"Translators Struggle to Prove Their Academic Bona Fides"

[Nora Favorov]

On Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:27:22 +0300, Josh Wilson <jwilson at SRAS.ORG> wrote:

Dear Josh,
Since you have taken on the task of trying to educate some potential
translation end users, you might be interested in a booklet developed by the
American Translators Association called "Getting It Right." It has little to
do with literary translation, the focus of the Chronicle article that
spawned this discussion, but it does point out the pitfalls awaiting
inexperienced or unqualified translators (and their clients) and provides
examples of a few lovely bloopers. It can be found here:
https://www.atanet.org/docs/Getting_it_right.pdf

Best wishes,
Nora Favorov

>A couple cents on this -
>
>I think a lot of it simply has to do with the fact that non-translators seem
>to think that there is nothing hard about translation - that translators
>simply breathe in one language and exhale another and that there are hard
>and obvious "correct" and "incorrect" in translations...
>
>I find that I often have to educate both intern-translators and clients that
>translations are not a simple task and that you can't expect anyone who
>simply "knows" both languages to perform translations. I also find I end up
>explaining to the same people multiple times the same concepts - because
>they just don't get it (and it's not an easy subject to explain - most
>mortals simply do not contemplate the subjectivity of reality or the power
>of creation).
>
>I would assume that many translators stay out of conversations on this as
>well because it is difficult (and time-consuming) to explain. I think likely
>this is especially true in countries where monoglots are the norm - who have
>never thought outside their own language.
>

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