❝Language is the blood of the soul into which thoughts run and out of which they grow.❞
‒Oliver Wendell Holmes
Happy Linguist
Are you interested in languages or linguistics? Are you just curious about language? Well then this blog will interest you. Language learning can be great fun and hugely rewarding, opening the door to new cultures and ways of thinking. The way we use language is fascinating, infuriating and fun! After all language is one of the most basic aspects of being human! Join in the discussion and be a happy linguist!
Friday, 26 October 2012
Friday, 12 October 2012
Guest Post - Undergraduate Degrees in Translation
From my time spent working in the
translation industry, I am well aware of the negative perceptions that exist in
regard to translation degrees. They’re hugely expensive (three detailed below
each add up to £27,000 over three years), and for such a massive amount of
money it has been questioned just how much you get out of them. A common
argument is that once you have the language skills – perhaps gained instead
from the seemingly more logical route of a straight language degree – what else
worthwhile is there to learn that warrants such a huge burden in terms of time
and finances?
There are many who disagree with the above
sentiments, however, which I’ve been made particularly aware of since taking up
my new role at London Translation Agency. I have the pleasure of interacting
with translators and interpreters more closely than I did at sister agency Quick Lingo, giving me the chance to hear
in more detail about their experiences. A significant proportion of linguists
we work with in their 20s are graduates of undergraduate translation-related
degrees, some of whom I’ve had the chance to talk to about their experiences
good and bad. In about half of these examples, the translators have gone on to
do relevant master’s degrees and have cited their undergraduate degrees as
beneficial preludes at the very least.
I have detailed five of the degrees I’ve
heard first-hand and second-hand accounts about from professional linguists. All
are four-year courses if you include the either highly recommended or
compulsory third year working abroad in a country where a student’s language of
choice is spoken.
Cardiff
University – Translation BA
I’ve heard good things about the master’s
degrees on offer in various elements of translation at Cardiff, but last year
was the first time they taught an undergraduate course that a few associates of
our translators experienced. Students are required to undertake the course in
conjunction with a major language and a minor language (yes – it can be
Welsh!), studying a broad overview of translation theory, principles and
methods. The Politics and History modules that the course combines are
apparently very interesting, if not wholly relevant to a career in translation.
Aston
University – Translation Studies BSc (Hons)
Aston is another university that is without
a doubt serious in dedicating energy and resources to translation and
interpreting degrees. A total of six are available that enables a student to
study French, German or Spanish as their main language or combine the two of
them. A 90% satisfaction rate pretty much mirrors accounts I’ve heard about the
courses, again offering a range of modules ranging from detailing specialised
types of translation to advice on starting out in the translation industry.
University
of Surrey – Translation BA (Hons)
Guildford’s close proximity to London has
made these courses combining two major languages quite popular with
international students. The second year does genuinely allow you to build
further on language skills rather than taking the emphasis too far away from linguistics,
as can be the case with some degrees. High-tech facilities available allowing
students to put their studies into practice have received rave reviews,
although the undisputed highlight of the course for most is the placement year
that offers opportunities to work at major firms overseas including EDF and
Volkswagen.
University
of East Anglia – Translation and Interpreting with Double Honours Language BA
(Hons)
If anything, these three courses (Japanese
and French, Spanish and French, Spanish and Japanese) serve more as language
degrees than translation degrees, not that that is necessarily a bad thing even
for a budding translator. By the time the fourth year comes around where the
proper focus on translation and interpreting really starts, students will have
reached a level of proficiency in their chosen languages that makes the modules
a natural progression, rather than bringing them in too early before they are
at an ultra-advanced stage with their language.
University
of Westminster – Translation BA (Hons)
Nothing in terms of course content makes
Westminster’s three BA translation degrees stand out particularly, although
having Mandarin as one of the three main language options alongside French and
Spanish does make that degree one of the few undergraduate courses to
specialise in such a currently in-demand language translation-wise. As with the
degrees at Cardiff, part-time learning options are available.
Robert
Davies is Editorial Executive at London Translation Agency.
Friday, 5 October 2012
You should learn a language because...
❝You can never understand one language until you understand at least two.❞
‒Geoffrey Willans
‒Geoffrey Willans
Friday, 28 September 2012
You should learn a language because...
❝Language is the road map of a culture. It tells you where its people come from and where they are going.❞
‒Rita Mae Brown
‒Rita Mae Brown
Wednesday, 26 September 2012
European Day of Languages
Did you know that today is the European Day of Languages?
Join in the fun marking the 10th anniversary of the the EU's celebration of linguistic diversity. Europe is rich in languages and language learning can open the door to many opportunities - even if all you want to do is use a few phrases while on holiday!
The European Day of Languages website can be found here.
❝If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.❞
‒Nelson Mandela
Join in the fun marking the 10th anniversary of the the EU's celebration of linguistic diversity. Europe is rich in languages and language learning can open the door to many opportunities - even if all you want to do is use a few phrases while on holiday!
The European Day of Languages website can be found here.
- Find out why the European Day of Languages is so important
- Evaluate your own language skills
- Learn some interesting language facts
- Try a quiz to test your knowledge about different aspects of language
❝If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.❞
‒Nelson Mandela
Friday, 27 July 2012
Work experience that will help your translation career
Not so long ago I received an e-mail asking for some advice and it just got me thinking about the
challenges facing new translators making that jump from student to
professional. The enquiry was along the following lines:
I’m a second year student studying German and
Spanish and hope to work in translation once I graduate. Do you have any advice
on summer jobs or work placements that would help me to improve translation
skills before I head off on my year abroad?
