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Poll: Today's new translators and interpreters are better-prepared than I was starting out.
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
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Apr 29, 2020

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Today's new translators and interpreters are better-prepared than I was starting out.".

View the poll results »



 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 14:04
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Other (I don't know) Apr 29, 2020

The world is a large place and there are lots of translation courses. They may be better prepared academically and technically (CAT tools and other new technologies) than I was when I started out translating but as I started late in life I had a professional career behind me and all the experience that implies.

Carmen Valentin-Rodriguez
neilmac
Tina Vonhof (X)
Jorge Payan
Philip Lees
Dan Lucas
Liviu-Lee Roth
 
Thayenga
Thayenga  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 15:04
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
Disagree to a certain point Apr 29, 2020

Proper education was available when I started out as it is today. Admittedly, we didn't have the Internet back then, so there is a chance that today's colleagues are somewhat better prepared than we were. The main point is back then as it is today, those willing to learn and advance had/have equal preparations.

Mina Chen
Liviu-Lee Roth
Rodrigo Gonçalves
 
Aline Amorim
Aline Amorim  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 11:04
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Partially agree Apr 29, 2020

ProZ.com Staff wrote:

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Today's new translators and interpreters are better-prepared than I was starting out.".

View the poll results »




Partially agree.


 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:04
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Tools Apr 29, 2020

ProZ.com Staff wrote:

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Today's new translators and interpreters are better-prepared than I was starting out.".

View the poll results »



We may have more tools today, but looking back over hundreds of years of translation, I don't think we do it any better than it was done in the past.


Muriel Vasconcellos
Philip Lees
Liena Vijupe
Leighton Jacobs
 
Mervyn Henderson (X)
Mervyn Henderson (X)  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 15:04
Spanish to English
+ ...
Hundreds? Apr 29, 2020



[Edited at 2020-04-29 17:50 GMT]


expressisverbis
 
DZiW (X)
DZiW (X)
Ukraine
English to Russian
+ ...
Information overload bombing Apr 29, 2020

While there’re so many new approaches, gadgets, and the internet resources, most people don’t study any better. Deplorably, students are taught to smile and neglect the means and possibilities, ignoring their questions, ideas, and opinions.
At least five riddles? Five idioms and proverbs? Five famous writers and their works? Five prominent scientists in different fields and their achievements? Minimum five outstanding sportsmen in different kind of sports? Five singers and their so
... See more
While there’re so many new approaches, gadgets, and the internet resources, most people don’t study any better. Deplorably, students are taught to smile and neglect the means and possibilities, ignoring their questions, ideas, and opinions.
At least five riddles? Five idioms and proverbs? Five famous writers and their works? Five prominent scientists in different fields and their achievements? Minimum five outstanding sportsmen in different kind of sports? Five singers and their songs? Five countries with the capitals? Five philosophers and their quotes? Five domestic animals and five wild/exotic ones? Five important dates which changed the world? No way, it’s easier to google; no alternatives.

It implies the global formation of the naïve six-year child psyche adult ideal consumer almost* completely without rationality and understanding about the world. Interdisciplinary? Proving? Credibility? Origin? Relevance? Practical use? Why so many funny words?
As Prof. Katasonov said,
The gullible fool is the most important resource of the modern economics. You can flog such individuals just anything.
(including schools, lifestyles, masks, roles, jobs, rates, and terms)

It may take one a little to realize there are should be no temp “pure” translators and interpreters, just real specialists—who can do something worthy even using their mother tongue, as well as linguists, writers, journalists, mentors, consultants, diplomats—with foreign language skills, but who cares, right? But now they are so much distracted from themselves.
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Muriel Vasconcellos
Liena Vijupe
Antonio Tomás Lessa do Amaral
Liviu-Lee Roth
 
Riccardo Schiaffino
Riccardo Schiaffino  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 08:04
Member (2003)
English to Italian
+ ...
Disagree Apr 30, 2020

Based on 35 years of experience as a translator, and some 15 years of experience as a teacher of translation, I'm afraid that I must disagree. There are exceptions, of course (and when you meet them it's a joy to see brilliant young colleagues or students), but on average I find that new translators and interpreters are, in fact, worse prepared than when I was starting out.

Kevin Fulton
Muriel Vasconcellos
Mario Freitas
Antonio Tomás Lessa do Amaral
Liviu-Lee Roth
 
Maxi Schwarz
Maxi Schwarz  Identity Verified
Local time: 09:04
German to English
+ ...
across the world? Apr 30, 2020

How can such a question even be asked in an international forum, when translation training varies so widely across countries, and probably always has/

 
Mario Freitas
Mario Freitas  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 11:04
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Totally agree Apr 30, 2020

I'm highly disappointed with the poor level of knowledge and competence of the new translators entering the market. Above all those with degrees in translation.

