| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] > | Do people lose interest when you say "I'm a translator"? Thread poster: Tom in London
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P.L.F. Persio 
Netherlands
Local time: 13:15
Member (2010)
English to Italian
+ ...
| People – what do they know? | Dec 7, 2023 |
Erwin van Wouw wrote:
An architect who works in the building I'm in once asked me outright why I chose this profession because he couldn't think of anything more boring.
That's probably because some think that our job consists in simply transcribing texts written in a language into another one. It always amazes me that even people who can speak other languages than their mothertongue, seem to view them as superimposable systems, where one perfectly mirrors the other.
But we know better. This year hasn't been great for business, but I still wake up every morning, happy and eager to start my working day.
I get to be pedantic to my heart's content, while being appreciated, thanked, and paid for the pleasure. My brain is constantly stimulated, and I marvel endlessly at the ingenuity of the human mind, capable of coming up not just with means for efficiently exterminating ourselves, but also with means for helping and caring for each other, for growing vegetables and flowers, for designing clothes, collecting paintings, drafting contracts, and well, for doing, and making, and thinking.
Don't they find us interesting? Are they that scintillating, though?
Who's the person we're stuck with, for better and for worse, till death do us part? It's ourselves, and I find myself fascinating and even charming, if often annoying and infuriating, and sometimes thick and whining.
You're all such a diverse bunch, and I love to spend my time with you all. You are interesting to me. Don't let the haters grind you down.
| | | | Emily Gilby
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:15
Member (2018)
French to English
+ ...
It seems that those who translate from English into their native language have a different experience to those who, like myself, translate into English. From the replies here, those speaking to people who translate from English generally seem to think that translation isn't a real job and most people can speak English anyway, so what's the point. As someone who translates into English, most of the time when people ask what I do, interest wanes quickly, or they have to ask a lot of questions to u... See more It seems that those who translate from English into their native language have a different experience to those who, like myself, translate into English. From the replies here, those speaking to people who translate from English generally seem to think that translation isn't a real job and most people can speak English anyway, so what's the point. As someone who translates into English, most of the time when people ask what I do, interest wanes quickly, or they have to ask a lot of questions to understand what it is I actually do (they usually mix me up with an interpreter and ask if I work in hospitals and police stations), which I think is because learning a foreign language to a high level, in the UK at least, isn't very popular and most people don't speak a second language (unless you're a second or third-generation immigrant perhaps), which is of course very different from many other countries around the world. I've only ever had one person take a real interest in what I do when asked and it took me so much by surprise that I didn't really know how to respond to all their questions! ▲ Collapse
| | | | Baran Keki
Türkiye
Local time: 14:15
Member
English to Turkish
| Not so much lose interest as getting taken seriously | Dec 7, 2023 |
When working as an in-house, I would regularly get sent to interpreting assignments where I rubbed shoulders with people from various walks of life. The overwhelming sense I got from most people was one of disbelief. They just couldn't comprehend why translation as a profession would even exist. For them anyone could translate anything from English to Turkish, and having graduated from a private university and watched the Game of Thrones mostly without depending on subtitles (which is the pinnac... See more When working as an in-house, I would regularly get sent to interpreting assignments where I rubbed shoulders with people from various walks of life. The overwhelming sense I got from most people was one of disbelief. They just couldn't comprehend why translation as a profession would even exist. For them anyone could translate anything from English to Turkish, and having graduated from a private university and watched the Game of Thrones mostly without depending on subtitles (which is the pinnacle of cultural achievement for a good deal of them), they could very well do it themselves (then the question begs: 'Why are you calling me here?')
Of course showing up at the posh offices or government buildings in worn out jeans and sweatshirts didn't help much as far as commanding 'respect'. I would often get mistaken as a delivery man or a mature university student working a part time job to earn some pocket money. It's kind of funny that the company big shots would pretend to respect me and tolerate my presence at the table while their business with their foreign guest is concluded, while the secretaries and underlings in the same building wouldn't give me the time of their day, and sneering behind my back. I don't take myself so seriously as a translator/interpreter, neither did they, and so I didn't give a shit. I would actually enjoy those outings... it would get you out of the office and let you see the miserable wankers going about their office politics.
