I was eight years old, so I know a lot about my Asian background and my life story.
I am very thankful to have been raised in Canada in a truly loving Quebecer family who taught me good values and has always supported me in my passions. My mother and father are incredible people who have been the best parents and I will never be able to thank them enough for everything that they have done for me.
Tell us about your connection to horses. How long have you been riding? In what discipline?
I have loved horses for as long as I can remember. My mom saw how much I cared, so she entered me into a one-week equestrian summer camp in Quebec City when I was 5 years old. I got on a horse and the rest is history!
I now enjoy western riding, but I have found my true passion in liberty work, thanks to my incredible coach Valérie Laplume. She has taught me so much in understanding and respecting the horse and in communicating with them. She is incredible and I still take lessons with her whenever I can.
This new path led me to recently purchase my own pony, Mayden. He was sadly on the verge of death when he was rescued from an auction by his previous owner, who did some amazing rehabilitation work with him. He and I have been a team for two months now and we are having a lot of fun together. He is only 42 inches tall, so cute and smart and has quite a funny temper.
What or who encouraged you to work in translation services?
As a teenager, I had good grades in French, and I would spend most of my time reading and writing stories. One day, I was watching a game show and one of the participants was a translator. I thought, “Oh, that could be fun.” That set me on the career path and 13 years later, here I am! I got my degree in translation at the University of Ottawa and then worked in different environments to find the right fit. The opportunity to work for EC came as a great gift in my career as it allows me to fully live both of my passions. I am truly grateful!
How important is translation in equestrian sport? How does it impact the Francophone community?
It is very important. I believe we can all agree that sport is universal, and quite beautiful when you think about it. However, it contains a lot of subtleties such as rules and policies. If you cannot understand those properly, you may get disqualified or miss relevant information that could help you during competitions or training.
The same goes with learning content such as training courses. It is important to perfectly understand the content that is supposed to help you improve. And let’s not forget the recognition that we can give to our athletes through releases and newsletters! We want to share this wonderful content and all the good news with the entire country, not only the Anglophone community. It is therefore very important to make our content inclusive and accessible to the Francophone minority.
Translation is an important matter of inclusion. Francophones need to feel seen, understood, and most of all respected. The content must be of good quality. As English speakers, you wouldn’t let anyone who doesn’t speak English write news releases, rules or policies. You would hire experts, and not use writing technology without the supervision of a professional. The same applies with French translation. Some people think that being bilingual is enough to translate, but that’s not the case. Translation requires a strong knowledge of the culture, the terminology of the field or subject matter, strong writing skills, attention to detail, an understanding of nuance and meaning, and experience. Francophones deserve the same quality level of French language as what is expected in English, with no discrepancies between the two.
Of course, it is not always easy as translation can require a lot of resources and logistics, and is not always perfect. There remains a lot of education to be done in our community, as many people have difficulty understanding how important translation is. I believe the situation will continue to improve with time and we just need to be patient, understanding, motivated, and hard-working. The future of translation is bright!