Poll: Do you ever get translator's block? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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Nothing like a writer’s block but rather mini-blocks, that can throw me off for anything between a few seconds to one or two hours. It usually happens when I’m extremely tired or on the contrary if I have been on vacation… It can take various forms: for instance, I can’t find words for terms that I have been translating for years. They're on the tip of my tongue but don't come out when I need them and when I look it up in a dictionary it will spring to mind just as I’m opening it and i... See more Nothing like a writer’s block but rather mini-blocks, that can throw me off for anything between a few seconds to one or two hours. It usually happens when I’m extremely tired or on the contrary if I have been on vacation… It can take various forms: for instance, I can’t find words for terms that I have been translating for years. They're on the tip of my tongue but don't come out when I need them and when I look it up in a dictionary it will spring to mind just as I’m opening it and immediately forget what it was before I type it! Or I receive a new project, open it… and it looks like Chinese (or any other language I don’t master) and I simply don’t know how to do it!
It usually helps if I take a small break, watch TV, go for walk and try to occupy my mind with something different, away from the computer. Sometimes taking a nap makes a miracle!
Another thing: at the slightest minor cold, my mind goes dead! I can go a long time between colds, but when I get one, it’s usually a beauty. There have been times when my daily translation output has decreased quite substantially and I couldn’t translate more than X words riddled with silly grammar errors… ▲ Collapse
| | | | Parrot 
Spain
Local time: 12:07
Spanish to English
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| What's a translator's block? | Jan 12, 2016 |
A writer's block comes from not having ideas, oder? I mean, a translator deals with someone else's ideas.
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 12:07
Spanish to English
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| Yes , sometimes | Jan 12, 2016 |
In fact, right now I have translated drafts ready of two shortish texts for publication in a trade journal. However, the results so far are rather uninspiring and I'm struggling to make the content "dynamic" and readable enough for the standards demanded by the editors. Basically trying to make a silk purse out of cliche-ridden sow's ear...
Examples: (yadda yadda) innovation, (yadda yadda) corporate responsibility, (yadda yadda) sustainability, (yadda yadda) environmentally friendly... See more In fact, right now I have translated drafts ready of two shortish texts for publication in a trade journal. However, the results so far are rather uninspiring and I'm struggling to make the content "dynamic" and readable enough for the standards demanded by the editors. Basically trying to make a silk purse out of cliche-ridden sow's ear...
Examples: (yadda yadda) innovation, (yadda yadda) corporate responsibility, (yadda yadda) sustainability, (yadda yadda) environmentally friendly... And all the companies involved basically say the same thing. After the several hundredth time it becomes wearing...
[Edited at 2016-01-12 10:30 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Parrot wrote:
A writer's block comes from not having ideas, oder? I mean, a translator deals with someone else's ideas.
Not being able to put your finger on just the right word isn't quite the same thing.
Obviously I do have good and bad days, sometimes due to my energy levels but generally due to the quality of the source text. A really well-written text is a joy to translate - but also a rarity.
I have a very low boredom threshold, and making silk purses out of sows' ears can get a tad tedious after a while, leading to ever more frequent Facebook/ProZ breaks.
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Writer's block means that you can't get started. I'm always up for tackling a translation. The blocks arise when I can't immediately figure out how to solve specific problems. I'm talking about staring at a sentence and not knowing what to do with it. For me, there are at least three main causes:
- The sentence is ungrammatical;
- The sentence is long with multiple embeddings (I have come across sentences in Spanish 180 words long with six or seven levels of embedding) and nee... See more Writer's block means that you can't get started. I'm always up for tackling a translation. The blocks arise when I can't immediately figure out how to solve specific problems. I'm talking about staring at a sentence and not knowing what to do with it. For me, there are at least three main causes:
- The sentence is ungrammatical;
- The sentence is long with multiple embeddings (I have come across sentences in Spanish 180 words long with six or seven levels of embedding) and needs to be streamlined or broken into more than one sentence;
- The syntax can't be rendered in the target language and creative solutions are needed to capture the idea. I already have a bag of tricks for dealing with these structures, but every sentence is different and I constantly encounter new challenges.
