| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Off topic: Do you consider yourself an expert? Thread poster: liz askew
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| That, and... | Feb 19, 2009 |
Barbara wrote:
What really separates translators from people who just speak 2+ languages is the fact that they are experts.
That, and the ability to translate. A lot of people call themselves translators, and a lot of people speak two or more languages fluently - but only a small percentage of them have the ability to translate. And it is only once you have that ability that you can specialize, so the expertise we are talking about is actually pretty scarce.
| | | | | Would it matter if I did? | Feb 19, 2009 |
I have expertise in some fields, some of it rather dated. But am I an expert? I suppose I could consult a dictionary and see. In every field where I have some depth of understanding or which I enjoy exploring, I know people who are better at it than I am. So if "expert" is a comparative classification, I might chose to compare myself with them and say I would hardly qualify as a rank amateur. Technical expertise often becomes obsolete very quickly in some fields. That's why I finally gave up pro... See more I have expertise in some fields, some of it rather dated. But am I an expert? I suppose I could consult a dictionary and see. In every field where I have some depth of understanding or which I enjoy exploring, I know people who are better at it than I am. So if "expert" is a comparative classification, I might chose to compare myself with them and say I would hardly qualify as a rank amateur. Technical expertise often becomes obsolete very quickly in some fields. That's why I finally gave up programming. Reinventing my skills - the same damned skills in principle - with a new tool set every 6 months to a year for decades got veeeeeery old after a while. "Expert" sounds very static to me, but I might be one today in some subject matter and hopelessly, uselessly out of date in the same subject months or years later.
I'm more interesting in knowing my limits for learning new things or re-learning old ones. Have my mathematical reasoning skills diminished because I haven't exercised them much lately? Oops! Have I been so busy using parts of speech and grammatical forms that I've forgotten their linguistic descriptions? Mea culpa on that one. Is this an urgent gap which needs plugging, or are there other practical priorities? Like most things, I'll have to think about that. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Rod Walters 
Japan
Local time: 02:41
Japanese to English
| No expert translators here then? | Feb 19, 2009 |
Most people seem to be taking 'expert' to mean 'expert in the subject field'.
Me, I'm an expert translator. When asked my field of expertise on forms, I'm often tempted to write 'translation' and leave it at that. Part of this expertise resides in being able to take a quick look over a document and being able to say, "I'm sorry, I can't do this", or, "I'll need a bit longer for this one".
I often think it would be wonderful to be an expert in say, genetics, and work o... See more Most people seem to be taking 'expert' to mean 'expert in the subject field'.
Me, I'm an expert translator. When asked my field of expertise on forms, I'm often tempted to write 'translation' and leave it at that. Part of this expertise resides in being able to take a quick look over a document and being able to say, "I'm sorry, I can't do this", or, "I'll need a bit longer for this one".
I often think it would be wonderful to be an expert in say, genetics, and work only in that field with a few end clients, and I'd like to be able to sit down and talk to someone like that about their experience of translation. But in Japan at least, I think they're probably very rare.
This emphasis on subject-level expertise seems a little risky to me. Experts of that sort no doubt sometimes translate outside their declared field of expertise, presumably encroaching on somebody else's field of expertise. That would seem to invalidate the very premise of the importance of expertise itself to some extent. How would they defend their behaviour in that case? However, I don't want to take this line of thought into the realm of absurdity. (Today I'm an expert translator in superconductivity, and I must apply myself to that.) ▲ Collapse
| | | | liz askew
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:41
Member (2007)
French to English
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TOPIC STARTER | No expert translators here then? | Feb 20, 2009 |
Dear Rod
I agree with your sentiments entirely.
To be an "expert" we translators would only be able to translate in one area of expertise. As a medical translator I have to take on translations in the area of Medicine, which as you can imagine covers a very wide area indeed!
But, yes, I agree with what you say about being an expert translator.
I trained as a linguist, first and foremost, so consider myself an expert linguist and translator... See more Dear Rod
I agree with your sentiments entirely.
To be an "expert" we translators would only be able to translate in one area of expertise. As a medical translator I have to take on translations in the area of Medicine, which as you can imagine covers a very wide area indeed!
But, yes, I agree with what you say about being an expert translator.
I trained as a linguist, first and foremost, so consider myself an expert linguist and translator/interpreter. I would not describe myself an expert in any other field though. Knowledgeable and educated maybe, but that is about as far as it goes.
Thanks for your contribution.
Liz ▲ Collapse
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liz askew
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:41
Member (2007)
French to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Dear everybody | Feb 20, 2009 |
Hello again
It has been very interesting to read all your contributions and see that there is always more than one perspective to any question. What strikes me is that we have all approached it from our own personal perspectives (what else?) and each one is valid in its own right.
Thanks for your replies. It's nice to know how some of you think and feel about your work and experiences.
What we do all have in common is that many of us are expert linguists... See more Hello again
It has been very interesting to read all your contributions and see that there is always more than one perspective to any question. What strikes me is that we have all approached it from our own personal perspectives (what else?) and each one is valid in its own right.
Thanks for your replies. It's nice to know how some of you think and feel about your work and experiences.
What we do all have in common is that many of us are expert linguists and the experts out there in Medicine, Law, Engineering, Geophysics (you name it) who use our services couldn't do without us!
Bye for now..
Liz ▲ Collapse
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