I thought I saw the brilliant translations of some of those people during the pandemic when they lost their jobs and desperately looked for anything they could do from home. Naturally, translation was an option... and they had super (near native) English...
[Edited at 2023-12-07 11:29 GMT]
[Edited at 2023-12-07 11:54 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Kay Denney
France
Local time: 13:15
French to English
I only very rarely attend the kind of social function where people might ask what I do for a living. The last time that happened, it so happened that the person answered with "oh wow I'm always looking for decent translators, but I don't suppose you translate for the music scene". To which I answered that music was one of my specialist subjects, and I ended up working for their record label.
Otherwise I will say that I'm a translator and specify straightaway what my specialist subj... See more I only very rarely attend the kind of social function where people might ask what I do for a living. The last time that happened, it so happened that the person answered with "oh wow I'm always looking for decent translators, but I don't suppose you translate for the music scene". To which I answered that music was one of my specialist subjects, and I ended up working for their record label.
Otherwise I will say that I'm a translator and specify straightaway what my specialist subjects are. People might not be interested in translation but they usually are interested in music and/or art and/or fashion and/or cosmetics. ▲ Collapse
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| Not as much as they did... | Dec 7, 2023 |
... when I was a programmer for an insurance company.
One of world's least interesting jobs to outsiders, I suspect, in a sector no-one finds interesting (and it wasn't even a type of insurance where you'd get outlandish explanations for claims to amuse people at parties).
| | | | | No, but I don't want to identify as one :) | Dec 8, 2023 |
People usually don't understand what the job entails, or why it's necessary.
I am bored of explaining the same things and I think the non-translators I speak to are equally bored, as my job tends to have no relevance to their lives and any added value I may offer is 99% invisible, it remains with the end reader who remains a stranger.
Also, most of what I translate is either very depressing or tedious.
The fun stuff either doesn't pay, or gets trashed by a... See more People usually don't understand what the job entails, or why it's necessary.
I am bored of explaining the same things and I think the non-translators I speak to are equally bored, as my job tends to have no relevance to their lives and any added value I may offer is 99% invisible, it remains with the end reader who remains a stranger.
Also, most of what I translate is either very depressing or tedious.
The fun stuff either doesn't pay, or gets trashed by a non-native speaker on a power trip, equally depressing and tedious (and possibly the subject of an upcoming forum thread, depending on how wicked off I get with today's project).
There are no interesting talking points to further the conversation either: despite the constant wittering about technological advances, AI, CAT tools and innovation, I am finding the overall quality of text (in source or target languages) to be as bad as it was in 2003 when I started this job; the general public's command and usage of language is shockingly bad, and their interest in it almost non-existent. I am learning nothing.
So any RL conversation about my career tends to be a short one. Time for me to leave this much-abused profession. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Kevin Fulton
United States
Local time: 07:15
German to English
| Two responses | Dec 8, 2023 |
In the past when people asked me about my profession, I generally got two reactions. (1) The interlocutor's eyes glazed over and he/she changed the topic to sports or the weather, or – more commonly – (2) I got to hear complaints about unintelligible user instructions for various foreign-made products. Finally I started telling people I was in international communications (true!) and wasn't permitted to talk about my work and then changed the topic to something else myself.
[Ed... See more In the past when people asked me about my profession, I generally got two reactions. (1) The interlocutor's eyes glazed over and he/she changed the topic to sports or the weather, or – more commonly – (2) I got to hear complaints about unintelligible user instructions for various foreign-made products. Finally I started telling people I was in international communications (true!) and wasn't permitted to talk about my work and then changed the topic to something else myself.