To be honest,
while this student might have expected some information about possible
translation opportunities, my advice was that he should spend the summer
working in a non-translation environment and although that might sound strange,
here's my reasoning.
At this stage
students don’t need to focus so much on language skills. During the year abroad
students develop their language skills more than they can ever imagine possible,
so over the summer it’s enough to keep up their language skills by reading,
watching and listening to stuff in their foreign languages – and by the end of
second year they should be doing that anyway!
Neither do they need to worry about their translation skills. During their 3rd and 4th years their translation technique will get better anyway, helped along by peers and tutors - especially if they do translation classes at university during their 3rd year abroad, because many European T&I courses have a different focus from that of Heriot Watt and they'll have the chance to learn heaps of great stuff related to different translation styles, CAT tools, linguistics and so on.
BUT if they want to work professionally in translation when they graduate they need to specialise! Freelance translators get work because they are subject specialists - they are technical translators or legal translators or specialise in marketing or biotechnology etc. The biggest challenge after leaving university is that students are language specialists but unless they have come from a previous career or have studied another subject in depth, they're not subject specialists, and that’s what makes the transition from student to professional difficult.
Neither do they need to worry about their translation skills. During their 3rd and 4th years their translation technique will get better anyway, helped along by peers and tutors - especially if they do translation classes at university during their 3rd year abroad, because many European T&I courses have a different focus from that of Heriot Watt and they'll have the chance to learn heaps of great stuff related to different translation styles, CAT tools, linguistics and so on.
BUT if they want to work professionally in translation when they graduate they need to specialise! Freelance translators get work because they are subject specialists - they are technical translators or legal translators or specialise in marketing or biotechnology etc. The biggest challenge after leaving university is that students are language specialists but unless they have come from a previous career or have studied another subject in depth, they're not subject specialists, and that’s what makes the transition from student to professional difficult.
That doesn't
mean they need to be a technician or a lawyer or a biochemist but it does mean they
need to know about their chosen speciality - and that's where the summer job
comes in! So students who want to work as translators should start to think
about the type of translation that might interest them professionally (their
specialist subject) and try and get a summer job in that area so that they can
start to build up their specialist knowledge. (The process never really stops
for the professional translator.)
So for
example, if you want to get into technical translation, a summer job working in
an engineering firm's office would be a bonus. It might not have the same
allure as teaching kids at summer camp in the south of France. While it might
seem that you’re wasting the summer making tea and photocopying, you are actually
learning industry-related terminology, finding out how the industry works, who your
clients might be, what sort of documents they might need to translate, you’re learning
about document types, genres and linguistic style, you’re creating networking
opportunities - exactly the things you'll need when working professionally.
For students
in today’s economic climate career planning has to start early, and being a
passionate linguist is only half the battle. You need to take practical steps
that will make you stand out from the crowd so that you are the freelancer of
choice for a particular translation job. Developing a translation specialism is
a step in the right direction and getting the right summer job is a good way to
achieve this.
(This blog post was recently posted on Heriot Watt University's lifeinlincs blog.)
Monday, 2 July 2012
Don't Feed the Monkeys!
Due to the prevalence of low-cost translations providers, we often hear the phrase “If you pay peanuts you get monkeys”.
While it is true that such providers tend to pay well below the rate a
professional translator would accept, and turn out work well below the
quality a professional would expect, I can’t help thinking that the
translation profession has, to a certain extent, only itself to blame.
In other words “Don’t Feed the Monkeys”. Let me explain why.
The
basic law of supply and demand means that there will always be someone
willing to do translations on the cheap. This will always be in the
form of “translators” with no credentials or training who are looking
for a quick buck, students, people who are “doing a bit of translation
on the side” while they look for a “proper job”, people who live in
countries where the cost of living is considerably lower than in Europe
or North America etc.
One solution is simply not to accept this type of work.
Ask for decent rates and look for clients who appreciate translation
as a profession. Personally I feel that a professional job deserves a
professional wage, after all I haven’t spent years at university for
nothing. I haven’t invested time and money into my business just for
fun. In short, I expect to be paid for my professional service.
In
reality it isn’t that easy and that’s why I think part of the problem
is actually caused by the translation industry per se. A fundamental
problem is that the profession is largely dominated by translation
agencies who rely on freelancers. That allows agencies to pick the
“best” translators, which is logical because that produces the best
results and generates the greatest income. In doing so however, agencies tend to wash their hands of any responsibility for the development of the profession.
Unlike
accountancy, for example, the translation profession does not involve a
defined career path such as in-house mentoring and training leading to
a recognised, professional qualifications. Until agencies see their
role as something more than “language service providers” there will
always be a core group of agencies looking for a cheap fix.
The issue though is rooted in the nature of the profession.
A new translator can cope with sending out hundreds of CVs to agencies
who never bother to reply, with endless requests to complete test
translations or application forms, with agencies who want 5 years
translation experience or even with an NGO who wants volunteer
translators to have 2 years translation experience as long as they can afford to do so. The problem is that entry into the profession is so difficult and drawn out that some new translators have no alternative but to accept peanuts!
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