Although I have been studying steadily for over four years, I find myself frustrated that I cannot yet read newspapers or books without looking in the dictionary constantly. For example, I picked up a little book in a half-price book store in America that is a murder mystery (I think) written in simplified Chinese. I study both simplified and traditional. Yet it is so slow going that I damn near just want to call it quits. I am also currently near the end of “All Things Considered: Advanced Reader of Modern Chinese”, and once I have mastered the vocab and sentence patterns the articles come easily. However, that is just the problem…first I must master the vocabularly, which usually contains many words I don’t know.
I have a steady office job, but would like to pull down some money on the side translating, yet think that it would probably be a huge headache, given my apparent lack of skills. Not being self-deprecating here, just stating the facts.
How long did it take you who are translators to become translators?
In my experience, being a translator has little to do with the stuff you learn in books (although you need that stuff as the foundation). The things you do as a commercial translator are not so standardized nor are they (generally) so well-written. You will also need to learn research skills and (hopefully) how to gain, keep and manage clients, which I’m not factoring in. I didn’t feel comfortable translating until I’d been in the “Chinese game” for about 10-12 years (counting from day 0) and while I’ve got 18 years of full-time experience now working with Chinese (after officially “starting” as a translator) still there are many times when I feel wholly inadequate to the task. But that’s the joy of the profession, you can always learn something new (preferably subtly so clients don’t know you’re learning!)
im doing it part time now after only 2 years of living in taiwan and not really studying. im totally shite at it and rely on dr eye to get me through it, but the work i do is quite repetitive and this is a great help to my chinese.
Dr. Eye isn’t that great. It’s got a lot of errors. One shouldn’t rely on it if one doesn’t have some substantial knowledge of the Chinese language.
As for how long it takes to become a translator? Well, it doesn’t really take that long IF you rely on your “research skills” as Ironlady pointed out or some online translators that are available. All the online translators that I have come across, however, have all been pretty useless as all they do is translate word for word and therefore can never get the meaning across. BUT, if you are trying to become a GOOD translator, it’ll take years and years. Personally, I wouldn’t recommend anyone who’s only been studying Chinese for a couple of years to do any translation work. If you think you are incompetent for the job then you probably are. Don’t take this personally but please don’t accept any job offers if you think that you are going to have to rely on dictionaries for the most part. Your translation will just come out pretty shitty.
That’s an interesting point. Most pros I know rarely look up words, and the words they DO look up are mostly technical terms. “Research” in my world refers to learning about the topic you’re translating about (right now, for example, I’m working on a series of four technical papers about nanometer metal powder additives to solid rocket propellant – oddly enough I wasn’t too familiar with this field going in, so some research was required) or the ability to find and confirm correct versions of terms using tools like Google (for corporate names, slogans, etc.)
I do agree that everyone supposes they can translate (but of course if you are a translator then saying that is just being egotistical! ) and that many would be better off not translating, especially if you rely on things like dictionaries and Dr. Eye a LOT. Everyone has to look things up but you need to have achieved a critical mass because translation involves writing an equivalent piece in the target language, which means you need to understand all the nuance of the original so you can produce the same effect in your language. If you are just “transforming” words that is a very surface-type treatment of translation.
While that’s great you have a sense of ethics when it comes to translating, but i wouldnt be so hard, give the chinese to english translations I have seen come from chinese translator,or their use of english period…
Thank you all for your responses. I am thoroughly discouraged, because as I said in my original post, I find myself referring to the dictionary constantly just to translate the first page of this Chinese novel. I think I need to face the reality that I have a long row to hoe before I can begin translating for money.
Now for some action. What would you professional translators recommend that I do to improve my skills? Does dredging my way through novels and newspapers sound like a good idea? Or should I just continue working on readers? As in, after I finish “All Things Considered”, which is a third year textbook, should I move on to a fourth year textbook? Which do you think is better? Which did you yourself do? I guess what I’m getting at here is…when did you ween yourself off textbooks and jump into newspapers/books?
Ironlady, your two cents is always welcome and useful. But I have a question for you and I don’t mean this to sound flippant. These translators (including yourself, obviously) who rarely use dictionaries as professionals, did they use dictionaries as amateurs? I am fascinated and envious that anyone could be so fluent.
