| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Translator's age may cause his or her quality of translation Thread poster: Ahnan Alex
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Ahnan Alex 
Indonesia
Local time: 13:36
Member (2010)
English to Indonesian
+ ...
As a newbie in translation business, I really wonder whether the age of the translator will affect his or her translation quality as he or she lives in the different time. Is it the same to the case of a boy of 10 living 50 years ago and the boy of the same age living today? The one living 50 years ago, of course, did not know what internet was and the one living today knows well about the internet in all aspects. Does any one know well about this matter? I really appreciate for your sharing. Th... See more As a newbie in translation business, I really wonder whether the age of the translator will affect his or her translation quality as he or she lives in the different time. Is it the same to the case of a boy of 10 living 50 years ago and the boy of the same age living today? The one living 50 years ago, of course, did not know what internet was and the one living today knows well about the internet in all aspects. Does any one know well about this matter? I really appreciate for your sharing. Thanks. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Not so much age ... | Mar 7, 2010 |
... as ability. For example, translating into a language that is not the translator's first language does not result in high quality results. There may be exceptions that I am unaware of.
Another point is that knowledge comes with age.
As my grandson (3-years) pointed out to his father, 'When I was little, I didn't know that I love Lego'.
| | | | | In general quality grows with experience... | Mar 7, 2010 |
... and experience goes hand in hand with age.
Teresa Borges
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George, I beg to differ. I have lived in the UK for the past 30 years and qualified in 1976 in Finland. However, I feel far more comfortable in translating from Finnish into English than the other way round. There are new Finnish words I am not aware of until I see them, such as "dongle" or "memory stick" but when I do see them, I know the English equivalent. I guess I am the exception that makes the rule like they say. I have seen some rubbish TV translations, I don't know where they get t... See more George, I beg to differ. I have lived in the UK for the past 30 years and qualified in 1976 in Finland. However, I feel far more comfortable in translating from Finnish into English than the other way round. There are new Finnish words I am not aware of until I see them, such as "dongle" or "memory stick" but when I do see them, I know the English equivalent. I guess I am the exception that makes the rule like they say. I have seen some rubbish TV translations, I don't know where they get these people from. One example from years ago, in an American soap. The bloke says:"You have to look after number one", meaning looking after yourself. The translation was "You have to look out for your number one girl". Meaning exactly what? Another gem was the translation of "Terms of Endearment" which was translated so wrong I couldn't believe it. It made so sense in Finnish. Another brainwave was the term "to break wind", having been translated as "a windbreaker". Doh! ▲ Collapse
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Roberto Rey
Colombia
Local time: 01:36
Member (2007)
Spanish to English
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| Never underestimate the power of experience | Mar 7, 2010 |
Ahnan Alex wrote:
As a newbie in translation business, I really wonder whether the age of the translator will affect his or her translation quality as he or she lives in the different time.
That would be true if the translator lived in the past and never updated. The mistakes of a newbie will probably be corrected with experience. I'd give my project to a 65 year old translator instead of a 20 year old colleges graduate, without thinking twice. Experience cannot be replaced with a college degree, from a flashy university.
| | | | | However, the subject and the audience also play a part | Mar 7, 2010 |
If the text was intended for 20-year-olds and was written in a very informal style, and given two translators differing more in age than in linguistic abilities, I'd go for the younger one as s/he is likely to have a better grasp of youth slang.
Conversely, if the text described the realities of 20 years ago (even for comparison only), I'd go for the older one who's "been there, seen it".
And with specialised fields... well, which mechanic would you select to have your car repaired: ... See more If the text was intended for 20-year-olds and was written in a very informal style, and given two translators differing more in age than in linguistic abilities, I'd go for the younger one as s/he is likely to have a better grasp of youth slang.
Conversely, if the text described the realities of 20 years ago (even for comparison only), I'd go for the older one who's "been there, seen it".
And with specialised fields... well, which mechanic would you select to have your car repaired: one in business for 20 years or a novice?
