| Faqet në temë: < [1 2] | Real-world acquisition of a specialization Afishuesi i rubrikës: Mario Chavez (X)
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Laureana Pavon 
Uruguaj
Local time: 23:45
Anëtar qysh 2007
anglisht në spanjisht
+ ...
MODERATOR
Sumit1970 wrote:
Engineers don't translate technical texts.
I'm an engineer (six year university degree) and I translate. I also know at least two architects who translate, a nurse who translates... You get the idea.
I do agree that there are not many of us.
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Sumit1970 wrote:
Generally speaking, Doctors don't translate medical texts.
Engineers don't translate technical texts.
Advocates don't translate legal texts.
Actually, some do.
We are not true specialists in any field apart from languages. No client will pay you for or give enough time for becoming a specialist in metallurgy while you translate metallurgy texts.
Exactly, which is why if that client can find a translator who already has knowledge of metallurgy, he will be very happy.
[Edited at 2017-11-23 19:26 GMT]
| | | | Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 22:45
anglisht në spanjisht
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Different realities | Nov 23, 2017 |
Nikki Scott-Despaigne wrote:
Sumit1970 wrote:
Generally speaking, Doctors don't translate medical texts.
Engineers don't translate technical texts.
Advocates don't translate legal texts.
Actually, some do.
We are not true specialists in any field apart from languages. No client will pay you for or give enough time for becoming a specialist in metallurgy while you translate metallurgy texts.
Exactly, which is why if that client can find a translator who already has knowledge of metallurgy, he will be very happy. [Edited at 2017-11-23 19:26 GMT]
It is interesting how some love to infer some universal rules or truisms from their own slice of reality. In my experience, some clients use their go-to (i.e. highly reliable) translator to tackle a new specialization based on the solid relationship they have and on the research skills of said translator.
In an ideal world, clients will go to strict specialists for the translation of their industry-specific texts. But we do not live in an ideal world. Clients make do. I cannot judge how good is a colleague's specialization (how expert he or she is in that field), unless I'm given the privilege to read his/her translations in that specialization.
Sumit's second paragraph points to a narrower understanding in my view. There are clients who pay for the research. Why wouldn't they? There are many kinds of clients.
| | | | Carlos Morales
Ekuador
Local time: 21:45
Anëtar qysh 2018
anglisht në spanjisht
[Edited at 2018-02-23 17:27 GMT]
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Tania123
Argjentinë
Local time: 23:45
spanjisht në anglisht
+ ...
| Nuclear medicine physicist | Feb 24, 2018 |
There's something a bit suspect about a doctor or financial analyst or lawyer who turns translator, given that this means a major cut in pay and prestige. Yes, there may be a sound reason in some cases, but my instinct is that very often they will have failed in that career. And, of course, not having specialised in languages, they may also make very poor translators.
I worked as a nuclear medicine physicist for many years before I started translating. I did take a pay cut, and I must say that translators work a lot longer hours than physicists. However, I didn't change careers because I failed at my previous job. Some of us just want a change and that does not mean that we are suspect.
[Edited at 2018-02-24 01:45 GMT]
| | | | Dan Lucas
Mbretëria e Bashkuar
Local time: 03:45
Anëtar qysh 2014
japonisht në anglisht
Tania123 wrote:
However, I didn't change careers because I failed at my previous job. Some of us just want a change and that does not mean that we are suspect.
I too raised an eyebrow at "suspect". For many of those who have worked successfully in demanding, cross-border roles in large multi-national companies, there comes a point when negatives such as stress and long hours more than offset the excellent remuneration and the excitement of working in (in my case) an industry that apparently only knows how to run, not walk.
More prosaically, even if the individual does not change, most industries evolve and grow over decades in ways that are not welcomed by everybody involved. For example, if one became a GP in the UK 25 years ago, one might well be dismayed by the way things have changed. Ditto finance. Ditto, of course, translation...
Dan
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