I know nothing about translating, so take whatever I say with a grain of salt. It seems to me if you can (fully) comprehend what you’re reading and have a good command of written English than you should be able to translate with little use of a dictionary.
I also don’t see what the big deal about starting too early is. There must be a big difference between translating children’s books and lengthy legal documents. I can picture myself translating children’s books and emails with little to no use of a dictionary, but my Mandarin and legal knowledge are years (and years) away from doing legal translation (plus don’t want to, it’s just an example).
After your ability to read normal grammar patterns in Mandarin is good, I’m guessing time should be spent on learning vocabulary for the field of translation you want to get into. Translating a Chinese novel is going to be hard even after studying for a while. I’ve had to look words up in every Harry Potter and that’s a kids book (in English, not Mandarin ).
Well, everyone uses dictionaries at some point or another. My point is simply that if you need to look up function words or common verbs and nouns then you are just not where you need to be. Your translations will most likely be word-for-word substitutions, not translations, because it will be very difficult to get the “big picture”.
As for what to study – if translation is your own goal in Chinese, then you need to read what you think you will be translating. I spent many fascinating years (sarcasm alert here!) sitting in tea shops reading books in Chinese on topics like reinforced concrete, chemical engineering and environmental protection, always with a highlighter in my hand. This is undoubtedly one of the major reasons I am still single at 40! But seriously, reading what you anticipate translating – in English AND Chinese, because most wannabe translators have poor English, and if you can’t write good English it doesn’t matter how good your Chinese is. You can fool most of the people most of the time if your style is spot on. (However, dumb down your English for Taiwanese government work. Trust me on this one. :raspberry: )
(Except for the GIO where my wonderful editor Cranky lets the double entendres flow…)
I am not personally convinced that translation can be “taught” either to yourself or to others. It has a lot to do with your ability to process information and to recast it in a parallel system (another language) while hopefully keeping completely clear of the constraints of the source system AND creating the same effect that the readers of the source document would be treated to. That is a tall order considering only how different the ways of thinking are between the two cultures.
The other major consideration (it should be a major consideration) is…can you make enough money at it to make it worthwhile? Lots of people say, “Oh, this helps me improve my Chinese, so it’s okay if I don’t make much”. That’s one way of looking at it, but I’m assuming that you want to be a “real” translator – one who pays taxes based on a healthy translation income. You need to figure out how many hours per week you’ll be putting in and how much you need to produce per hour to make it more worthwhile than doing the buxiban thing or whatever else you might be doing.
Real translators don’t use dictionaries, they Google.
I suggest you get in the habit of reading the newspapers everyday. There is a lot of translation work in the media that depends on your ability to read newspapers and on knowing what is going on. Because this kind of work is so easy, it’s a good place to start.
Newpapers are relatively easy to read and have a consistent style and syntax. The articles are nice and bite size too.
Doing translation is NOT a good way to improve your Chinese, so make sure it’s lucrative.
Let me add that my translation work is limited to university applications- study plans and letters of recommendation. I normally have the student by my side as I work (which can be both a pain and a godsend).
As I said before, the work is fairly repetitive and as such, contrary to what someone says above, helps my chinese a LOT. I take a copy of the work home for myself and make vocab lists and put them into a flashcard program to look through when I’m bored. Most of this new vocab is academically specific- course names etc- some of it is business centred.
I am by no means an idiot and I therefore do not translate word-for-word, doctor eye helps me in that I can get a definition quickly by simply moving my cursor over the word. However, I’m fully aware that Dr Eye is often innacurate and vague. I usually have 2 other much more experienced guys working in the same room on other cases to help with any part that I’m unsure of.
A lot of it is ghost-writing as well. Often these students are not that bright hence their coming to us for translation (many can’t speak a word of English yet they are applying for an MBA course in the US). They are often not very good at expressing themselves in their own language and it just ends up being full of contradiction, incorrect character selection, and repetition. Thus, we have to try to extrapolate some meaning from what they have written and then compose an adequatley pursuasive piece of work.
I only do a few cases per week and do not imagine that I am any thing close to a fully fledged professional translator, but, I have to add that I have never met anyone who has the level of Chinese that I have after only 2 years of living in Taiwan.
