Working as a translator

amother

Fri, Dec 16 2011, 4:47 am

Yes, seriously.
I was talking to someone and they mentioned something along the lines of needing "skills other than another language" to translate.
I thought it sounded weird, but I wanted to hear it from people that work in translation.
I guess I will ask her what she meant.

shalhevet

Fri, Dec 16 2011, 5:25 am

Maybe she meant you need other skills *in addition to* knowing the two languages, because often people think anyone who knows two languages can translate.

You need good language skills - as in writing excellent text in your target language. Today you also need computer skills - Word (at least) and know how to search information on the internet.

(I am a professional translator.)

amother

Sat, Dec 17 2011, 5:25 pm

I am also interested in this! I speak a few languages fluently as I grew up with them and have basic computer skills. Do you need to get some sort of a degree or acriditation? Is it a boring job?

shalhevet

Sat, Dec 17 2011, 5:56 pm

amother wrote:

I am also interested in this! I speak a few languages fluently as I grew up with them and have basic computer skills.

You need one language (the language you will translate into) on an excellent level - the others can be on a very good, not quite fluent level (as long as you know where to look up problematic words).

Quote:

Do you need to get some sort of a degree or acriditation?

It depends in which country. Most of the time potential clients will hire you from recommendations and/or sample translations, not because of your qualifications. I would strongly recommend taking a translation course, but there are translators out there who didn't and "learned on the job".

Quote:

Is it a boring job?

I don't think so at all, but everyone is an individual. Also a lot depends on the type of material you are translating - the end of the year company accounts or a printer operating manual are going to be a lot less interesting to translate than an academic article on a topic that interests you or (lehavdil) a book about the parsha.

Dolly Welsh

Sat, Dec 17 2011, 8:48 pm

My friend said that if you know two languages well, as she did, that being an interpreter was much easier than being a translator.

An interpreter is just speaking; it's talking, as people speak, and need to know what the other person just said in the other language. Nothing is written down. A translator produces a manuscript.

Being an interpreter that might present tzniut issues for a frum woman, to go among strangers to meetings or social settings, I don't know. Translation can be done at home, I suppose.