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Poll: Would you consider getting a doctorate in Translation to enhance your credibility as a translator?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
Christine Andersen
Christine Andersen  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 12:31
Member (2003)
Danish to English
+ ...
Phew, it looks as if the cats are safe, then... Mar 22, 2017

Chris S wrote:

I'd rather eat my cat

....

So, er, no.

The best way of enhancing your credibility as a translator is to be a good translator, not to have more letters after your name.




-- stroke the moggy from me, Chris!


 
Erzsébet Czopyk
Erzsébet Czopyk  Identity Verified
Hungary
Local time: 12:31
Member (2006)
Russian to Hungarian
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SITE LOCALIZER
not yet, but Mar 22, 2017

Muriel Vasconcellos wrote:

Unlike Chris, translation kept piquing my curiosity about how language works, so I went back to school in mid-career to study linguistic theory. I was also teaching translation, and I wanted to know how to explain it to my students. I didn't do it to "enhance my credibility as a translator." I did it simply because I wanted to.

Well, it's not quite that simple. I am named for my aunt, who earned a doctorate in psychology at a time when it was rare for women to go to graduate school. I never quite knew if I was inspired by her, or competing with her, or what.


I had no chance to do it straight after the university, because my first son was born with a congenital illness. Now they all grew up, but I still cannot cover the expenses. If I could win a lottery, I would go back and continue my studies in the field of phraseology.

But it would (I am pretty sure) not effect in any way of the quality of my translation and I would not use the title.

[Edited at 2017-03-22 14:38 GMT]


 
Hege Jakobsen Lepri
Hege Jakobsen Lepri  Identity Verified
Norway
Local time: 12:31
Member (2002)
English to Norwegian
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I wouldn't mind actually - I love studying- but my next educational pursuit is an MFA Mar 22, 2017

...because an MFA in creative writing sounds fantastic.
I also have a certificate in publishing on my to-do list
So any Ph.d. (and I did start one - in a different field - then moved and had kids and stuff) will have to come after that.

(there is no limit to what you can do when you're an empty-nester)


 
The Misha
The Misha
Local time: 07:31
Russian to English
+ ...
Next thing we know, we'll be talking about PhDs in Plumbing Mar 22, 2017

Or Creative Nosepicking. The world must have really gone mad.

 
Mario Freitas
Mario Freitas  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 08:31
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
No Mar 22, 2017

No, because it wouldn't make the slightest difference for most clients or potential clients. Senior clients, experienced in our market, have long learned that about half of the best translators they have ever worked with have never set foot in a translation course in college. Plus, clients that require a degree in translation are a tiny minority, usually not so experienced in the market, or too exacting, i. e., they will make lots of requirements and complains to you later.

So, rea
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No, because it wouldn't make the slightest difference for most clients or potential clients. Senior clients, experienced in our market, have long learned that about half of the best translators they have ever worked with have never set foot in a translation course in college. Plus, clients that require a degree in translation are a tiny minority, usually not so experienced in the market, or too exacting, i. e., they will make lots of requirements and complains to you later.

So, really, NO!

[Edited at 2017-03-23 03:54 GMT]
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Mario Freitas
Mario Freitas  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 08:31
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Chris again Mar 22, 2017

Chris S wrote:
Studying translation theory at postgraduate level was one of the most pointless and soul-destroying things I have ever undertaken, up there with studying linguistics and literature as an undergraduate.
I love languages, I love translation and I love books, but the combination of endless speculative overanalysis and pedantically explaining the bleeding obvious just sucked all the joy out of them.
So, er, no.
The best way of enhancing your credibility as a translator is to be a good translator, not to have more letters after your name.


Once again, perfectly put, Chris.


 
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Poll: Would you consider getting a doctorate in Translation to enhance your credibility as a translator?






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