The first two cases are likely to occur when authors dictate their work and then don't read the transcripts very carefully.
I tend to see these situations in long documents where authors pontificate about abstract ideas - which make up at least half my work.
They often call for a break and my biggest problem is avoiding the refrigerator. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Paulinho Fonseca
Brazil
Local time: 07:07
Member (2011)
English to Portuguese
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Translating someone else's ideas might give us blocks and yes, in some cases, blocks arise due to cultural issues, corporate language, localization, etc. Another block I sometimes have is on shortening segments. One of my clients (IT) demands segments to shorten in order to fit the purpose (apps). Though I love the challenge, it is time consuming.
| | | | Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 06:07
English to Spanish
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Parrot wrote:
A writer's block comes from not having ideas, oder? I mean, a translator deals with someone else's ideas.
Whether it's ideas or ways to express them, something is blocking what some people consider the ongoing flow of writing.
In my view, writer's block is an illusion. Sure, there are very prolific writers (and composers, like Vivaldi): they can turn in stories, novels, sonatas, symphonies, cantatas, etc. in record number. That, in my view, is not what the average writer (or composer) is able to do. Why? Because writers are not machines with a predictable output. Same with translators.
To translate is to write. Even when you deal with someone else's ideas or meanings, you have to use your own to express them in another language. Example: the word taxpayer literally means someone who pays taxes, but a word-for-word translation into, say, Spanish, is utterly meaningless and nonidiomatic. Hence, the translator has to use her native language's own ideas and ways of expression to produce the translation.
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Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 06:07
English to Spanish
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| Hitting a nerve | Jan 12, 2016 |
neilmac wrote:
In fact, right now I have translated drafts ready of two shortish texts for publication in a trade journal. However, the results so far are rather uninspiring and I'm struggling to make the content "dynamic" and readable enough for the standards demanded by the editors. Basically trying to make a silk purse out of cliche-ridden sow's ear...
Examples: (yadda yadda) innovation, (yadda yadda) corporate responsibility, (yadda yadda) sustainability, (yadda yadda) environmentally friendly... And all the companies involved basically say the same thing. After the several hundredth time it becomes wearing...
[Edited at 2016-01-12 10:30 GMT]
That's basically what most American companies' corporate writing (whether it's advertising or marketing copy, or sales presentations) have devolved into. All those words buzzing around, making noise and little else.
[Edited at 2016-01-12 16:47 GMT]
| | | | Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 06:07
English to Spanish
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| Now that's an overflow of comments! | Jan 12, 2016 |
I love Muriel's sensible detailing of what a translator's block on a daily basis can be. Now I feel the energy to write a blog entry about the whole thing!
And, like Muriel, I try not to make my breaks into fridge ones. Sure, who doesn't like to munch on something crunchy like an apple or walnuts while reading or thinking. After all, the word ruminate (to reflect deeply on a subject) also means to take in solid food.
Now that's food for thought!
... See more I love Muriel's sensible detailing of what a translator's block on a daily basis can be. Now I feel the energy to write a blog entry about the whole thing!
And, like Muriel, I try not to make my breaks into fridge ones. Sure, who doesn't like to munch on something crunchy like an apple or walnuts while reading or thinking. After all, the word ruminate (to reflect deeply on a subject) also means to take in solid food.
Now that's food for thought!
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| | | | Sheila Wilson
Spain
Local time: 11:07
Member (2007)
English
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Everything seizes up from time to time when you're in your sixties if my body is anything to go by . I need inspiration for my marketing texts, and that doesn't always come easily.
| | | | Mario Freitas
Brazil
Local time: 07:07
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
I'm gonna write down all the snags translators mention in the quick polls that interfere in their professional lives or make it worse, and which I had never even thought of. I could write a book about that. So far, my answer was thankfully "no" to all of them.
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