[Edited at 2010-03-07 16:17 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Definitely Yes and Dedfinitely No | Mar 7, 2010 |
Dear colleague.
Your question is interesting in its own right. Certainly many of us have already mused about it, not only with direct reference to translation.
I personally cant help feeling much safer as a client when it is an obviously experienced professional (a translator, a layer, a surgeon, etc) is serving me. There are of course incredibly talented youngsters rendering excellent work everywhere, thank God. But even these will certainly get ever better, make ever less mistake... See more Dear colleague.
Your question is interesting in its own right. Certainly many of us have already mused about it, not only with direct reference to translation.
I personally cant help feeling much safer as a client when it is an obviously experienced professional (a translator, a layer, a surgeon, etc) is serving me. There are of course incredibly talented youngsters rendering excellent work everywhere, thank God. But even these will certainly get ever better, make ever less mistakes, improve anyway, in the long run.
Years teach most of us lots of things that days simply dont know, and decades teach us lots of things that years simply dont know. The same would hold still true if our lives could comprise longer time units like centuries. Experience is something build and is always an asset.
In this line, age will certainly always count as a plus.
On the other hand, individuals are different and while some spend for instance twenty years in a meaningful practice which earns them respectable knowledge, others seem to repeat mechanically twenty times the boring experience of one year, learning and improving themselves much less than they could have done if they only cared. For those, age certainly does not make them ever beter as doers of their respective things.
It ill always depend on the individual, though I think his or her performance naturally tends to improve to some extent. In twenty years of any practice, even those who refuse to make any conscious effort to improve will surely know more and make less mistakes in the long run. ▲ Collapse
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I qualified over 30 years ago so am no spring chicken. I continuously improve by reading Finnish literature and newspapers so I am up with modern lingo as well as have a lot of experience with various fields. I would always pick an older translator. I have noticed that amongs the younger generation, spelling and grammar leave a lot to be desired.
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Vincenzo Di Maso
Portugal
Local time: 07:36
Member (2009)
English to Italian
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| experience is a plus, but there are too many prejudices against youngsters | Mar 7, 2010 |
I think experience is fundamental in any job. But qualifications and skills are not less important. An experienced person must be up-to-date and must have qualifications. Then it depends on the use the translation is intended for. Let's suppose I'm an outsourcer: of course I'd assign a translation of an user manual to a highly-experienced translator. But as Iza alledged, I'd prefer a young translator for a text written in a very informal style and intended to youngsters.
People must be ju... See more I think experience is fundamental in any job. But qualifications and skills are not less important. An experienced person must be up-to-date and must have qualifications. Then it depends on the use the translation is intended for. Let's suppose I'm an outsourcer: of course I'd assign a translation of an user manual to a highly-experienced translator. But as Iza alledged, I'd prefer a young translator for a text written in a very informal style and intended to youngsters.
People must be judged after being tested and after examining their CVs, including qualifications and performed works. Some years ago, I remember that some outsourcer, especially Italians, ruled me out just because they saw my identity card. And they did that not caring about experiences, qualifications and skills. This is a bad habit that is still very common in some Countries. The situation is totally different in UK or in the USA, when they definitely rely on youngsters. In those Country, skills are the element that counts.
Anyway, I would never undervalue experience. It's an important point and can make the difference. It's usually true that more experience you have, more skilled you are. Unfortunately somewhere many people apply that universally and until you have 28 or 30, you are always treated as a greenhorn. I say that, because I lived this situation in the past.
So... the criteria are 3: qualifications, experience and skills. Then everyone can say which one is more important. ▲ Collapse
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I agree with previous comments regarding experience and qualifications, but I believe that culture, understood as a wide range of knowledge in as many as possible fields, plays a paramount role. Culture, of course, tends to increase with age, just like experience, so, at least in theory, the older the translator, the more experience and culture the client will benefit from.
