TJ Blog
Thursday, June 02, 2005
How to Predict Translator Performance
We in the translation business know that it's virtually impossible to accurately predict the performance of a translator on a given job. Even the best translators cannot be experts in all fields, and we all have bad days from time to time. Yet translation buyers must select translators all the time, and it's not always possible to test the translator with the job at hand or a portion thereof.
Translator buyers therefore use translators' credentials to predict their performance. These credentials may include:
Translator buyers therefore use translators' credentials to predict their performance. These credentials may include:
- a college degree in translation
- a college degree in the subject-matter field
- a professional certification
- a sample translation (not necessarily in the field in question)
- client references
- professional experience in a non-linguistic field
posted by Gabe Bokor at 4:27 PM
Table of Contents
Entering the Translation Market
Translation Industry Survey
Communication is Power
Translators and the Recession
Quality
Contracts
Edit or Not to Edit
Specialist or Generalist
Certification
Machine Translation
The Goalie
Liability Insurance for Translators
Translator Licensing
Brave New World of Translation
Globalization
Professor Camayd-Freixas and the Postville, Iowa Raid
Who Pays for Technology?
Test Translations
Globalization
Good Translations from Poor Originals?
Simple comme bonjour
How to Predict Translator Performance
Holidays and Missed Calls
Late Payments and Non-Payments
On-Line Job Mediation Services: Are They Worth It?
The Role of Translation "Agencies"
Native Language
The Internet and the Translation Profession
7 Comments:
The degree is the most important. Translation can be very underestimated. Here, everyone think they don't need a translator, since all in Lebanon are bilingual or trilingual. Much worse, one thinks if he had a degree in science, or geography, or any other field, then it would be enough. Now, translation is a science by itself, with its own theories, and whoever doesn't go there misses a great deal of the translation business.
Almost everything you mentioned can be faked; only a test or a sample translation can prove how good you are.
It's my first time in your blog, and it seems quite interesting. keep it up!
I believe the degree [and] the experience are most vital. For example, I know a UN senior translator (actually my on-the-job trainer), who was specialised in Egyptology and he's at his best in translating such 'technical' material. You may need an engineer, for instance, to check your translation of an engineering text just for the 'techobabble'.
A sample is always tentative. I can forward samples of the material I can translate quite efficienty, but you need more than one sample (in different fields) for a better judgement.
I agree that a degree is important. However, I am very suspicious of its significance after enrolling translation MA programs in both Taiwan and Australia. I see some programs are well-managed and some are crapy. If I am a client, I will ask for a cerficate and a simple test.
A degree in translation can really set you apart from all the people who claim to speak in several languages.
Language proficiency, translating experience, professional certification, and sample translation are helpful for potential clients to predict translator's performance. However, all of them are rather subjective because they are presented by translator him/herself. To have more objective evidence, potential clients had better ask for client references with complete contact details. Of course, the translator should refer them to his/her indirect clients rather than direct clients.
I would rather bet on years of experience combined with proven professional references.Translation is not an exact science whereby 1+1 is equal 2 whether you accept or not.Remember that there are numerous great translators whose "self-learning skills" are considered impecable.I consider myself to be one of them.I have completed courses at University junior level,but since translation is my compassion I have read so extensively on the subject.I'm a Portuguese Speaker by the way and Portuguese Grammar has become my daily bible.I have developed so much interess in Portuguese Grammar that some academics consider me a schoolar.However, I do not neglect college education in the translation field..
I think it's a mix of education and experience. In this day and time you will go nowhere without a degree (regardless of the field). But I know an economist who failed to pass a translation test because of her grammar mistakes. In my opinion therefore, you need to have a degree to have some credibility and some strong background in your target language (besides just being native speaker) and knowledge of the subject.
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