Want to be a translator!

Hellooo! I would like to become a translator. I am in Y12 and I am currently not studying any languages but next year I will be doing AS French. I would like to translate the following languages: English, French, Arabic, Hebrew, Russian. I am currently learning Arabic, Hebrew and Russian but I do not have any qualifications... Should I aim to gain some? What is required to become a translator?

Bump...

Original post by josef-nate

Professional translators always translate into their native language. I am assuming that for you, that is English.

Basically, anyone can put up a plaque and claim that they are a translator - unlike doctors, dentists and teachers. However, in reality, professional translators are expected to have a degree in all the languages from which they are translating. So if you want to translate from French, Arabic, Hebrew and Russian into English, you will need a degree in these four languages. For this reason, most professional translators offer one, maybe two languages.

Translating is a highly skilled, technical job. Not only do translators have to be proficient writers of their own native language, they also need to understand all the nuances and connotations of the language from which they are translating. For example, a translator needs to understand references to literature and to historical events in order to convey any underlying meaning or implications there might be.

Another reason why a degree is required is that the translator is legally responsible - and can therefore be held liable - for what he has produced. So if a translator makes a mistake in translating a contract, for example, he/she can end up in court.

Reply 3

josef-nate

I am bilingual in English and Hungarian. Mother is Hungarian. I guess I could translate into both? Do I need a degree in English?

Reply 4

xmarilynx

Original post by Anna Schoon

However, in reality, professional translators are expected to have a degree in all the languages from which they are translating. So if you want to translate from French, Arabic, Hebrew and Russian into English, you will need a degree in these four languages. For this reason, most professional translators offer one, maybe two languages.

Is it even possible to do a degree in 4 languages? Surely that would involve doing 2 degrees?!

I've heard that it can actually be better to do a degree in something technical (law, medicine, science etc) so that you have the technical knowledge to translate more complex documents. Institutions such as the EU don't insist you have a degree in translation, but you do need knowledge of at least 2 foreign languages.

Reply 5

Anna Schoon

Original post by xmarilynx

Is it even possible to do a degree in 4 languages? Surely that would involve doing 2 degrees?!

Yes, that's just the point. On the whole, most translators offer one or two foreign languages.

Original post by xmarilynx

I've heard that it can actually be better to do a degree in something technical (law, medicine, science etc) so that you have the technical knowledge to translate more complex documents. Institutions such as the EU don't insist you have a degree in translation, but you do need knowledge of at least 2 foreign languages.

You're right. But then you become a single-speciality translator. This is particularly common with medicine. Anecdotally, many of the specialist-area translators I know personally were bilingual from childhood. That's not a requirement!

Of course there are all sorts of varieties of translators. The best technical (non specialist-area) ones will have some sort of translation qualification - either as part of a degree course, or from a school of translation like the ESIT or ISIT in Paris, or the FTI in Geneva, for example. And then there's literary translation which is a different kettle of fish altogether!

The problem, to some extent, is that there is not an internationally-recognized qualification for translators, and that anyone can set him/herself up as a free-lance translator. Unlike doctors, lawyers or engineers who have to have the qualifications before they can start work. So quality can be a bit hit and miss - just look at some of the awful translations we have all come across!

And incidentally, just because a translator's mother tongue is English, for example, does not mean that he/she can translate into English very well - I have come across the most unintelligible gibberish written by native English speakers who speak good French but simply don't have the skills to do translation work. I did quite a lot of translation work myself at one time and I spent a certain amount of time re-doing translations for companies who had had documents translated by employees who were native speakers but not translators.

So no, you don't "need" a degree in languages to become a translator. You don't even need a single A level! But that doesn't mean that it's recommendable.

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