Antonio Tomás Lessa do Amaral
Liviu-Lee Roth
 
Muriel Vasconcellos
Muriel Vasconcellos  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 07:04
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
+ ...
I tend to disagree Apr 30, 2020

Trends such as MT and translation tools have attracted a broader bi-/multilingual population with less specific preparation. Senior mentors are aging out, in many cases along with old-fashioned standards. With tools to make the job easier (regardless of the results) and more people willing to work for less money, there is increasing pressure to lower rates. This trend, in turn, means that fewer people will be able to survive as full-time professionals. Translation is tending to become more of an... See more
Trends such as MT and translation tools have attracted a broader bi-/multilingual population with less specific preparation. Senior mentors are aging out, in many cases along with old-fashioned standards. With tools to make the job easier (regardless of the results) and more people willing to work for less money, there is increasing pressure to lower rates. This trend, in turn, means that fewer people will be able to survive as full-time professionals. Translation is tending to become more of an *avocation* than a true vocation.

On the other hand, I will say that access to the Internet has exponentially improved the possibility of finding answers to challenging problems. But it needs to be used skillfully. There can be too much reliance on translation corpora and bilingual online dictionaries.



[Edited at 2020-04-30 05:28 GMT]
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Liena Vijupe
Antonio Tomás Lessa do Amaral
Liviu-Lee Roth
 
Iwona Budzynska MCIL
Iwona Budzynska MCIL
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:04
English to Polish
+ ...
Strange question Apr 30, 2020

I feel well prepared after completing my translation degree not long ago. I have been freelancing as a translator and interpreter since the very beginning, which was my aim when I first decided to apply for this course. I am managing to navigate my business through this pandemic and I would say I am doing pretty well.
I received a fantastic education from my wonderful teachers.


expressisverbis
 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:04
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Semi-illiteracy Apr 30, 2020

The return to semi-illiteracy can be a problem, i.e. the reversion to a level of illiteracy that was widespread up until the 19th century when basic schooling became obligatory, and which we are seeing again today.

Yesterday, for example, I was reading the website of a translation agency that prides itself on its high standards and requires all its translators to hold a recognised translation qualification; I was shocked to come across a series of completely unacceptable basic punc
... See more
The return to semi-illiteracy can be a problem, i.e. the reversion to a level of illiteracy that was widespread up until the 19th century when basic schooling became obligatory, and which we are seeing again today.

Yesterday, for example, I was reading the website of a translation agency that prides itself on its high standards and requires all its translators to hold a recognised translation qualification; I was shocked to come across a series of completely unacceptable basic punctuation errors, most notably the misuse of apostrophes (or as they would probably have written, apostrophe's).

I find that many people today - including some who put themselves forward as translators - have a very low level of basic literacy and are unable to punctuate, construct a sentence, or spell common words without making mistakes.

Having mis-learned their mother tongue at an early age and never having been corrected, their semi-illiteracy has become deep-seated and impossible to extirpate. When challenged, they assert that this is the new way of writing (having no real understanding of how languages evolve and change, they assume that their own illiteracy is evidence of how advanced they are).

Quote "The National Literacy Trust in the UK estimates that 5.1 million adults in England are functionally illiterate, meaning that they have a reading age of 11 or below and can understand only the most straightforward, short texts on familiar topics." https://tinyurl.com/ydaug7ab

Whilst a translator may not necessarily need to be well-read or highly literate, they may be competent enough to translate simple texts; but if they cannot even write in their own native language without making basic mistakes again and again, it must surely generate all kinds of problems that no spellchecker could ever resolve.

(added later): you will now be able to read a would-be smart-aleck comment by Chris, the wally in the cycling helmet. I don't know why he feels he must make a supposedly witty comeback to every single post I make in every forum. I suspect only a psychiatrist could explain. (He will probably now make a comment on that too).



[Edited at 2020-04-30 13:08 GMT]
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expressisverbis
Antonio Tomás Lessa do Amaral
 
expressisverbis
expressisverbis
Portugal
Local time: 14:04
Member (2015)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Other Apr 30, 2020

St. Jerome (c. 347 – 30 September 420): the patron saint of translators.
Even he, the patron saint of translators, made his mistakes. He had a bad temper, but also a brilliant mind.
In the Old Testament, the Hebrew describes Moses as being “radiant” when descending from speaking with God on Mount Sinai.
However, Jerome misread the Hebrew text and instead translated the description as “horned”.
We can never be better-prepared, because we are always learning, an
... See more
St. Jerome (c. 347 – 30 September 420): the patron saint of translators.
Even he, the patron saint of translators, made his mistakes. He had a bad temper, but also a brilliant mind.
In the Old Testament, the Hebrew describes Moses as being “radiant” when descending from speaking with God on Mount Sinai.
However, Jerome misread the Hebrew text and instead translated the description as “horned”.
We can never be better-prepared, because we are always learning, and we will likely fail and improve ourselves often.
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Tom in London
 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:04
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Great minds think alike Apr 30, 2020

expressisverbis wrote:

He had a bad temper, but also a brilliant mind.


Like me



expressisverbis
 
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Poll: Today's new translators and interpreters are better-prepared than I was starting out.






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