I'm a translator - AMA

[TranslatorHere]

Bored and hot. Namechanged for this. Happy to answer any questions!

How many languages do you speak? What made you become a translator, it's something I have thought about doing myself.

How are you paid? And is it still quite badly paid?

Have you ever changed what someone actually said? For any reason? (Especially a funny one!)

Do you do any work for the Police?

I am bilingual in English and Spanish. I translate in both directions, and also from French, Italian, Portuguese, and Catalan into English and Spanish.

I used to be an academic, but grew disenchanted with the university world, and I had the good sense to get my Diploma in Translation when I got my PhD.

I freelance from home. It suits me because I'm an introvert, and I like the flexibility and deciding how and when I work, and how much work I want to take on. I know other translators who prefer to work in-house for companies, or who share an office just to get out of the house in the morning and talk to other people, though.

It's not what I want to do in the long term, but it allows me to make a good living while I explore other options.

Does it pay well?

@Borridge It depends. It's not particularly well paid, no, but in my case it helps that I'm quite fast and can deal with large volumes relatively quickly (I also use a specialised software, Trados). I have a good working relationship with an agency, so even though my fees are not very high, I'm happy working with them because they send me a steady flow of work, and they're nice people.

I send my clients an invoice at the end of each month, and they pay within a given period - ranging from 30 to 45 days, usually. (Although I've had clients who delayed payments for TWO YEARS).

I've been learning a European language for years - my OH's native language. I'm still not flippin' fluent. What's the secret to becoming properly fluent?

@OuchLegoHurts Translators usually change very obvious mistakes in the original text if they come across any, and often send a note pointing them out.

I've never changed anything for fun, although God knows I've been tempted! However, I tend to be a stickler for accuracy when it comes to tone, and sometimes the client has softened it. (The original text said that something was utter rubbish, so that's what I translated. The client was politer ).

@Do you do any work for the Police? No, but I work for several law firms, and I do get to see some funny cases now and then.

Oops, that was meant for @Snowdrifthill.

Have you ever done live translation? I go to quite a lot of conferences where there is live translation through an earpiece. It’s so incredible!

My dd wants to translate. She is 15 and fluent in Spanish, more or less she'd say. What qualifications should she aim for? GCSE and a-levels I'm assuming, but is university the only pathway to this career?

@Neptunesgiraffe Personally, I think the trick is shamelessness. People are usually far too embarassed about looking silly or ridiculous because they don't speak a language well.

Be shameless. And find a way to enjoy it (e.g. watching series you like, listening to podcasts, silly pop songs, whatever rocks your boat) so that it becomes part of your daily life. If you see learning a language as a chore you won't get anywhere.

Do you translate into American English or British English?
We use translators (via the phone) for our non English speaking clients and we find that they use a lot of Americanisms, although we and our clients are in the UK.

@RiddleyW Live translators are technically called interpreters. And yes, I've done it.

I stopped doing it because the pay wasn't better, I wasn't paid for things like transport (getting to the venue or wherever), and - yes, it's completely exhausting!

I remember a woman in a conference who was giving a lecture in Spanish and she went on and on and on and on without using a verb (something that it's easier to do in Spanish than in English - English sentence structure is more rigid than in Spanish). I was gripping on to my desk, white-knuckled, praying for her to say the verb because I couldn't translate the sentence until I knew what it was. I just wanted to strangle her.

Nerve-racking, I tell you.

@CholloDeNombre My degree wasn't in Translation Studies or anything like that.

I would recommend that she take a look at the Chartered Institute of Linguists' website (www.ciol.org.uk/). They have several programmes she might be interested in, and they offer the Diploma in Translation, which is the main professional standard in Britain (and is also recognised abroad).

@MrsMoastyToasty Both. As I said, I use a translation software program (Trados), which allows you to select the dialect of the language you are translating into (so if you are translating into American English it will mark "specialise" as a typo, for example).

Most of the differences come down to spelling, date format, and some vocabulary (e.g. lift, purse, braces, etc.) You just need to keep an eye out for those.

Im honestly in awe of anyone doing the interpreter thing. I can imagine that as well! You do often get a sort of long nervous pause and then a fast catch up.

I speak a bit of Japanese and can completely see how that would happen there. You could listen for quite a while to Japanese before knowing if the speaker was saying they did or did not do something.

@TranslatorHere you've absolutely described me!
I will endeavor to be more shameless. Thanks for the tip! :)

@Neptunesgiraffe The thing is, many people think that native speakers will laugh at them if they speak their language badly.

In my experience, native speakers love it if you try to speak their language, however badly, and will help and encourage you. After all, it's a way to say that you like their culture and are making an effort to join them - which most people tend to appreciate.

@RiddleyW God, yes. Some languages are naturally "longer" than others. Spanish and Japanese are up there in the length ranking!

I'm impressed with anyone that can do live interpretation. I'm bilingual but I doubt I could ever manage that. My brain often goes blank when someone asks me the English word for something. How does your brain keep up?

What language do you predominantly think in?

@LinoleumBlownapart I'm not sure I "think" in a specific language - I mean, I don't have a sort of verbal live comment running through my head all the time. Sometimes things come to mind in words, though - I would say it's usually fifty-fifty English and Spanish, as those are the languages I most deal with on an everyday basis. If I'm working in other languages, or watching or reading something in another language, I will get snatches of those languages too.

This is also the case with dreaming - I usually dream in Spanish and English, but sometimes other languages creep in too. I seem to have a velcro mind when it comes to words.