20/08/2018
SEVEN SKILLS THAT MAKE A GOOD TRANSLATOR
Are you a language teacher seeking a career change? Are you a new or aspiring translator?
You are probably wondering what it takes to be a good translator and how you can pe*****te this lucrative, highly satisfying profession.
Look no further. In this article, I have outlined for you what we consider to be the most important skills for a translator.
1. A thorough Mastery of your Language Pairs.
Normally you are expected to translate into your mother tongue; the language you are most comfortable with.
For starters, you need the ability to thoroughly understand the source document and to express the same meaning in the target language.
You also need a sound grammar base and high level writing skills in the target language.
To this end, you need to hone your comprehension skills by reading extensively.
Sometimes, due to manpower constraints, you may be called upon to translate into your second language.
A thorough mastery of both languages is therefore essential.
2. Accuracy/Rigour:
There’s nothing as embarrassing as discovering mistakes on your document after submitting it. This will reflect negatively on you and may hinder you from getting future jobs.
So what you need is a sense of rigour and zero tolerance for mistakes, grammatical or otherwise. You’ll need to revise your output over and over before handing it in.
3. Wide Knowledge Base:
As a translator, you’ll come across documents from fields as varied as varied as science, medicine, climate change, politics, agriculture, technology etc.
You’ll need to read and understand these documents before you can begin translating the content.
Of course you may not understand all the terminologies and concepts right away but it makes things easier if you have some background knowledge in the subject area.
You therefore need to be well-informed and widely read. Read especially, international publications in your language pairs.
At a certain point in your translation career, you’ll realize that Instead of being a “jack of all trades”, you are better off focusing on a particular area of interest such as technology, IT or law and specializing in it.
At this point, you need to read avidly in your chosen sphere and position yourself as an expert.
4. Cultural Awareness
You probably already know that language is shaped by culture. As a translator, you need to be able to get into the shoes of the end user of your translation output.
Considering their cultural background, will they be able to understand your lingo?
Always translate with the end-user in mind. English is not just English.
The words you choose must be culturally appropriate. If I am translating for an American audience, I will use the word sedan instead of saloon car; or mortuary rather than morgue for a British audience.
You also need to know the systems such as, the legal structure, education system etc, so that you can know the equivalent terminology to use.
For example, how would you translate the French administrative “department” into English? Or the “baccalauréat” exam to an English, Kenyan or American audience?
You would need to get out of the source culture into the target culture to find an equivalent.
5. Research Skills:
People often wonder why translators are highly paid; or why they take so long to complete just two pages of translation. This is because you need to do serious research and this is what takes the bulk of your time.
You have to know the background of the document and even that of the organisation commissioning the translation.
You will also come across words you’ve never met in your life.
You have no idea what they mean and you do not want to guess.
You will need to compile a database of these terminologies for current and future use.
6. Organisational Skills, Flexibility and Resilience:
Most translation projects come with intense time pressure. You need to know how to organise your time and work under unpredictable schedules.
I remember having periods of intense work where I would put in up to 16 hours of work a day; almost non-stop. I would end up going to bed at 2 or 3 am and wake up to start by 9.00 am the following morning!
And this can go on for almost a week or two; depending on the volume of work.
This work is not for the lazy. Again, if you don’t like carrying work home, or if your work/play borders are clearly demarcated, you may want to reconsider this profession.
I know of someone who says he’d rather work as an interpreter as all the work, mistakes and all; is left in the booth. The choice is yours.
7. Technical/Computer Skills:
Needless to say, you will need to know how to use basic computer programmes such as MS Word.
However, user knowledge of computer assisted translation (CAT) technologies is becoming increasingly necessary; especially if you are a full time translator or expect to work on huge volumes of text.
Fortunately, translation can be learnt. Do you have the appetite for this profession? If the answer is yes, then Join our training, “Introduction to translation”
Dates: 4th- 5th September 2018 (2 full days)
Duration: 2 days
Venue: Milestone Business centre, Ridgeways, Kiambu road, Nairobi
The course will cover the following topics:
1. What is translation?
2. What skills do you need to be a good translator
3. Different translation specializations
4. Common translation problems and how to resolve them
5. Translation Resources
6. Translation Tools
7. Translation Strategies
Charges: K.shs 10,000 (for the two days). Pay by 27th August and get a 15% discount. Refer a friend and you both get a 25% discount.
For further inquiries, call 0722843672 or e-mail [email protected]
Online French classes at https://comtrac-language-centre.teachable.com/. Module 1 is absolutely FREE!
Visit our page, Comtrac Limited and join our group, Global Languages Forum
