Translation as a Profession

Translation services has become very popular these days. Translation from one language to another is one easy way to make people and ideas, and culture and business, cross the barriers of language and cater to a larger group of people. All throughout history, it is the creativity of individual translators to make their texts flow through filters of culture and language.


What is a Translator?
A translator converts texts or documents from one language into another. A person who does the translation job is called a translator. There are four main categories of translation service providers: Language Schools, Universities, Free Lancers and Translation companies. A translator belongs to any one of these categories.

Requirements of a Translator
Translators need a variety of skills and traits to be successful in their art. We assume that a good translator will by definition be bilingual but not necessarily true in the opposite case. A bilingual person needs certain other skills and personality traits to be a good translator. Certain requirements to be a good translator are as follows:

• A translator must be fluent in two languages and cultures.
  
  
• A translator must have a good general education besides prerequisite language skills.
  
  
• A translator also has to cultivate a knowledge of the areas he works in.
  
  
• A translator must have good writing skills (above-average ) in the target language.
  
  
• A translator must have excellent computer skills. He must be willing to learn new technology.
  
  
• A translator must have good business skills, which includes negotiating, pricing, marketing, and time management.
  
  
• A translator must get along well with others.
  
  
• A translator should have a deep interest to the languages he works with.
  
  
• And most important of all, a translator must know his or her limitations in all of the areas mentioned above.

Role of a Translator
The role of a translator is not only to translate text from one language to another, it is also the responsibility of the translator to make his text move across the barriers behind which cultures have evolved specific linguistic ways of thinking and seeing, of encoding and protecting their cultures. In most countries there are professional associations for translators. These associations are formed to give advice on contracts and other matters, to embrace different kinds of translators belonging to different regions etc. Professional translators are language professionals. While doing translation jobs, a translator has to assume various roles. It is said that translators take the role of a competent writer, a diplomat, a linguist and an educated amateur while doing his job

• A competent writer: Like writers, the translators have to work long hours alone on a subject which interests few people and in a language that few people around them know.
  
  
• A diplomat: Like diplomats, they have to be sensitive to the social, cultural differences which exist in their languages. They must be capable of addressing these issues when translating.
  
  
• A linguist: Like linguists, translators have to handle new developments in their languages, have to get into the intricacies of their text , they have to be capable of discerning subtleties and nuances in their languages, researching terminology and colloquialisms.
  
  
• An educated amateur: And like educated amateurs, translators have to know the basics and some of the details about the subjects they deal with.