Poll: Have you ever done a translation that made you feel like a different person afterwards? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Have you ever done a translation that made you feel like a different person afterwards?".
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| | | | Jocelyne S 
France
Local time: 13:54
French to English
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| Not a different person, but... | Jul 30, 2009 |
I don't know that a translation has ever transformed me to the point of feeling like a different person, but I have learned a lot from many of the translations I've done.
I translate a lot of academic papers, many of which are thought-provoking. I particularly enjoy political philosophy, which although often quite hard to translate, almost always provides great food for thought.
While a few development/conflict resolution related translations I've done have been harrowi... See more I don't know that a translation has ever transformed me to the point of feeling like a different person, but I have learned a lot from many of the translations I've done.
I translate a lot of academic papers, many of which are thought-provoking. I particularly enjoy political philosophy, which although often quite hard to translate, almost always provides great food for thought.
While a few development/conflict resolution related translations I've done have been harrowing, I don't think they've changed me fundamentally.
The intellectual challenge of tackling different subjects is what I love best about our profession!
I can't honestly imagine a translation making me feel like a different person, but I would be interested in hearing from those who have been "changed" by a translation.
Best,
Jocelyne ▲ Collapse
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... exhausted and disoriented! Ha. But I rarely take those jobs these days.
I usually feel a bit lighter after translating something for an NGO, especially when it relates to economics or medicine in the developing world. I wish I could get a steady diet of it to offset all the fund reports and other texts about manipulating money
Stephanie
| | | | Yaotl Altan
Mexico
Local time: 05:54
Member (2006)
English to Spanish
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I feel much better when I translate for the poor or for refugees. Translation can help those really suffering.
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Jenn Mercer
United States
Local time: 07:54
Member (2009)
French to English
My first paid translation of a large financial document gave me a huge boost of confidence.
In a completely different way, I was strongly affected by a translation of handwritten correspondence that told a heart-wrenching story of a woman who can never go home again. It struck me personally, because of the story that it told and because of the immediacy that the fact that it was handwritten provided. I do not get jobs like this all the time, but I feel proud that I was able to do t... See more My first paid translation of a large financial document gave me a huge boost of confidence.
In a completely different way, I was strongly affected by a translation of handwritten correspondence that told a heart-wrenching story of a woman who can never go home again. It struck me personally, because of the story that it told and because of the immediacy that the fact that it was handwritten provided. I do not get jobs like this all the time, but I feel proud that I was able to do this one. ▲ Collapse
| | | | John Cutler
Spain
Local time: 13:54
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Maybe not different but... | Jul 30, 2009 |
I'm not sure if I've done a translation that made me feel like a different person, but I know that several translations have given me a different view point on things. I've also learned a lot from several translations.
Perhaps one that really affected me (for better IMO) is one I did on the health benefits of Ginseng. The translation was a 150-page document on the various scientific trials conducted on this herbal remedy. It was all so convincing that I decided to try it for myself... See more I'm not sure if I've done a translation that made me feel like a different person, but I know that several translations have given me a different view point on things. I've also learned a lot from several translations.
Perhaps one that really affected me (for better IMO) is one I did on the health benefits of Ginseng. The translation was a 150-page document on the various scientific trials conducted on this herbal remedy. It was all so convincing that I decided to try it for myself. I can safely say I'm now a true believer in its benefits. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Rebecca Garber
Local time: 07:54
Member (2005)
German to English
+ ...
| personal letters | Jul 30, 2009 |
I read Suetterlin-schrift, the old German handwriting, and lately I have been translating
personal letters written by Jews between 1939 and 1950. Some of them didn't make it out.
I know the city they are writing from, and know the history of that area post-1939.
Since I know what is coming, the letters are heartbreaking in their banality.
The later letters stem largely from the displaced persons camps in Germany.
Less heartbreak there.
| | | | | Every translation job is a learning experience | Jul 30, 2009 |
That's it!
I cannot say any of them gave me such a dramatic revelation as "made me feel like a different person" through my 20 + years, but I enjoy the learning experience, and I consider that's a boon comes with this occupation.
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Juliana Brown
Israel
Local time: 07:54
Member (2007)
Spanish to English
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adoption applications with all sorts of information about the applicants' families, histories, trials and tribulations. It was a rush job, but super intense and HUGE. It took me days to stop wondering what had happened when they finally got their children- I wished I could call them!
| | | | | Different person is an exaggeration but | Jul 30, 2009 |
I found a translation I did about a food patent, where a perfectly good milk ingredient was being replaced by a chemical compound that imitates it and saves the chef a couple of minutes in the kitchen, made me really strongly aware of how much good nutritutious food is being replaced by chemicals in day-to-day life and how dangerous that is.
Otherwise, almost along the same lines, I do a lot of translations for a company that does environmental impact studies, and looking up the nam... See more I found a translation I did about a food patent, where a perfectly good milk ingredient was being replaced by a chemical compound that imitates it and saves the chef a couple of minutes in the kitchen, made me really strongly aware of how much good nutritutious food is being replaced by chemicals in day-to-day life and how dangerous that is.
Otherwise, almost along the same lines, I do a lot of translations for a company that does environmental impact studies, and looking up the names of the chemicals, you end up reading about all the pernicious effects they have.
So I have become more of an ecologist since I started this work. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Joan Berglund
United States
Local time: 07:54
Member (2008)
French to English
| I don't know about life-changing | Jul 30, 2009 |
Lesley Clarke wrote:
I do a lot of translations for a company that does environmental impact studies, and looking up the names of the chemicals, you end up reading about all the pernicious effects they have.
So I have become more of an ecologist since I started this work.
But I have had the same experience looking up chemical names in cosmetic translations:(, which has made me much more careful about personal care products
| | | | Khrystene (X)
Australia
Polish to English
+ ...
But it wasn't in a 'good' way!
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Yes sad.
Since my father was told he had a cancer, I have translated many documents about treatments for cancer, well, he also used some of them - I felt part of the therapy.
SO sad chance to feel like a different person but it happened
| | | | | I learn something from all my translations | Sep 22, 2009 |
Sometimes I learn a little. Sometimes I learn a lot. Knowing more than I did before makes me a different person.
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