These old buggers above know what they are talking about- but don’t let them put you off getting into translation- but it can be very hard and you will go home with headaches.
I have no doubt that an experienced pro doesn not need to use a dictionary very often but I very much doubt that it was that way for them in the beginning.
My wife learned to do it in 3 languages now (German. Japanese & Mandarin) and she seems to have a ‘language gene’. She makes me feel like a dumbo because she can make idiomatic sense out of of it all soooooo much faster than me - like by a factor of 1,000,000
I’ve done simultaneous oral Japanese translation (after five years study) and found it the most mentally exhausting thing I have ever done!
I would think that sittting down with a dictionary and spending hours of work to produce a paragraph would make you feel very depressed. Is your heart in it? Do you love languages and word puzzles? Do you observe errors of usage from other people in your native tongue? Are you irritated by the poor chinglish in the "China Post’? Are you a language junkie?
When you start to dream in Mandarin you’ll know you are ready.
People say this about language learning, but I dreamed in Chinese when I was not even half way through a first year book, though I was living in Taiwan at the time. So I don’t buy that old truism.
I would think that wanting to ‘pull some extra money down’ as a translator would entail being fairly comfortable with the whole idea. Might be a good idea to just start translating stuff and asking a Taiwanese friend to tell you if you got it right or not.
I just translated an announcement for the community I’m living in (and if you live here go easy on me, ok?) regarding Christmas. I used my very basic knowledge of Chinese, WenLin (a good E-C translator) and a Taiwanese friend (to double check). I expect I will get better as time goes along, but as it is a volunteer thing I don’t feel too bad about not getting 100%.
Another thing to consider is having a good grasp of your own language. Most graduates of public high schools in the United States have terrible writing skills, including spelling and proper grammar. I regularly have to correct these sorts of things from Ph.Ds at my university.
Like someone said above, if you absolutely love language, then perhaps this is an area you might want to think about going in to. Much like teaching in Taiwan, I don’t think most people are doing it because they love teaching. I’ve been studying Chinese since 1996 and get along really well for not being submersed in it anymore, but I’m far from being at a level where I’d feel confident in getting paid to translate. It’s something I, too, aspire to do someday, but I don’t expect to do so until I’m ready to immerse myself in serious studying for a few years.
Translation is a technical skill, and it can take several years to reach a level of competence. As being fluent in a language does not make one a good teacher, having good spelling doesn’t produce a good writer. There are other facets to making one a good translator (so I get from the people I know who do do this type of work).
My wife has been on the (translating) game for 15 years as a freelancer and has only recently reached a stage she describes as “competent” although since she hasn’t had to search for jobs for the last 5 or 6 years and appears to have a constant backlog of pending projects, I think she’s being a bit self-depecrating.
By that, she means not just her language grasp, but her ability to actually make a living from the job, which is the kicker, as I’m sure Ironlady will attest.
I have been translating from Korean into English for eight years, with four fairly serious years of study before this. I can translate in some areas very well with very little use of dictionaries. I think I could become competent in most areas after a bit of practice.
I am now living in Taiwan and part of my job involves translating technical documents written in Chinese into English. I have one year of training in Chinese and about eight years living outside of Taiwan and speaking with my Taiwanese wife mostly in Mandarin. I would never consider working as a pure translator in Taiwan at this point.
In my opinion, the best way to learn to translate is to just do it and stick with one field (law, finance, user manuals for electronic equipment). Ideally, work for a company where you can do more and more translation as part of your job, and bug the hell out of the people around you. At first, I literally went around in a circle of about ten other employees asking one at a time every time I got stuck. It’s only been seven months now and I’m almost self-sufficient- slow as hell but pretty much on my own.
It took me about 13 years before I could translate difficult academic works in sinopaleography and it’s still a struggle. I still wouldn’t touch most other topics with a three ma pole, though.
) and that many would be better off not translating, especially if you rely on things like dictionaries and Dr. Eye a LOT. Everyone has to look things up but you need to have achieved a critical mass because translation involves writing an equivalent piece in the target language, which means you need to understand all the nuance of the original so you can produce the same effect in your language. If you are just “transforming” words that is a very surface-type treatment of translation.
(in English, not Mandarin 
).