| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Poll: How do you keep your writing skills sharp and nimble? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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Robert Forstag 
United States
Local time: 19:59
Spanish to English
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| By taking the trouble to... | Feb 8, 2012 |
....translate as carefully as possible into my native language so as to write sentences that sound entirely natural. One way of detecting lazy translators is through their production of awkward sentences in their native languages that they would never write from scratch.
Getting into the habit of composing translated prose that sounds as natural as possible, even when the situation does not require it, seems to me a key to maintaining good writing style.
[Edited at 2012-02-0... See more ....translate as carefully as possible into my native language so as to write sentences that sound entirely natural. One way of detecting lazy translators is through their production of awkward sentences in their native languages that they would never write from scratch.
Getting into the habit of composing translated prose that sounds as natural as possible, even when the situation does not require it, seems to me a key to maintaining good writing style.
[Edited at 2012-02-08 15:50 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | All of the above | Feb 8, 2012 |
And pretty much everything that everyone has said above, too! Read/write/read/write in all the languages you know.
| | | | Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 19:59
English to Spanish
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pgschreier wrote:
I write regularly for a technical magazine. That's also a plus when I pitch my services as a translator when I can show my name on the magazine masthead or produce recent bylined articles.
Few things are more satisfying than seeing your name printed as the author of an article or essay or book. It's not ego, it's the pride of creating something from scratch, and it's one of the best credentials out there.
To the question posted by Rosa Grau: yes, translation is about writing and reading, but reading informs our writing. As John Cutler pointed out, making the task of getting familiar with the text to translate a reading experience speaks volumes about our attitude.
I knew a friend, a fellow translator, who hated to read, an attitude that I found most mystifying!
I read all sorts of things, not necessarily connected to the content that I am supposed to translate. I read about history, psychology, medical advances, economics, typography, information design, graphic design and comic strips, to name the main ones.
I see translation as a global organizational and creative effort involving text, images, space, letterforms, the shape of the paper or screen it's going to be on, etc. To inform my best efforts, I read and view a lot, not just the text lines, to learn how to compose better.
P.S. Thanks, John Cutler, for your encouraging words.
| | | | jhdarsee
United States
Local time: 17:59
Member (2010)
English to Swedish
| And listening... | Feb 8, 2012 |
I find it very useful to listen to the radio in the language I translate into. Now that you can hear any radio stations on the Internet it is easy to tune in to programs with various topics. Languages change constantly and it is interesting to keep up with how expressions are used in different kinds of situations.
I also subscribe to a magazine about language and language use.
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Tina Vonhof (X)
Canada
Local time: 17:59
Dutch to English
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Primarily by translating, making the source text understandable and sounding natural in the target language, and adapting the text to the target audience. I read a lot and have taken courses in technical writing and fiction writing. As editor of a journal, I also edit the writing of others and I in my spare time (?) I am writing bits and pieces of my memoir.
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I keep my writing skills sharp and nimble by... writing!
I have seen the terrible handwriting of people in blogs, e-mails, chats and forums, and I always tell to myself, "You won't make those mistakes. You spent money and went to a school for 11 years, then 5 years to a university, where they taught you how to write real good". I love languages and don't like it at all to write with spelling and grammar mistakes.
| | | | Helen Hagon
Local time: 00:59
Member (2011)
Russian to English
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| Reading, writing and translating | Feb 8, 2012 |
I love to read, write and translate so I do all three as much as possible (not always that easy with a job, studies and two children). When I have a gap between work projects I read, write and translate for fun. I guess I am in the right job...
I'm also in the middle of an MA course which involves lots of reading and writing as well as feedback from tutors on what I have written.
| | | | | (1) Writing; (2) translating | Feb 9, 2012 |
The best way to practice one's writing skills is to write. There's no substitute. Translating is a close second:
Simon Bruni wrote:
Translation is one of the best ways there is to improve writing skills because it makes you lift the bonnet and look closely at the nuts and bolts of the language and its writing conventions, taking you off on frequent fruitful research tangents. Exploring the differences and similarities between two languages is also an enriching experience for a writer.
Reading is passive. I admire good writers, but I don't necessarily remember what they did well enough to emulate it. One of the most beautifully written books I can remember is Beryl Markham's "West with the Night." I found joy in the stunning images, but that in no way means that I could do something similar in my own writing - and if I did, it wouldn't be me.
I've been writing a memoir - about 50,000 words done in the last 8 months. I find that writing from my own gut, finding my own juice, instead of rewriting what my clients said in another language, has loosened me up and given my writing more power. And sometimes that transfers back to my translation work. So I've got a feedback loop going.
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| Reading manuals on how to improve your writing | Mar 1, 2012 |
As other said, translating is a practice itself.
I like to read writing skill manuals, the ones that tells you what you shoudl avoid and what you should aim to, especially when they have examples.
I put bookmarks in the manuals and then I check my translations against the book - every time I find something I could use for my next translations.
With this trick, I am learning by doing and "lean writing" becomes natural.
Reading my early jobs I can really see m... See more As other said, translating is a practice itself.
I like to read writing skill manuals, the ones that tells you what you shoudl avoid and what you should aim to, especially when they have examples.
I put bookmarks in the manuals and then I check my translations against the book - every time I find something I could use for my next translations.
With this trick, I am learning by doing and "lean writing" becomes natural.
Reading my early jobs I can really see my progress, and this motivates me a lot.
[Edited at 2012-03-01 12:54 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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