Poll: Is the translator teaching/training in your location good? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Is the translator teaching/training in your location good?".
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| | | | | I don't know but I doubt it, | Jun 11, 2010 |
but as translation is such a location-independent profession, you can find a great deal of educational material online anyway, and even if that's not enough then a training course can be a good excuse for a busman's holiday .
| | | | Interlangue (X)
Angola
Local time: 10:57
English to French
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There are plenty around here: Belgium is a small country with several translation institutes and there are others just across the border in The Netherlands and Germany. Some are good/have a very good reputation, but not all.
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Hildesheim is quite the spot for studying translation/communication/engineering subjects. I have had an excellent time at this university. Back then.
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neilmac
Spain
Local time: 10:57
Spanish to English
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I never studied translation per se. My degree is in modern languages, French and Russian. That was over 20 years ago now, and the course contained a lot of translations and essay writing, summarising etc both into and from the targets, but no specific translation theory or training as is the case nowadays.
My current main working source language is Spanish, which I only ever studied as a "filler" component in my final year, which was very basic.
I have lived in Spain for 20 years an... See more I never studied translation per se. My degree is in modern languages, French and Russian. That was over 20 years ago now, and the course contained a lot of translations and essay writing, summarising etc both into and from the targets, but no specific translation theory or training as is the case nowadays.
My current main working source language is Spanish, which I only ever studied as a "filler" component in my final year, which was very basic.
I have lived in Spain for 20 years and have never really studied the language, I simply acquired it by living and working here, reading papers and watching TV, movies etc ... and have read a few books and articles about translation and language (and still struggling with Umberto Eco's "Mouse or Rat - Translation as Negotiation" ... after 5 years!)
It seems that the emphasis nowadays is on all the technological tools, like Trados and the rest, but these have always seemed unwieldy and unnecessary to me as well as prohibitively expensive. Perhaps because of my personal experience, I tend to feel that translation is a skill which cannot really be "taught" to just anybody and that certain people are better at languages than science or math. I have always picked up languages quickly, but have a hard time doing even basic math or arithmetic ...
I do have a local network that organises events and courses or seminars, although I'm usually too busy to attend. Here's the latest link from them:
Red de traductores e intérpretes de la Comunidad Valenciana:
http://www.cfp.upv.es/formacion-permanente/inicio/curso_datos.jsp?cid=22913&hash=9b4b9819c71e93489c439f49884a9e4a9e4a9e4f9f4d76&; ▲ Collapse
| | | | Parrot 
Spain
Local time: 10:57
Spanish to English
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| Better than nothing | Jun 11, 2010 |
I watched it grow up from non-degree scratch and must've been one of the first guinea pigs. But since I came from a near-zero location (opportunities-wise anyway), I can't complain.
That was 16 years ago (from the guinea-pig). Then, it was topheavy on literature. I do wonder how it is now...
In neither of the two places did anyone teach anything on translation as a business.
| | | | Louise Souter (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:57
Spanish to English
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| Non-existent | Jun 11, 2010 |
I live in Glasgow so translator training is practically non-existent, the nearest city with a good rep for translator training this Edinburgh. Viva the Internet and distance learning courses!
| | | | Paul Adie (X)
Germany
Spanish to English
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| Glasgow: shaky, Barcelona: thriving. | Jun 11, 2010 |
Talking about Glasgow, I did my degree there, and found the Russian side of things to be very good for translation. We were translating into and from Russian from first year. Spanish was another matter, they only taught translation into English (yes, yes, I know this is the 'professional' way, but training to translate in another language is good for learning structures, grammar, etc.). I have high regard for one of my Russian lecturers as I learned a great deal from her and she is a top-notch t... See more Talking about Glasgow, I did my degree there, and found the Russian side of things to be very good for translation. We were translating into and from Russian from first year. Spanish was another matter, they only taught translation into English (yes, yes, I know this is the 'professional' way, but training to translate in another language is good for learning structures, grammar, etc.). I have high regard for one of my Russian lecturers as I learned a great deal from her and she is a top-notch translator from/into several languages. Unfortunately the Russian department at Strathclyde has closed down and the Spanish department seems to be going down a shaky road...
Here in Barcelona, things are thriving. To my knowledge there are three universities here that grant degrees in translation. I studied in one for a year and was thoroughly pleased with the Spanish/English courses. However, I thought the Russian courses were quite poor. Just not intense enough, and one of the lecturers really annoyed me by repeatedly calling me 'anglichanin' (the Englishman), when I had asked her specifically to refer to me, if anything, as 'shotlandets' (the Scotsman). You can take the boy out of Glasgow...
Happy translating!
Paul.
[Edited at 2010-06-11 20:01 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Rolf Kern
Switzerland
Local time: 10:57
English to German
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In memoriam
I voted "other", because I can not image who could teach me translating.
[Bearbeitet am 2010-06-11 20:09 GMT]
| | | | Rolf Kern
Switzerland
Local time: 10:57
English to German
+ ...
In memoriam
I voted "other", because I can not image who could teach me tranlating.
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In my area, the majority of people I meet don't even know what a translator does and look at me like something from another planet when I tell them I am one. Those who do think they know usually ask me whether I work in 'courts and stuff'.
Our nearest university is only half an hour away, but I've not heard of any translation-specific courses there, and my own uni, an hour away, only started offering ONE course in translation the year after I left!
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