[Edited at 2023-12-08 16:16 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Iman Tahanan
Local time: 15:15
English to Persian (Farsi)
+ ...
| True, sometimes | Dec 8, 2023 |
Your experience reminds me of the Translator's Invisibility by Lawrence Venuti as well as the discussion of 'original' vs. 'second-hand' in my translation studies Master's Program. It is true in some contexts with many laymen.
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:15
Member (2008)
Italian to English
TOPIC STARTER
Kevin Fulton wrote:
In the past when people asked me about my profession, I generally got two reactions. (1) The interlocutor's eyes glazed over and he/she changed the topic to sports or the weather, or – more commonly – (2) I got to hear complaints about unintelligible user instructions for various foreign-made products. Finally I started telling people I was in international communications (true!) and wasn't permitted to talk about my work and then changed the topic to something else myself.
[Edited at 2023-12-08 16:16 GMT]
Just say "we use AI all the time" and you'll get mobbed by attractive women.
| | | | Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 13:15
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
+ ...
Tom in London wrote:
Just say "we use AI all the time" and you'll get mobbed by attractive women.
Narrator: "Unsurprisingly the attractive woman, after staring uncomfortably long into the translator's eyes, said he would soon be out of a job then and graciously walked away. The devastated translator asked the bartender, who had delicately overlooked the whole scene, for another drink. But that was unnecessary : his glass had already been filled."
| | | | | Here's some of mine. | Dec 9, 2023 |
What I get these days instead is people asking me if I was a sworn translator. Then comes this blank look when they find out that I am in fact not.
But hey, that's just people trying to make conversation. Getting their car papers certified is probably the only thing they ever needed a translator for in their life.
Another time a girl working at an employment center gave me this knowing look and said something to the effect:
"Yeah, I know about you people, you just sit in... See more What I get these days instead is people asking me if I was a sworn translator. Then comes this blank look when they find out that I am in fact not.
But hey, that's just people trying to make conversation. Getting their car papers certified is probably the only thing they ever needed a translator for in their life.
Another time a girl working at an employment center gave me this knowing look and said something to the effect:
"Yeah, I know about you people, you just sit in front of the computer and tap away at the keyboard tinkering with a bit of text."
Well, once you put it that way...
One thing I'm genuinely thankful for is my that parents stopped pestering me about translating lyrics for them. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Generally people seem quite interested | Dec 9, 2023 |
But normally they have no idea what translators do. Are they interpreters? Do they "transcribe" from one language into another?
A few people think immediately it means translating novels or poetry. When I explain that there are literary and technical translators and a technical translator does not necessarily translate strictly technical stuff like manuals or operating instructions but that there is a wide range of subjects and fields one can specialise in, it turns out nobody had the vag... See more But normally they have no idea what translators do. Are they interpreters? Do they "transcribe" from one language into another?
A few people think immediately it means translating novels or poetry. When I explain that there are literary and technical translators and a technical translator does not necessarily translate strictly technical stuff like manuals or operating instructions but that there is a wide range of subjects and fields one can specialise in, it turns out nobody had the vaguest notion of this. As if they supposed we are all familiar with every topic on earth... ) We simply look up or already know the words and that's it.
But yes, most of the time they show interest in my job! ▲ Collapse
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John Fossey
Canada
Local time: 07:15
Member (2008)
French to English
+ ...
| My experience | Dec 11, 2023 |
I rarely get asked in conversation what I do. When I do and say, "I'm a translator", the response is generally "Oh, really". If the conversation goes any further it's generally "So how many languages do you speak". Any discussion of language pairs or direction and they are lost and change the subject.
| | | | | My experience | Dec 14, 2023 |
I worked for 20 years as an EU staff translator and when someone asked me what I did, they suddenly were much more interested in the EU than in my profession and seemed extremely disappointed by the fact that I wasn’t working at the Commission, Council or the Parliament but at a Committee only a few heard about…
| | | | Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 13:15
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
+ ...
People lose even more interest if you say that you only translate into your mother tongue. As if they are surprised that you can actually make money with something that is 'so easy and probably could be done by anyone' in their view.
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