According to journalist Kathy Foley, there’s a group on Facebook where journalists post the top responses they get in social situations when they announce “I’m a journalist”. So here are the top four responses I get when I say I’m a translator:
Scenario 1: a typical “European” response
- So what language do you speak?
insert my answer
- [Pause] Oh… I know a guy speaks 7/10/17 languages fluently! He’s amazing… launches into the life story of this other amazing person I’ve never met
Scenario 2: a typical English response
- So what language do you speak?
insert my answer
- I took some French/German at school. Didn’t learn a thing, and the teacher had it in for me… launches into a story about how they’re “not able” to learn languages
Scenario 3: a typical Irish response
- So what language do you speak?
insert my answer
- Ah, so you travel all the time for work then?
I do my best to explain that it is possible to have a language job that doesn’t involve call centres or working for the EU
Scenario 4: a typical Australian response
- Ah, yes. My friend’s wife is [German/French/Japanese, etc.]. She does some translation too, you know, in the evenings every now and then – when the kids have gone to bed, of course…
I just smile and nod, about all that is usually expected of me at this point
And then there’s what I’d love to hear people say:
- So how did you progress from speaking those languages to actually translating professionally?!
- Any advice for learning languages as an adult?
- Wow, intelligent AND beautiful! Here’s a cheque for 1 million pounds, just for making my evening.
What are the typical responses you get when you say you’re a translator?
About the author
Sarah Dillon is a qualified, accredited and experienced professional translator originally from Co. Clare in Ireland. She specialises in producing English-language texts that don't "sound" like translations, ensuring her clients' message has the desired impact in their overseas market. She is based in Brisbane, Australia and works with corporate clients, small businesses, agencies and nonprofit organisations all over the world. In her spare time, Sarah is also Marketing Director of eCPD Webinars.
Sarah Dillon has written 252 posts for There's Something About Translation.
{ 14 comments }
“Translator, hmmm. [thoughtful pause] Actually, if you want a real job, you could teach English at the In Six Weeks You Can Speak English Like A Native Academy. Have you thought of applying there?
Me [to myself]: Not really, after I found out their monthly salary for English teachers is the same as half a week’s worth of translation. Or one good all-nighter.
[Out loud]: Thanks, I’ll check them out if I ever have time.
No, just kidding. I have gotten that one a few times, but the most common question is actually a pretty good one that I like answering:
“What kind of things do you translate?”
thanks for the comment Mago. You’re right – all joking aside, I do enjoy explaining what I do for a living. And given that translators work across such a broad range of industries, it’s fun how different and surprising the answer to that question can be even among translators themselves!
well the reaction I have to “I’m a translator” is “oh so you work with the EU in conferences and stuff like that, right?”.
People tend to get confused between translators and interpreters, and to think translators are just multilingual dictionaries
On nights out, I used to get “Oh I’d LOVE to do some translation. Maybe a few files here and there in the evenings, that would be cool. Can you send me some clients/files/all your TMs?”.
Can’t say my standard response to this won me many friends
, but this was my LIVELIHOOD; not a little dinky hobby for people who already had full-time jobs.
Agree with Em, there’s a lot of confusion out there about the difference between translators and interpreters.
Funnily enough I don’t think people tend to confuse interpreters with translators, but they confuse translators with interpreters.
First reaction is usually “Oh you are clever!” followed by enquiries about translations INTO my source languages. No-one ever appreciates the need for a translator to work only into native tongue (I know there are some exceptions, but I’m not one of them).
And the confusion about the difference between interpreting and translating is just as rife here (deepest Sussex, UK).
Lucy
It never to ceases to amaze me to what extent people from various professional backgrounds often say:
So you translate into German then?
No, professionals always translate into their mother tongue.
Oh, right. I’d never really thought about that. Yes. Makes sense, I suppose. I guess their English is bound to be better than their knowledge of some foreign langauge.
Aarghh!
- So you are a translator, then? (big pause, thinking about what the job actually entails…) You translate Harry Potter books?
- No, not really. I translate user manuals, videogames, websites…
- Ah… ( almost thinking aloud: “Sounds boring”)
- And how many foreign languages can you speak?
- Well, French is my mother tongue and I speak English, Italian, and I am refreshing my German. I have been living in the UK for the past 7 years.
- So you are BILINGUAL in English. I know this French guy who lived 2 months in Germany and speaks it fluently. He can also speak English, Spanish, Italian, Dutch… (Note to self: meet the guy and find out if he can do more than just ordering a pizza and crack obscene jokes or insults in said languages)
- I also do interpreting.
- WAOUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! INTERPRETING! THAT IS SO DIFFICULT! I ADMIRE YOU! You actually listen and talk at the same time? How do you manage? Do you work in booths at the European institutions? etc., etc….
Next time I will probably start with “I do interpreting” AND then move on to “and I also translate.”
)))
A typical Dutch response when I say I translate from English into Dutch:
What do we need Dutch translations for, we all speak and understand English fluently. (And of course they all think they can translate too, preferably into English.)
And once when I explained to someone that I completed a full-time four-year translation course: “What did you do all that time, learn the dictionary by heart?”
They either assume I translate books or into Spanish as well as English. It can be quite hard sometimes convincing people that translating into your non-native language is not a very good idea, especially in my case, and that it would be much harder for me too.
A lawyer recently asked me:
“Do you still need people to do that?”
In academia: “wow, that sounds interesting. What languages do you work in? What materials do you translate?” etc etc, followed by a really interesting conversation.
Outside academia: either “what languages do you speak?” or the sound of tumbleweed blowing across the room.
“I run my own business” seems to make the conversation last longer.
The first thing is normally: “How do you get heels to fit?”. The second: “Does your wife know?” Joking apart, the response is almost always way off the mark (confused with interpreting), and taken as some form of “hobby”. So – being a translator, for me, is often to be not fully understood and somewhat constrained in terms of being able to wax lyrical about my job. I have to save it for conferences and meet-ups with fellow translators – which may be why I babble on such occasions!
In Russia when people hear me say “I translate” they often misunderstand me because the word itself is a homonym with “transfer” or “drive”. So the first reaction is actually almost always “So you do money transfers?” (they ask with big eyes, thinking all I do is help rich bad people launder money) =) And then when they find out that I’m actually a translator they feel sorry for me because it doesn’t not sound like a “real” profession to them. =)