What makes you a good and qualified translator?

linguistceviri

Hi everybody,
Today I will share you my knowledge, experience and ideas about what skills and competiences you need to possess to be regarded as a qualified translator. There are a great deal of skills and attributes for a good translator. So I would like to follow a path that every day I will talk about a single worth with a couple of words to explain it. If anyone agree or disagre or share her/his ideas on this worth can comment on it.

At the top of the list, we have to mention about PROFESSIONALISM. What is that? This means shortly complying with the ethics of profession as it has been in every profession. To me, for a translator the most important rules to be in accord with are preserving confidentiality and if not competent to do a project to be able to refuse it. What are your valuable ideas about Professionalism?

Dmitry

linguistceviri In my humble opinion a good translator needs to be an excellent writer. And it doesn't matter what fields you work in. If your texts are hard to read that means you need more practice. It takes time, of course, but you'll arrive there eventually.

As far as understanding the meaning of professionalism - I think everyone interprets this term differently. When I have people who're working for me (be it translators, artists, copywriters, etc.) the main thing is their attitude. They need to show that they have the skills that are needed for the job, but they also need to be polite, fast and observant.

linguistceviri

As far as I have seen no body commented on this vital topic for translators in 17 hours. No matter. I will go on to share my ideas at the same pattern.
Actually Dmitry opened a very similar discussion topic which are very matchy-matchy fields. I will share the same comment I made on that thread as the second attribute to be come a qualified translator. The second skill which is a must in this age especially for future translators is IT SKILLS. Translation has recently been becoming a very IT-driven profession. Translators have to be able to use online communication systems and a wide range of general and specialised software for word processing, file formatting and translation memory retrieval. Tools for terminology management and machine translation are becoming increasingly embedded in the profession. Softwares develop fast, so translators need to be able to keep up. To be able to keep up with the rapidly developing technology means, translators and interpreters should be keen on researching new technologies in the industry. The last but not the least, translators/Interpreters must be flexible people to be prepared to pick up new skills and offer new services such as transcription, copywriting and post-editing.

MaV

linguistceviri As far as I have seen no body commented on this vital topic for translators in 17 hours

A translator needs patience! ?

Now, seriously, I'm glad you mentioned the bit about being able to refuse a project. As much as I like saying "yes" to things and learn new things, that is different that accepting a job for which we're completely unprepared. I understand it might happen out of despair and lack of other offers, but saying "no" is definitely a skill to learn.

And I'd put skills first... There's the common misconception that, if one can speak a language, one can translate it. The specific skills in translation (at least for the kind of translation I do) are things in the order of: a good musical ear for cadences and rhythms; a good memory for vocabulary, idioms, expressions (human memory, I mean); technical and grammatical accuracy, but also the flexibility to set the original phrasing aside if untranslatable in the target language; a lot of imagination, even to come up with new words if necessary for the literary translation. So... more or less the same skills as writers, I'd say, with the added layer that we must master many styles and respect the writing of others. It's about their texts, after all.

And then yes, come all the "professional" skills. But one has to be a translator before being a professional!

alyonaxl8

linguistceviri The last but not the least, translators/Interpreters must be flexible people to be prepared to pick up new skills and offer new services such as transcription, copywriting and post-editing.

Yeah, no, I don't believe these are the services we must pick up. Pigs will fly before I agree to do post-editing ?
As for the other two, I guess it depends on one's field of expertise, but I don't think I'll need to offer transcription or copywriting to earn money. I translate contracts and financial documents, there will always be plenty of those.

I agree with @MaV that actual translation skills should be a priority for anyone who wants to call themselves a qualified translator.

_marocca

alyonaxl8 I don't believe these are the services we must pick up.

I agree with this. Not everybody will offer all other services. If the professional has already a good and steady income with translation alone, there's no need (and, usually, not enough time) to devote to other practices.

linguistceviri The second skill which is a must in this age especially for future translators is IT SKILLS

Again, agreed. IT skills in the sense of being able to efficiently use the computer/internet to communicate, translate and market yourself. I have just been part of a subtitling course in which one of the participants was having trouble connecting on Skype to join the group call, and download/upload the files for the assignments. I wonder how this person is going to work with subtitles, which demands some basic and other more specific computer skills...

MaV saying "no" is definitely a skill to learn.

Definitely. Some people only learn it the hard way. And refusing a job may be necessary for lots of reasons: the matter is out of my competence/specialization; not enough time to work along current projects; subject is something to which you morally disagree; or because the client is trying to impose terms that don't suit you.
And that's when professionalism comes in, you can refuse a job and close a door, or refuse a job and still have the bridge for that client.

Dmitry As far as understanding the meaning of professionalism - I think everyone interprets this term differently

Yes! There are people who interpret the term differently. So I've decided to go to the dictionary ?
- professionalism
Cambridge Dictionary: the combination of all the qualities that are connected with trained and skilled people.
Oxford Dictionary: The practising of an activity, especially a sport, by professional rather than amateur players.

So, it is related to having specific skills, and it's opposed to being an amateur.
As you may notice, I'm just feeding the fire ?

linguistceviri

Thanks to all (MaV, alyonaxl8 and Dmitry) for valuable ideas about a qualified translator. Now let’s take a look what we have.
As far as I understand Dmitry puts emphasis on professionalism and says that it changes from person to person acording to her/his point of view. I throughly agree with Dmitry on his each word for professionalism.
However professionalism is a list of values in a broad sense. Some of important values which we could call “Code of Ethics for Translators” are; specialized knowledge and skills, competency, self-regulation, self-development, professional practice at the highest quality, accurate translation, confidentiality, impartiality, limitation of practice (declining projects or jobs that go beyond his/her skills and competence and delivery of accepted projects/jobs in a timely manner, accountability, respect, honesty and integrity. When you take a look at above mentioned values you can realise that what Dmitry mentions matches with the values in the “Code of Ethics for Translators”.
MaV, first of all thank you very much for remind me an importan t value; PATIENCE. Then it wouldn't be wrong to add PATIENCE as another value for “Code of Ethics for Translators”. By the way I would like to share a quote from Leo Tolstoy. He says that “The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.” When we come back the comments of MaV, I would like to thank him for his thinking in the same way with me about refusing projects or jobs in any case which goes beyond translator’s skills and competence.
The other comment has come from alyonaxl8. I had written down the comment on new services for Dmitry’s thread about the skills for future translators and interpreters. As all we know translation is a fast-changing profession and we are introduced to new areas such as localization, internationalization, transcription, light and full postediting, proofreading, copywriting etc. So a translator must have skills and competence, be inquisitive and flexible for transition according to future trends. You can find out these values in the “Code of Ethics for Translators” under the titles of specialized knowledge and skills, competency and self-development.
I appreciate all of you for every single comment made under these thread. With my best wishes.
Sertaç

linguistceviri

_marocca

Thanks for your valuable contributions. I agree all... ?

sharonjames15

Being proficient in a second language is in no way enough to produce quality translations. Your mastery of a language other than your mother tongue becomes irrelevant if you’re making basic grammar and spelling mistakes, or if you’re only able to literally translate idioms and cultural references. Getting translation and linguistic education is a huge advantage.

Sharon James

linguistceviri

sharonjames15

sharonjames15 Getting translation and linguistic education is a huge advantage

Of course a huge advantage but is it a must or isn't is possible for anyone not gotten linguistic education to be proficient with the experienced gained by years....