Mar 27 2008

Qualifications for A Translator

Jianjun
Published by Jianjun at 10:04 pm under Translation,work

[Bloglines] [del.icio.us] [Digg] [Facebook] [Furl] [Google] [Ma.gnolia] [MySpace] [Newsvine] [Reddit] [Sphere] [StumbleUpon] [Technorati]

Translator is probably one of the most vaguely defined professions around the world. While many people outside the industry consider a bilingual to be a translator, it seems to me there are no obligatory qualification requirements within the industry.

Jianjun’s NAETI CertificateSome translator organizations do have special membership requirements. For example, to become an Active/Corresponding member of the American Translators Association, you have to pass their certification test or meet their minimum requirements, such as a translation degree or certain years of experience or you can provide invoices/POs as proof of your actively engaging in translation, etc.

Some translation agencies also require that their potential translators have a translation degree, or a language degree with substantial translation component, or a translation certificate issued by one of the recognized professional bodies and so on.

However, the problem is that a great majority of translators (I mean people who do translations for a living) do not have a certificate or a translation/language degree or a professional membership and those who do have them still may not be able to do all translations or guarantee a satisfying work. I myself got my NAETI certificate in 2003, but does that mean I can take all translation jobs? Of course not.

The reason is simple. Translation involves more than languages. It involves a person’s specialized training, life experience, work/education background, exposure to translation and the ability to represent the source language concept in the target language, among many other things. For web site or software localization, the translator has to be at home with coding or syntax. And all these may be listed as qualifications for a translator.

To be a qualified translator is a lifelong process. The more translation you do, the more you’ll feel you have so much to improve and there are so many things you still don’t know. Some people say a successful translator has to be over 45 years. Well, I won’t list that as a requirement, but it’s true that a maturer mind is more sensitive to meanings that are beyond the lines.

Subscribe, Digg or Furl it...
SubscribeBlinklistBloglinesBlogmarksDiggdel.icio.usFacebookFurlMa.gnoliaNewsVineRedditStumbleUponTechnorati

5 responses so far

5 Responses to “Qualifications for A Translator”

  1. # chriswaugh_bjon 27 Mar 2008 at 10:30 pm

    Ai! Translation was always my weak point in every language I studied, and it’s one thing I’m working on a lot with my Chinese study- perhaps at least in part because I know it’s such a weak point for me. I don’t understand how you guys make a living out of this, it breaks my brain and fries my circuits just translating a simple newspaper article. Yeah, I see how it’s a life-long process, and I love the challenge of that, but, ai, it’s hard.

    Reply

  2. # Nadineon 27 Mar 2008 at 10:32 pm

    The single most important thing I came away with from my translators & interpreters’ school (E.S.I.T. in Paris) was not the diploma, but getting proper training.

    It was acquiring a foolproof methodology, forcing us to ask ourselves the right questions and stopping us from jumping into translation without thinking (researching, etc.) first. That training was ruthless in many ways, but necessary.

    Armed with that kind of training, you can more boldly venture into new areas, because you know exactly where you stand, where you want to go, and what you need to do about it. In other words, your professional ethics guides you.

    Reply

  3. # Jianjunon 27 Mar 2008 at 10:35 pm

    @Chris, actually I love what you’ve translated and put on your blog. I’m trying to do some Chinese -> English translations now, but for fun other than work. :D

    @Nadine I especially highlight these words from you:

    It was acquiring a foolproof methodology, forcing us to ask ourselves the right questions and stopping us from jumping into translation without thinking (researching, etc.) first. That training was ruthless in many ways, but necessary.

    Reply

  4. # chriswaugh_bjon 28 Mar 2008 at 8:17 pm

    @Jianjun: Thanks.

    @Nadine: I suspect that most of the trouble I have with translation is the lack of that training you speak of. In my degree, my lecturers occasionally offered a few words of advice, and that was it.

    Reply

  5. # Seanon 15 Mar 2010 at 9:57 pm

    Translating a serious Chinese text is like pulling teeth for me. I remember when I was seriously trying to learn Chinese, I could spend hours trying to read a simple children’s book. I wouldn’t even want to imagine how someone could translate hundreds of pages of technical documents into Chinese.

    I think the Chinese language is not incredibly difficult to learn how to speak poorly before you can start communicating. Learning thousands of characters takes hours and hours of work.

    Reply

Trackback URI | Comments RSS

Leave a Reply