| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4 5] > | Poll: If you were a "generalist", which hard core niche (broad) would you choose? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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Dan Lucas 
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:35
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
Christopher Schröder wrote:
They don't want to use new people. They'll only do it if absolutely forced to.
I actually agree with this bit.
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And to answer to Dan and others, legalese is a different language with a very very peculiar register (it is indeed a language in the language, you have to learn and it is not an easy or fast thing.
In short:
It generally reflects specialized knowledge, shared by a minority of experts, and responds to the aim of promoting communication within that group;
It uses linguistic traits specific to the reference language, integrating them with regards to the lexicon and ... See more And to answer to Dan and others, legalese is a different language with a very very peculiar register (it is indeed a language in the language, you have to learn and it is not an easy or fast thing.
In short:
It generally reflects specialized knowledge, shared by a minority of experts, and responds to the aim of promoting communication within that group;
It uses linguistic traits specific to the reference language, integrating them with regards to the lexicon and the formation of the words;
It tends, unlike the common language, which by its nature is polysemous, to establish a precise and constant relationship between words and things.
I love this kind of register while I avoid marketing like the plague.
Sorry for the English here. I have quickly translated here from Italian the first part of my webinar
[Edited at 2024-03-08 10:39 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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We are all different! I love big projects (and the money that comes with them) and I also love researching. After 40 years, I still get a sort of childish satisfaction when I think I’ve found the right word or expression.
| | | | Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 02:35
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
+ ...
Christopher Schröder wrote:
Most PMs will in fact assign the work to Lieven, their go-to translator for pretty much everything.
I obviously know for a fact that I don't get all or even most of the work, but you are probably right to a certain extent. If they are happy with the quality delivered they will be happy to take the easy road : assigning more work to me. It's human.
[Bijgewerkt op 2024-03-08 10:27 GMT]
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Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 02:35
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
+ ...
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida wrote: We are all different! I love big projects (and the money that comes with them) and I also love researching. After 40 years, I still get a sort of childish satisfaction when I think I’ve found the right word or expression .
Same here. Perhaps because I have been trained this way. During my college of higher education years the most important thing I was learnt was how to do research constantly while translating, and even more important: to doubt everything you are writing, to take nothing for granted.
I have always remembered this and even today I'm still very swiftly looking up the meaning of certain (stupid little) words, while I'm for 99% sure what they mean. I'm really programmed in a sense, but I'm convinced that this attitude made me the translator I am today.
| | | | | A medical generalist | Mar 8 |
I am a generalist, but I have made an effort to specialise in medical texts. I have always been interested in that area.
Way back, I wanted to read medicine, but did not make it to medical school. I ended up as what I call a technical librarian - trained to work in academic libraries and research centres. The training involved a wide range of subject areas, but I chose medical or life-sciences projects whenever I could. (My first job was in hydraulics, specialising in dams and offsh... See more I am a generalist, but I have made an effort to specialise in medical texts. I have always been interested in that area.
Way back, I wanted to read medicine, but did not make it to medical school. I ended up as what I call a technical librarian - trained to work in academic libraries and research centres. The training involved a wide range of subject areas, but I chose medical or life-sciences projects whenever I could. (My first job was in hydraulics, specialising in dams and offshore, but I only stayed for a little over a year.)
Later on, I worked in the lower levels of the Danish health-care services with very little formal training, but with contact to patients, and in fact access to journals, although there was little time to read them.
All the way, I read up on medicine for laymen, and when I finally - at the age of nearly 50 - took a translation diploma, I took an extra module on medical translation.
One niche is information for patients and the general public. I can read Danish medical Latin and translate medical records or applications for research funds, etc. I know where to read up on medical subjects, but I can approach them from the patient's point of view, and have accumulated a certain amount of experience there.
I take on a lot of 'information for the public' in other fields as well. I like the variety, and although it takes time to read up on different subject areas, I have had many clients over the years who like my style and come back for more.
But as others have said, my specialism is translation and language itself. I am like a chameleon - I can write in different styles and registers for different situations. ▲ Collapse
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I've always been a generalist really, but I would really prefer to have some sort of specialisation. Alas, my Master's degree didn't provide this so I was forced to just accept whatever translation work I could find.
| | | | Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 02:35
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
+ ...
Angie Garbarino wrote:
it is indeed a language in the language, you have to learn and it is not an easy or fast thing.
