| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Poll: According to you, how many language combinations should a translator ideally work on? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "According to you, how many language combinations should a translator ideally work on?".
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| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 19:50
Spanish to English
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I suppose it depends on the translator. Some people will be more comfortable working with one pair, whereas others may comfortably work with more than that. Nowadays I mainly only work in ES-EN, although the past I have translated from French as well.
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For me the only rule is that in order to produce a good-quality translations, one must have a deep understanding of a language’s grammar, vocabulary and culture. I translate exclusively into Portuguese (European) from English, French, Italian and Spanish, although I'd say that nowadays about 75% of my work is EN/PT. It was quite different when I started translating some 40 years ago, French being more predominant then…
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The more languages you do, the less time you spend on each.
That’s not to say you can’t do more than one well, but you’d do one even better.
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| Jack of all trades and master of none.... | Mar 2 |
Christopher Schröder wrote:
The more languages you do, the less time you spend on each.
That’s not to say you can’t do more than one well, but you’d do one even better.
.... as the saying goes.
I suppose I could make an exception for someone hyper-specialised in a niche subject handling closely relating languages, but yeah, the idea you can jump around from German to Russian to French translating contracts and recipes and international development leaves me a little sceptical about the likely quality.
Incidentally, staff, any chance these questions could be written in more idiomatic English? I think I detect the distinct whiff of a "Selon vous,..." here, or some other equivalent structure in some other language.
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There are lots of advantages to just having just one pair. It means all your source language CPD can be targetted at that language rather than being split in 2 or more. Same for time in your source language country. There are certainly excellent translators with multiple source languages, but your best bet for being the best you can be is to just have one. Particularly if source language competence is a weaker area for you.
It also gives you clarity about who you are aiming your mar... See more There are lots of advantages to just having just one pair. It means all your source language CPD can be targetted at that language rather than being split in 2 or more. Same for time in your source language country. There are certainly excellent translators with multiple source languages, but your best bet for being the best you can be is to just have one. Particularly if source language competence is a weaker area for you.
It also gives you clarity about who you are aiming your marketing at. You don't have to translate your website into multiple languages. You are not constantly puzzled about which language to post in social media in.
Having said that, I have two source languages. I've can never work out which one to drop. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:50
Member (2008)
Italian to English
"According to you, how many language combinations should a translator ideally work on?"
162. Definitely.
| | | | | two or ten languages, an interpreter/translator will always be setting in the back chair | Mar 2 |
No matter if you we are fluent in two or ten languages, as translators or interpreters, we are always setting in the back chair...
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Michele Fauble 
United States
Local time: 10:50
Member (2006)
Norwegian to English
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| It depends on languages | Mar 2 |
Translating from Norwegian, Swedish and Danish, or even from French, Italian and Spanish, is not like translating from Finnish, Arabic and Chinese.
[Edited at 2024-03-02 18:36 GMT]
| | | | Zea_Mays
Italy
Local time: 19:50
Member (2009)
English to German
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Christopher Schröder wrote:
The more languages you do, the less time you spend on each.
That’s not to say you can’t do more than one well, but you’d do one even better.
Native speakers of multiple languages are an exception, BUT the "time you spend" counts here too.
In my case, I rarely work into Italian for simple economic reasons (and because working with Italian agencies is not always a pleasure), and mainly do copywriting for a few agencies. This means that my translation muscle's memory has become a bit weak in the En/It and De/It pairs and my speed is lower than in En/De and It/De, being the former my main working combination.
If I translated regularly also into Italian, the speed would be the same.
| | | | Kay Denney
France
Local time: 19:50
French to English
Given the amount of time I have spent on my source language, I really don't see how it's possible to do the same on more than one. I learn a lot simply by dint of living in the country where it's spoken, talking to people on an everyday basis.
I mean, I have to work on keeping my target language snappy and up-to-date too, since I don't live in my target langauge country.
I feel like I'd have to go and live in a country where a potential third language is spoken to be able to proper... See more Given the amount of time I have spent on my source language, I really don't see how it's possible to do the same on more than one. I learn a lot simply by dint of living in the country where it's spoken, talking to people on an everyday basis.
I mean, I have to work on keeping my target language snappy and up-to-date too, since I don't live in my target langauge country.
I feel like I'd have to go and live in a country where a potential third language is spoken to be able to properly get up to speed, and no way am I moving far from my children. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:50
Member (2008)
Italian to English
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| Number of translation language pair | Mar 4 |
I think that the determining a certain number is irrelevant as long as the good quality of translation is maintained. One may be able to translation into multiple languages without compromising the quality.
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Michele Fauble wrote:
Translating from Norwegian, Swedish and Danish, or even from French, Italian and Spanish, is not like translating from Finnish, Arabic and Chinese.
[Edited at 2024-03-02 18:36 GMT]
I totally agree.
I am proficient in Portuguese, Spanish, and French, and more fluent in Portuguese. However, there is a more of a market for ES-EN. Lately, however, I have been tapped for Portuguese more than Spanish. I guess there are more ES-EN translators.
| | | | | Specialise specialise specialise | Mar 4 |
Michele Fauble wrote:
Translating from Norwegian, Swedish and Danish, or even from French, Italian and Spanish, is not like translating from Finnish, Arabic and Chinese.
True, but we'd still be better off translating just one of the Nordic languages, just as people would be better off translating only into one variant of English.
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