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Poll: Would you encourage your children to consider translation as a career?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
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Apr 18, 2015

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Would you encourage your children to consider translation as a career?".

This poll was originally submitted by tilakahuja. View the poll results »



 
Sophie Dzhygir
Sophie Dzhygir  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 02:03
German to French
+ ...
Other Apr 18, 2015

I'll encourage them to do whatever they like and they're good at. Be it translation or anything else.

 
Michael Harris
Michael Harris  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 02:03
Member (2006)
German to English
Ditto Apr 18, 2015

Sophie Dzhygir wrote:

I'll encourage them to do whatever they like and they're good at. Be it translation or anything else.


Same here


 
Paul Lambert
Paul Lambert  Identity Verified
Sweden
Local time: 02:03
Member (2006)
Swedish to English
+ ...
Surprising poll result Apr 18, 2015

I am surprised that so many of us voted "no" (as of this posting). Far more than "yes"! Can I only presume that translators think little of their professions? I would be interested in hearing from a few "no" voters what motivated that choice.

Of course, I took this question to be hypothetical (especially in my case since I have no children). Naturally, I agree with the above that we should encourage our children in whatever seems to interest them. However, given some future child of
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I am surprised that so many of us voted "no" (as of this posting). Far more than "yes"! Can I only presume that translators think little of their professions? I would be interested in hearing from a few "no" voters what motivated that choice.

Of course, I took this question to be hypothetical (especially in my case since I have no children). Naturally, I agree with the above that we should encourage our children in whatever seems to interest them. However, given some future child of mine would express an interest in becoming a translator, I would certainly not discourage it.

Again, I would be interested in hearing what some "no" voters were thinking.
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Ty Kendall
Ty Kendall  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:03
Hebrew to English
No Apr 18, 2015

Because I have no intention of procreating and overpopulating the planet even further.

 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 02:03
Spanish to English
+ ...
Yes Apr 18, 2015

I'd be happy to work with my daughter as a colleague if she ever decided to try. However, for now she's happy with her job in tourism, travelling all over the world.

 
Jennifer Forbes
Jennifer Forbes  Identity Verified
Local time: 01:03
French to English
+ ...
In memoriam
Yes Apr 18, 2015

Yes, in the sense that my "child" already is a translator - mainly of Dutch. It was his own decision and, of course, I encouraged him. We encourage and help one another in a most agreeable way and have lovely rants about the multifarious joys of our profession.

 
Elizabeth Joy Pitt de Morales
Elizabeth Joy Pitt de Morales  Identity Verified
Local time: 02:03
Member (2007)
Spanish to English
+ ...
Yes Apr 18, 2015

As a matter of fact, my son is studying translation now at the university.

I expect that, with experience, he will be a far better translator than I am.


 
Christelle P
Christelle P  Identity Verified
France
English to French
+ ...
hors sujet Apr 18, 2015

Ty Kendall wrote:

Because I have no intention of procreating and overpopulating the planet even further.





=> ok, but it doesn't answer the question. That's not what the poll is asking...


 
Lyubov Tyurina
Lyubov Tyurina  Identity Verified
Russian Federation
Local time: 04:03
French to Russian
+ ...
Definitely no. Apr 18, 2015

In Russia in most cases it is impossible to make a living in this way. Especially if you live not in Moscow.

 
José Henrique Lamensdorf
José Henrique Lamensdorf  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 22:03
English to Portuguese
+ ...
In memoriam
Exactly the same Apr 18, 2015

Michael Harris wrote:

Sophie Dzhygir wrote:

I'll encourage them to do whatever they like and they're good at. Be it translation or anything else.


Same here


However I did - and do - encourage them as much as I could/can to learn foreign languages, for any career they chose/choose to follow.


 
Carla Catolino
Carla Catolino
Italy
Local time: 02:03
Member (2008)
Italian to English
+ ...
I answered no....but Apr 18, 2015

Okay, so I said no because like so many others....I am happy as long as my children are happy. However, my 14 year old daughter is studying languages at school and wants to go to one of the best universities for translators here in Italy when she is done high school. Of course, I am happy but as long as she is happy!

 
Mónica Algazi
Mónica Algazi  Identity Verified
Uruguay
Local time: 22:03
Member (2005)
English to Spanish
Same here Apr 18, 2015

Sophie Dzhygir wrote:

I'll encourage them to do whatever they like and they're good at. Be it translation or anything else.


That said, if either of them wished to pursue a career as a translator, I would be more than happy to support him!


 
Sandra & Kenneth Grossman
Sandra & Kenneth Grossman  Identity Verified
Israel
Local time: 04:03
French to English
+ ...
No - definitely Apr 18, 2015

Because there is no future in translations - intelligent machine translation will become functional in a few short years and is one of the "hottest" fields of research.





[Edited at 2015-04-18 14:29 GMT]


 
Jennifer Levey
Jennifer Levey  Identity Verified
Chile
Local time: 22:03
Spanish to English
+ ...
@Paul Apr 18, 2015

Paul Lambert wrote:
...
I would be interested in hearing what some "no" voters were thinking.


I would most certainly encourage any child to become proficient in at least one non-native language. But, having spent the past 40 years or so as a translator, I would not encourage my own child (if I had one...) to become a translator.

To answer Paul’s question: I would far rather see my child using his own original thoughts and inspiration for the betterment of his own life – and that of others – than see him spending the next four decades churning out ‘second-hand’ thoughts, often perpetrated by people who have little or no grasp of the subject-matter of their writings.


 
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Poll: Would you encourage your children to consider translation as a career?






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