This might be true if there would only be conventional translation, but the thing is that the legal field is probably one of the fields that machine translation masters best. The only thing you need to do (obviously apart from correcting MT mistakes and hallucinations) is to double-check if certain ways of expression are effectively used in existing and reliable legal documents, so basically what a translator always is supposed to do: research.
Apart from that the legal field is perfectly doable without spending hours, days or weeks on following courses or reading specialist books.
And to be honest : it was already doable before MT : the internet has always been overflooded with legal documents. It only took longer to create a good translation because it took more time to get the feel of legalese and to find the right terminology. But actually that's a road almost every translator has to follow to become faster and "specialized" one day.
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Lieven Malaise wrote: Angie Garbarino wrote:
it is indeed a language in the language, you have to learn and it is not an easy or fast thing. This might be true if there would only be conventional translation, but the thing is that the legal field is probably one of the fields that machine translation masters best. The only thing you need to do (obviously apart from correcting MT mistakes and hallucinations) is to double-check if certain ways of expression are effectively used in existing and reliable legal documents, so basically what a translator always is supposed to do: research. Apart from that the legal field is perfectly doable without spending hours, days or weeks on following courses or reading specialist books. And to be honest : it was already doable before MT : the internet has always been overflooded with legal documents. It only took longer to create a good translation because it took more time to get the feel of legalese and to find the right terminology. But actually that's a road almost every translator has to follow to become faster and "specialized" one day.
This can be ok for your pairs, not for Italian for example, (I see many kudoz from IT to Eng and Eng to It that are real rubbish),
The above is your opinion not mine.
[Edited at 2024-03-08 11:26 GMT]
| | | | Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 02:35
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
+ ...
| Words and sentences. | Mar 8 |
Angie Garbarino wrote:
This can be ok for your pairs, not for Italian for example, (I see many kudoz from IT to Eng and Eng to It that are real rubbish),
That is possible, of course, but Kudoz isn't much of a reference. I think the rubbish there is present in all language pairs and specialization fields.
Angie Garbarino wrote:
The above is your opinion not mine.
Indeed, could it be anything else? 😊
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Literature and poetry are my favorite specializations. Best regards to all of you and do have a nice relaxing weekend!
| | | | Kay Denney
France
Local time: 02:35
French to English
I have specialised in the arts, working for artists and musicians, record labels, art galleries, museums and agencies who work for all of these.
But I can and have translated in all sorts of fields, including travel, fashion and textiles, cosmetics, sustainable development, journalism... what the French call "rédactionnel" which basically means anything requiring a flair for writing.
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Liena Vijupe
Latvia
Local time: 03:35
Member (2014)
French to Latvian
+ ...
| even agencies specialise | Mar 8 |
...well, the good ones do at least.
Like some others above, I do not like to translate what I don't understand, no matter how many resources I might find (and in my language there are very few reliable ones, even less of them online). To me it isn't very different from what was discussed about languages the other day – the more you have, the less time you can devote to each. I've already dropped German due to very few requests for it over the years which means it takes me much mor... See more ...well, the good ones do at least.
Like some others above, I do not like to translate what I don't understand, no matter how many resources I might find (and in my language there are very few reliable ones, even less of them online). To me it isn't very different from what was discussed about languages the other day – the more you have, the less time you can devote to each. I've already dropped German due to very few requests for it over the years which means it takes me much more time to translate from it, and also do not translate from other languages I can understand, even though it would help me to improve them.
I specialise in EU (which includes all the possible topics, btw) and marketing which allows me to be more creative. That has been working fine for me so far. ▲ Collapse
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Jack of all trades was valid in the thread over number of pairs and not over number of subjects.
Strange thing
Have a nice week end!
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Christopher Schröder wrote:
And of course many translators lean on customer TMs, which is another thing I would never do, as I've never seen a good one. But there must be some out there!
The ones I've contributed to over the years obviously have some splendid content for others to leverage
Otherwise, like Angie, and having mentioned the old saw myself (I think) in the poll on pairs, I do rather subscribe to the thing about Jack-of-all-trades.
As part of something else, I recently had to spend a fair time researching something as mundane and relatively comprehensible as the regs surrounding building evacuation. Surprising amount of jargon and things that sound similar but are different. The idea I might jump from that to a liver transplant and then maybe a bond issue before stopping for a bite of lunch does not strike me as particularly beneficial to any party involved.
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