| Pages in topic: [1 2 3] > | Poll: Were any of these subjects present in your higher education as a translator ? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Were any of these subjects present in your higher education as a translator ?".
View the poll results »
| | | | | Other (none of the above) | Apr 11, 2021 |
I didn't start out my career as a translator. I studied economics and tourism. But then translation found me: part-time for a few years followed by 20 years as full-time in-house translator and reviser (retired now), followed by 15 years as a freelancer. If I could do it all over again I would probably start at a younger age than I did but then again I wouldn’t have all the useful knowledge and experience I had gleaned over the years…
| | | | | Higher than what? | Apr 12, 2021 |
It depends on your definition of "higher education". I had no formal education as a translator. Like many others here, I came to it from another direction in a gradual process of reorientation that paralleled my growing competence in my source language.
However, during the years that I've worked as a translator I've had to learn many related new things, including something about all the subjects in the poll's list. So in a sense you could say that was part of my "higher education".<... See more It depends on your definition of "higher education". I had no formal education as a translator. Like many others here, I came to it from another direction in a gradual process of reorientation that paralleled my growing competence in my source language.
However, during the years that I've worked as a translator I've had to learn many related new things, including something about all the subjects in the poll's list. So in a sense you could say that was part of my "higher education".
In any case, I think the idea that education is something you get done when you're young and never go back to is completely daft, especially in the current age when we have access to so many learning resources. I view my education as an ongoing process and I delight in it. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Ventnai 
Spain
Local time: 13:23
German to English
+ ...
This question presumes everyone undergoes higher education training as a translator. Translation was included in my degree course but it took a low priority. You don't need a qualification in translation to become a translator. Aptitude and language skills are far more important.
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| None of them | Apr 12, 2021 |
It’s not rocket science though, and you can pick those things up later.
The course didn’t aim to produce freelance translators. The idea was that you’d learn your trade in-house first under guidance.
I think a formal year learning the craft is a good idea. Translation is not just about knowing a language and having an aptitude, and it’s a safe low-pressure environment in which to develop those basic skills.
| | | | Muriel Vasconcellos (X)
United States
Local time: 04:23
Spanish to English
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| None of the above | Apr 12, 2021 |
I majored in languages from high school through graduate school. I was lucky enough to enter the profession at a time when "marketing" wasn't an issue. All I've ever needed is the skill to maintain a spreadsheet with a record of my jobs.
[Edited at 2021-04-12 09:32 GMT]
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 13:23
Spanish to English
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| None of the above | Apr 12, 2021 |
I didn't study a specific translation qualification. My degree is in Russian and French, and I only studied my current main source language, Spanish, as a beginner level "half-class" to make up my credits in the final year. Although my university was considered more "business/industry friendly" in those days compared to the more academic standing of the city's other large university, there was no employment-specific course content.
I think current translation degree courses should i... See more I didn't study a specific translation qualification. My degree is in Russian and French, and I only studied my current main source language, Spanish, as a beginner level "half-class" to make up my credits in the final year. Although my university was considered more "business/industry friendly" in those days compared to the more academic standing of the city's other large university, there was no employment-specific course content.
I think current translation degree courses should include most of these practical components, as they are increasingly important in today's cut and thrust business world. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 13:23
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
| Office administration | Apr 12, 2021 |
"Were any of these subjects present in your higher education as a translator?"
After school, I did a 3-year translation course at college. We were the first ones to study this course. We had a subject called "office administration" in our first year, but most of the students were unhappy with the course material, especially after we bought the prescribed book and it looked much too secretary-ish to our liking. It seemed odd to us that translators would need to learn things like know how to run a small office and do invoicing and order supplies and do taxes and deal with customers and keep files on shelves and stuff. We were short-sighted and ignorant of the real world. We had an idealized idea of what a "translator" was, and this wasn't included. So we convinced the college that it would be far better to have "business economics" as a subject. The two subjects were close enough to each other to be swapped out (credit-wise, department-wise and lecturer-wise), so thanks to the rector's willingness to customize our course[1], we ended up doing "business economics" for two semesters. It felt very useful at the time, but looking back, it was a complete and utter waste of effort. Real translators really do need to know office administration. It can mean the difference between a struggling translator and a succeeding one.
[1]The fact that some students said that office administration was too secretary-like, definitely affected the rector's decision to swap out the courses. Our computer usage lecturer had to fight hard to ensure that "blind typing" got included as a module in her subject, because the college was afraid that the public (and other universities) might think that our translator course is really just a simple secretary course with the word "translator" in the name. While secretary work is no less demanding and skilled, the public (and particularly also academics) tend to think less of such people. And prestige is super important for tertiary institutions.
[Edited at 2021-04-12 09:50 GMT]
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| Does any academic education include freelancer skills? | Apr 12, 2021 |
As others have pointed out, this question is loaded and seems to presume that every respondent must have a "higher education as a translator". This is obviously not the case. There should at least be an "other" option.
But apart from that: I don't believe that academic educations of any kind include, or should include, business subjects. I studied informatics and would never have expected that to include business training. My wife studied architecture, and I don't believe she had ei... See more As others have pointed out, this question is loaded and seems to presume that every respondent must have a "higher education as a translator". This is obviously not the case. There should at least be an "other" option.
But apart from that: I don't believe that academic educations of any kind include, or should include, business subjects. I studied informatics and would never have expected that to include business training. My wife studied architecture, and I don't believe she had either (even though architects are often freelancing later).
