Poll: Do you feel that you will someday get bored of your job as a translator? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
|
|---|
This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you feel that you will someday get bored of your job as a translator?".
View the poll results »
| | | |
I don\'t think so as it never happened so far and I have been translating full-time for over 30 years… Of course, sometimes I have to do stuff I don’t enjoy doing (administrative work) and some projects are more interesting than others, but overall the good bits far outweigh the boring or annoying ones!
| | | | Thayenga 
Germany
Local time: 12:47
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
Not in this life.
| | | |
But I might widen my areas of specialization, if I feel it becomes too monotonous.
| | |
|
|
|
It\'s not what I would consider a \"boring\" job.
| | | | Luiz Barucke
Brazil
Local time: 07:47
Spanish to Portuguese
+ ...
| Maybe tired, not bored | Aug 9, 2015 |
I don\\\'t believe I\\\'d be bored someday working with translation, with so many fields and subjects. Actually, I think it\\\'s very exciting. Maybe if someone works always with a same kind of translation... Not my case.
What worries me is getting tired, physically I mean. I won\\\'t be able to be in front of a computer 10-12 hours a day for the rest of my life. My back, neck, arms and eyes won\\\'t let me.
That\\\'s why I always try to raise my rates from time to time... See more I don\\\'t believe I\\\'d be bored someday working with translation, with so many fields and subjects. Actually, I think it\\\'s very exciting. Maybe if someone works always with a same kind of translation... Not my case.
What worries me is getting tired, physically I mean. I won\\\'t be able to be in front of a computer 10-12 hours a day for the rest of my life. My back, neck, arms and eyes won\\\'t let me.
That\\\'s why I always try to raise my rates from time to time so I can keep my income with less working hours.
But bored? I don\\\'t think so.
[Editada em 2015-08-09 17:39 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | |
The answer is \"I don\'t know\".
I refuse to play \"you may regret this in the future\" games.
| | | | Yaotl Altan
Mexico
Local time: 04:48
Member (2006)
English to Spanish
+ ...
I love translation too much. This noble profession has generated a lot of satisfation in my life: it let me travel and know other countries, other places in my own country, to meet wonderful colleagues and, insh\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'Allah, my next and last love of my life.
Translation keeps me updated with tons of terms of several fields: geopolitics, electronics, patents, and as the runner who has completed a marathon and needs water, translation makes me research words and study their r... See more I love translation too much. This noble profession has generated a lot of satisfation in my life: it let me travel and know other countries, other places in my own country, to meet wonderful colleagues and, insh\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'Allah, my next and last love of my life.
Translation keeps me updated with tons of terms of several fields: geopolitics, electronics, patents, and as the runner who has completed a marathon and needs water, translation makes me research words and study their roots to analyze links with other languages.
Translation lets me go to the cinema on Tuesday mornings without people making noises like in weekends. Translation gives me time to run on Thursday afternoons, if I want, while people drive bored for 2 hours to their homes. Transation is a helpful tool to spread information about many people suffering aroun the world.
Translation is linked to the sweetest moments of my life. I remember a 3 year-old nephew asked me why I used the laptop too much. I tried to explain him the process of translation: \"I have to read words in a language and then convert them into another language.\" One day, when he was playing with a friend, and the 2 kids approached to the screen, but they didn\'t find any videogame, so my nephew told him \"He is my uncle, and he is like a magician, he works with words and then people give him money, then he buys chicha (a cold rice-based drink very popular in Venezuela) for me.\". From 3 to 6 years old, he used to ask me how to say many daily things and situations.
No, I would never get bored of translation. I thank God and life for this chance to enjoy this beautiful job.
[Modifié le 2015-08-09 17:59 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | |
|
|
|
Jeff Whittaker
United States
Local time: 06:48
Member (2002)
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Last week, I got to do | Aug 9, 2015 |
a couple of very interesting translations in which I had the opportunity to be very creative and I had plenty of time to think about the words and expressions I wanted to use. This reminded me of how much I enjoy translating.
I love translation, but I hate how the industry of translation is becoming commoditized by forcing translators to work on isolated translation segments without the ability to create a comprehensive translation, forcing translators to race against the clock or a... See more a couple of very interesting translations in which I had the opportunity to be very creative and I had plenty of time to think about the words and expressions I wanted to use. This reminded me of how much I enjoy translating.
I love translation, but I hate how the industry of translation is becoming commoditized by forcing translators to work on isolated translation segments without the ability to create a comprehensive translation, forcing translators to race against the clock or against each other, forcing us to alter our translations and the way we translate for the sake of a computer system or automated translation portal that is ultimately used to pay us less money.