Even to translate things considered "for youths" such as video games and state of the art electronic gadgets, ... See more I agree with previous comments regarding experience and qualifications, but I believe that culture, understood as a wide range of knowledge in as many as possible fields, plays a paramount role. Culture, of course, tends to increase with age, just like experience, so, at least in theory, the older the translator, the more experience and culture the client will benefit from.
Even to translate things considered "for youths" such as video games and state of the art electronic gadgets, one needs to have a certain culture (or knowledge) of those fields, regardless of the age. Sure, a youngster can write a very "fresh" text, aimed at people his/her own age, but it will be useless if it is full of grammar and orthographic mistakes. It will have to go through the hands of a more "experienced" reviser.
IMHO, this "gathering of knowledge" is achieved mainly through one means: reading. Reading (almost) everything that falls in our hands, and everything we have the change to read will eventually help us be better translators. And not only in the quality of work we perform, but also in our relationships with clients/providers, and in the management of our business. Listening to all sorts of music, watching tv and movies, and traveling and meeting new people and cultures also help a lot.
Do not get me wrong, I am not saying a translator should not be specialized; but rather that everything he or she picks up along his/her path in this life will eventually serve him/her to better perform his/her job.
[Edited at 2010-03-07 20:14 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Ahnan Alex
Indonesia
Local time: 13:36
Member (2010)
English to Indonesian
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks for your sharing. The information really helps me understand more about the nature of being a translator.
| | | | jyuan_us
United States
Local time: 02:36
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
+ ...
| The comparison is irrelevant to your question | Mar 8, 2010 |
Ahnan Alex wrote:
Is it the same to the case of a boy of 10 living 50 years ago and the boy of the same age living today? The one living 50 years ago, of course, did not know what internet was and the one living today knows well about the internet in all aspects. Does any one know well about this matter? I really appreciate for your sharing. Thanks.
What do you want to get by comparing a boy of 10 living 50 years ago with the boy of the same age living today?
To me it only makes sense to compare a translator 50 years of age for example with one in their twenties.
[Edited at 2010-03-08 00:56 GMT]
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| It depends on the subject you are translating | Mar 8, 2010 |
It depends on the subject and the circumstances you are translating.
Age is a minor factor if you are a newly qualified specialised translator and have studied a subject with steadily changing rules and knowlede such as law, medicine or physics, only to name a few.
Here, it is important to be up to date. And older translators might not have this special new knowledge without proper research as their knowledg might not be 'up-to-date'. On the other haned a specialist translator fresh... See more It depends on the subject and the circumstances you are translating.
Age is a minor factor if you are a newly qualified specialised translator and have studied a subject with steadily changing rules and knowlede such as law, medicine or physics, only to name a few.
Here, it is important to be up to date. And older translators might not have this special new knowledge without proper research as their knowledg might not be 'up-to-date'. On the other haned a specialist translator fresh from UNI with a lot of detailed knowledge might miss out the linguistic part as he hasn't got the experience in playing with words and transmitting information to the reader of the target text. As a translator you are an information broker. Therefore both elements, specialist knowledge and linguistic abilities, come into account.
Some agencies want to know how many words you have translated so far. This might be important for some subjects such as literature or journalism but I think it is in subjects such as law not completely necessary as the focus here has to be on legal knowledge (ideally in both legal systems) and on technical knowledge such a how to translate legal documents in the correct way.
It is not by accident that only recently the City University has started a course to obtain a MA in Legal Translation and that there is quite a few literature available on the correct traslation of legal documents or patents. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | point me in the right direction | Mar 8, 2010 |
sivara, I do a lot of contract and law translations. Can you recommend any dictionaries? So fair my MOTs have been sufficient.
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I would like to suggest not really dictionaries but two really helpful books which are dealing with translating legal documents in general:
1) Alcaraz/Hughes: Legal translation explained, St. Jerome
2) Mayoral Asensio: Translating Official Documents, St. Jerome
They give you a real good help and points to think off when preparing your translation!
Hope you'll find it as interesting as I did!
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