Certainly it would be a good idea to have a business education before starting to freelance. But that could as well be a generic freelancing training that applies to any field, and not only to translation. The idea and purpose of universities is to produce academic graduates. What these do later is another story, they could become scholars, writers, employees, or freelancers, and should acquire further training accordingly. It's not the job of a university to prepare you for a particular job. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Marketing ... | Apr 12, 2021 |
... a tiny little bit of it (approx. 2 hours, I think), where we heard that €0.08 was the 'going rate' for English into Dutch. Fortunately I already knew back then that there's also a different market segment. I learnt most/all of my marketing, project management and general business skills by reading books and blogs and listening to podcasts (e.g. Corinne McKay and Tess Whitty) and by participating in a Facebook group of Dutch translators. And of course by faking it until I made (or perhaps s... See more ... a tiny little bit of it (approx. 2 hours, I think), where we heard that €0.08 was the 'going rate' for English into Dutch. Fortunately I already knew back then that there's also a different market segment. I learnt most/all of my marketing, project management and general business skills by reading books and blogs and listening to podcasts (e.g. Corinne McKay and Tess Whitty) and by participating in a Facebook group of Dutch translators. And of course by faking it until I made (or perhaps sometime will make) it 
[Edited at 2021-04-12 10:18 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 13:23
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Kay-Viktor Stegemann wrote:
The idea and purpose of universities is to produce academic graduates. What these do later is another story, they could become scholars, writers, employees, or freelancers, and should acquire further training accordingly. It's not the job of a university to prepare you for a particular job.
That was (and still is) generally true of my country of origin, too. The idea is that you study for a degree first, and then you do various diploma courses about job-specific things, or you just learn on the job. However, there are also technical colleges that jump straight into educating for a specific career. In fact, in my current country, college training is the main form of tertiary education: only about 5% of people go to university in the "academic graduate" sense of the word. I was fortunate enough to study translation at a college that focused on translator training from year 1, although some of my fiends from school went the university route: 4-5 years of linguistics etc., followed by either on-the-job training and/or a shorter translator diploma.
But you're right: in some countries, tertiary education does not really involve job training. That said, there are a lot more universities that offer specifically "translator" training these days, compared to 25 years ago when translators would study linguistics, not translation. Still, while many of them now include modules on e.g. CAT tools, they rarely include training about office administration, marketing and project management: https://www.iti.org.uk/discover/career-in-translation-and-interpreting/universities-and-courses.html
[Edited at 2021-04-12 10:32 GMT]
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Samuel Murray wrote:
That was (and still is) generally true of my country of origin, too. The idea is that you study for a degree first, and then you do various diploma courses about job-specific things, or you just learn on the job. However, there are also technical colleges that jump straight into educating for a specific career. In fact, in my current country, college training is the main form of tertiary education: only about 5% of people go to university in the "academic graduate" sense of the word. I was fortunate enough to study translation at a college that focused on translator training from year 1. Some of my fiends from school went the university route: 4-5 years of linguistics, followed by either on-the-job training and/or a shorter translator diploma. I got the better deal (3 years instead of 6, about 90% cheaper, and I was able to hit the ground running). But you're right: in some countries, tertiary education does not really involve job training.
In fact, I did something similar. I dropped out of informatics studies and later completed a degree at a so called "Berufsakademie" (Wirtschaftsakademie, "business academy"), a kind of college created and supported by the business community, with the express intention of training people to do particular jobs and to prepare them for the business world. For me, that was great. It had a much more hands-on approach than the university. Maybe it would be a good idea to offer this kind of education to linguists as well. But it's not a university education.
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Ludovicap
Germany
Local time: 13:23
German to Italian
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| none of the above | Apr 12, 2021 |
If I remember quite well, I didn't have any of the above subjects during the whole master education. There were some presentations of experienced professional translators who came to our institution to show us how they got there etc. but we haven't had a specific course about them.
The good thing is that I am having the chance to work in an office (not a translation office) where I am learning some important skills (invoicing, for example, is one of the main teams I am currently in)... See more If I remember quite well, I didn't have any of the above subjects during the whole master education. There were some presentations of experienced professional translators who came to our institution to show us how they got there etc. but we haven't had a specific course about them.
The good thing is that I am having the chance to work in an office (not a translation office) where I am learning some important skills (invoicing, for example, is one of the main teams I am currently in) and also further soft skills.
Even though the place I work in is not a translation agency, I have had sometimes the chance to translate company documents (into Italian) and do a lot of project management for several translations (into different languages). ▲ Collapse
| | | | Mario Freitas
Brazil
Local time: 09:23
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
| All of the above, but not in Translation courses | Apr 13, 2021 |
All of these were in my college history, but I studied Business Administration.
It's very interesting how so many courses will prepare you to be a translator a lot better than a translation course. I've seen thousands of comments around about translation courses that made it pretty clear to me that these courses concentrate a lot in the language and in the theory, and in the end represent about 10% of what someone needs to be a good translator.
As a matter of fact, the very best tra... See more All of these were in my college history, but I studied Business Administration.
It's very interesting how so many courses will prepare you to be a translator a lot better than a translation course. I've seen thousands of comments around about translation courses that made it pretty clear to me that these courses concentrate a lot in the language and in the theory, and in the end represent about 10% of what someone needs to be a good translator.
As a matter of fact, the very best translators I know and I've worked with have never set foot in a translation course. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Ana Vozone
Local time: 12:23
Member (2010)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
| None of the above | Apr 14, 2021 |
My "Specialized Translator Course" was a 3-year course mainly focused on language learning (English and German Literature and Culture) and several specific areas of translation, such as legal, technical, literary. Other subjects included international organizations, business law and, yes, typing and shorthand (!!!). But none of the classes/subjects in the poll.
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