The daily influx of new translation start-ups that constantly attempt to instill the erroneous idea into the public consciousness that translation can be done increasingly faster and cheaper by taking advantage of the supposed massive hoards of heretofore untapped cave-dwelling linguists who are constantly shackled to their computer screens or cell phones and are champing at the bit to translate any document for any amount of credits, units, crusts of bread, wampum or other such designation ingeniously created to mask the paltry remuneration they will receive once the Earth completes one full rotation around the Sun.
All of this sucks the joy out of the profession and turns us into replaceable and mindless robots and galley slaves slogging away at random context-less sentences flashed across an emotionless computer screen.
[Edited at 2015-08-09 18:19 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Yes, I agree completely | Aug 9, 2015 |
Jeff Whittaker wrote:
a couple of very interesting translations in which I had the opportunity to be very creative and I had plenty of time to think about the words and expressions I wanted to use. This reminded me of how much I enjoy translating.
I love translation, but I hate how the industry of translation is becoming commoditized by forcing translators to work on isolated translation segments without the ability to create a comprehensive translation, forcing translators to race against the clock or against each other, forcing us to alter our translations and the way we translate for the sake of a computer system or automated translation portal that is ultimately used to pay us less money.
The daily influx of new translation start-ups that constantly attempt to instill the erroneous idea into the public consciousness that translation can be done increasingly faster and cheaper by taking advantage of the supposed massive hoards of heretofore untapped cave-dwelling linguists who are constantly shackled to their computer screens or cell phones and are champing at the bit to translate any document for any amount of credits, units, crusts of bread, wampum or other such designation ingeniously created to mask the paltry remuneration they will receive once the Earth completes one full rotation around the Sun.
All of this sucks the joy out of the profession and turns us into replaceable and mindless robots and galley slaves slogging away at random context-less sentences flashed across an emotionless computer screen.
[Edited at 2015-08-09 18:19 GMT]
It\'s not as much the \"pure act\" of translating but all that surrounds it, that really annoys me and ruins the pleasure of translating in itself. I have been tired of it since a long time already and I doubt there is a solution for that.
[Edited at 2015-08-09 18:50 GMT]
| | | | Mario Freitas
Brazil
Local time: 07:48
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
With absolutely every other profession I tried before. I gave them all up when I finally decided to dedicate full-time to translation. Too bad I didn\'t do this earlier in my life, because I found in translation what I really love. I\'ll be bored when I\'m 80.
P.S. - Why the hell is ProZ adding a \"/\" before all my apostrophes? Am I doing something wrong?
[Edited at 2015-08-09 19:22 GMT]
| | | | Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 06:48
English to Spanish
+ ...
First of all, boredom, like physical pain, has a purpose: we feel restless and start thinking up novel ways of dealing with things when we get bored; we may even take up a new activity or engage in something we might have considered too risky before.
Most translators need a more or less constant intellectual input to keep interested and engaged. That\'s why most of them do other things besides translation, but which are intellectual in nature. Granted, the diversity of personalities... See more First of all, boredom, like physical pain, has a purpose: we feel restless and start thinking up novel ways of dealing with things when we get bored; we may even take up a new activity or engage in something we might have considered too risky before.
Most translators need a more or less constant intellectual input to keep interested and engaged. That\'s why most of them do other things besides translation, but which are intellectual in nature. Granted, the diversity of personalities among translators ensure that not all of us spend our breaks or downtime indoors reading a book or pondering about why horseshoe crabs still exist.
I do need constant intellectual stimulation, akin to trying a new labyrinth every other day. Right now, I am listening to John Rutter choral music numbers; the music keeps my mind juices flowing, keeps me alive and smiling. And no, I\'m not using some dinky computer speakers; I use the real deal: a 6-speaker amplifier-enabled audio pro system. The whole apartment is filled with sound, no distortions.
Ever heard of Opera Babes? That\'s what I\'m listening to right now. ♫ ▲ Collapse
| | |
|
|
|
I'm coming up on 50 years of translating and I'm not bored yet.
Maybe a little tired. I'd like to have more time to myself at this point.
| | | | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Poll: Do you feel that you will someday get bored of your job as a translator? | Wordfast Pro | Translation Memory Software for Any Platform
Exclusive discount for ProZ.com users!
Save over 13% when purchasing Wordfast Pro through ProZ.com. Wordfast is the world's #1 provider of platform-independent Translation Memory software. Consistently ranked the most user-friendly and highest value
Buy now! » |
| | Protemos translation business management system | Create your account in minutes, and start working! 3-month trial for agencies, and free for freelancers!
The system lets you keep client/vendor database, with contacts and rates, manage projects and assign jobs to vendors, issue invoices, track payments, store and manage project files, generate business reports on turnover profit per client/manager etc.
More info » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
