| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Poll: What had the biggest impact on your skills as a translator? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "What had the biggest impact on your skills as a translator?".
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A combination of:
1. Passion for the profession;
2. Practice for over 50 years;
3. Studies in discourse analysis;
4. A lot of reading and writing in general
I forgot to mention mentoring. I was fortunate to work in-house with senior translators who gave me a lot of valuable feedback.
[Edited at 2022-01-25 04:26 GMT]
| | | | matt robinson 
Spain
Local time: 16:38
Member (2010)
Spanish to English
| Other but... | Jan 24, 2022 |
I would say that from the list given "lots of reading and writing in general" had the biggest impact, although I do have expertise in some very specific fields. My "other" though, is having spent the past 30 years living and working in a country where my source language is spoken, after living and working for 28 years in a country where my target language was spoken. Without an interest in reading and writing I would probably not have entertained the idea of working as a translator, but without ... See more I would say that from the list given "lots of reading and writing in general" had the biggest impact, although I do have expertise in some very specific fields. My "other" though, is having spent the past 30 years living and working in a country where my source language is spoken, after living and working for 28 years in a country where my target language was spoken. Without an interest in reading and writing I would probably not have entertained the idea of working as a translator, but without my knowledge of Spanish and English I would not be able to do the job at all. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:38
Member (2008)
Italian to English
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Tom in London wrote:
Practice had the biggest impact
Agree, although mine was "guided practice with no consequences", i.e. a postgraduate course, which I think is the best place to start.
Tom in London wrote:
The more you do, the better you get.
Only in the early days before complacency sets in...
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 16:38
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Work experience in an office where more experienced colleagues acted as mentors.
| | | | Michael Newton
United States
Local time: 10:38
Japanese to English
+ ...
| Biggest impact | Jan 24, 2022 |
Living in Japan for eight years; attending a Japanese university; working in a Japanese brokerage on Wall Street; speaking Japanese all day long with my wife; having Irish heritage. The Irish are good at: music, poetry, art, literature, the theatre. All of the things that help you ease out of your native identify and assume the identify of another.
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What had the biggest impact on my skills as a translator was the experience I gained working for 20 years in an EU institution in Brussels. I learned all the “mechanics” there…
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:38
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Michael Newton wrote:
Living in Japan for eight years; attending a Japanese university; working in a Japanese brokerage on Wall Street; speaking Japanese all day long with my wife; having Irish heritage. The Irish are good at: music, poetry, art, literature, the theatre. All of the things that help you ease out of your native identify and assume the identify of another.
Naturally, I agree; I'm Irish. We're also good at things like semicolons, brackets, and apostrophes.
| | | | | | Alex Lichanow
Germany
Local time: 16:38
Member (2020)
English to German
+ ...
I miss the option "Anger at un-spellchecked, un-QAed, un-proofread drivel and the will to do it better". Otherwise, it's a 50:50 mixture of practical experience and talent I guess. Also probably some rather unhealthy OCD forcing me into perceived "perfection".
| | | | Baran Keki
Türkiye
Local time: 17:38
Member
English to Turkish
As coincidence would have it, I've just translated some company presentations on learning methods. They say 10% of the learning process involves formal learning (book learning, taking courses, webinars etc.), 20% involves learning from others and 70% by doing things by yourself.
This, I think, holds true for translation in general. I'd certainly attribute a greater percentage to "learning from others", as I learned my trade mostly by observing senior translators' work while working as an ... See more As coincidence would have it, I've just translated some company presentations on learning methods. They say 10% of the learning process involves formal learning (book learning, taking courses, webinars etc.), 20% involves learning from others and 70% by doing things by yourself.
This, I think, holds true for translation in general. I'd certainly attribute a greater percentage to "learning from others", as I learned my trade mostly by observing senior translators' work while working as an in-house, and there is no need to talk about the importance of doing things yourself.
So, if the business 'gurus' think that book learning and academic stuff only accounts for 10% of learning, then why most agencies ask for 'Dip Trans'? What's the point in getting a degree in translation if 90% of your skillsets will have to come from elsewhere? ▲ Collapse
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| Journalism/editing | Jan 24, 2022 |
I had years of experience in journalism, specifically in sub-editing, before I started translating. So I was already accustomed to being very meticulous with language. Having an eye for detail and accuracy has been very useful as a translator. That, and having a specialist subject (sustainable food/agriculture).
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 16:38
Spanish to English
+ ...
My degree is a BA in modern languages (French and Russian), but my main working language nowadays is Spanish, which I never really studied formally, except for a very basic "filler" class in my final year. I would have liked to work with Russian, but in those days (the 80s) the only openings available were government posts that involved signing the official secrets act, which I wasn't keen on, so I ended going to Spain and working in TEFL instead for about ten years, before eventually getting in... See more My degree is a BA in modern languages (French and Russian), but my main working language nowadays is Spanish, which I never really studied formally, except for a very basic "filler" class in my final year. I would have liked to work with Russian, but in those days (the 80s) the only openings available were government posts that involved signing the official secrets act, which I wasn't keen on, so I ended going to Spain and working in TEFL instead for about ten years, before eventually getting into translation after acquiring European Spanish to an advanced level simply by living and working in the country.
I also studied German at school, but never took it any further. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Everything Listed As Part Of The Poll... | Jan 24, 2022 |
... as well as my high school Spanish teacher, and asking and answering translations questions on kudoz and on other translator websites.
[Edited at 2022-01-24 19:16 GMT]
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