| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Poll: I wish there were more human contact or social aspects to translation. Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "I wish there were more human contact or social aspects to translation.".
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I’m no longer the social animal I once was. I changed with age: I was an extrovert and I'm rather an introvert person now. I love being and working alone, so now freelancing suits me fine…
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 20:06
Spanish to English
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I'm posting a "neutral", as a full-on disagree might seem churlish. I prefer to work on my own, although I do collaborate with other translators occasionally.
| | | | Paulo Melo 
Brazil
Local time: 16:06
English to Portuguese
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Working with people who could be anywhere in the world, who you never see and never get to know, is a part of this profession I don't like.
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| Create contact, or take advantage of the opportunities there are | Aug 24, 2022 |
I hate the human race - until I meet them, when I am often pleasantly surprised!
I had too little privacy when I was younger, so I really appreciate being able to withdraw into my ´cage´ and keep the world at a distance. I need quiet to work.
However, I come from a sociable family, so I am dragged out at regular intervals.
I feel the need for professional stimulation, so I attend powwows, the CIoL conference when I can, study days and language events.
Thi... See more I hate the human race - until I meet them, when I am often pleasantly surprised!
I had too little privacy when I was younger, so I really appreciate being able to withdraw into my ´cage´ and keep the world at a distance. I need quiet to work.
However, I come from a sociable family, so I am dragged out at regular intervals.
I feel the need for professional stimulation, so I attend powwows, the CIoL conference when I can, study days and language events.
This site and a wonderful Danish group on Facebook provide virtual contact, and then it is not so difficult to organise face-to-face meetings when we feel like it.
There must be powwows, events and chances to meet up in other language pairs, or else it is quite easy to organise an informal powwow or contact colleagues.
For me, the next event is the Danish Language Council's festival in the town of Bogense. Several colleagues are going, and it was very interesting last year, so I am looking forward to it.
There is no need to feel more isolated that you want to! ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:06
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Teresa Borges wrote:
I’m no longer the social animal I once was. I changed with age: I was an extrovert and I'm rather an introvert person now. I love being and working alone, so now freelancing suits me fine…
Yesterday I had to go on a somewhat urgent little mission across NorthWest London, by public transport, to pick up a valuable audio amplifier that a specialist was repairing for me.
It was a delight to see all the people and hear them (mostly on their phones). An Asian man opposite me on the Overground spent a long time shouting into his phone in an incomprehensible language. Then he apologised and we chatted about languages. He said he spoke 5 including Gujarati, Urdu, etc. The one he had been speaking on the phone was a regional dialect from somewhere in India. When we reached his stop, as he was getting off he gave me a High 5.
I realised I must get out more. I like people! And London is full of them!
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I don't especially hate people, but I don't dig social connections and I love the calm and quiet of translation work. More human contact would probably be stressful, in my case.
| | | | Baran Keki
Türkiye
Local time: 22:06
Member
English to Turkish
| It'd be interesting | Aug 25, 2022 |
Tom in London wrote:
I realised I must get out more. I like people! And London is full of them!
If you crossed paths with this guy (Youtuber) and he interviewed you..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IJaE9QCJuU
Btw London is full of dangerous folk as well, innit?
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Kay Denney
France
Local time: 20:06
French to English
I'm an introvert so I prefer social contact in small doses. I do enjoy translator events but I find them exhausting, so I need plenty of alone time before and especially after. I have been invited to events by my event-organiser clients, and that can be excruciating, especially when they take place in noisy bars where I have great difficulty hearing them properly.
Also, hanging out with clients in a place where alcohol is consumed, I feel awkward. I remember a client at the agency ... See more I'm an introvert so I prefer social contact in small doses. I do enjoy translator events but I find them exhausting, so I need plenty of alone time before and especially after. I have been invited to events by my event-organiser clients, and that can be excruciating, especially when they take place in noisy bars where I have great difficulty hearing them properly.
Also, hanging out with clients in a place where alcohol is consumed, I feel awkward. I remember a client at the agency complaining that an interpreter we'd sent them enjoyed herself too much at the "after" event, swigging a little too much of the freely flowing champagne. She was no longer on duty, she wasn't drunk, she said and did nothing inappropriate, but the client rang up to complain. As a result I'm paranoid about being on my best behaviour. Not that I go wild in bars any more even.
I do find it helps when you meet your clients: they will obviously talk about their work since we know each other through that, and if I'm at their event it means they are important to me, which in turn means that I'm interested in their work. In person, they often drop nuggets of information that can inform subsequent translations, and also provide keen insights into what they do, why, and how. They also tend to give heads-ups about upcoming projects, so it's all very useful.
Once I had to decline because I was travelling, and it was the event I most wanted to attend, in that I'd have seen my work in action: I had translated instructions and a fun narrative for a kiddies' "time machine" and really wanted to have a go on that, see how it came across and of course make sure the client hadn't messed up my translation, and even (gasp) have a little bit of fun.
[Edited at 2022-08-26 06:56 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:06
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Baran Keki wrote:
London is full of dangerous folk as well, innit?
Yes. I'm one of them.
| | | | | It's complicated | Aug 26, 2022 |
Our company is having a team retreat tomorrow, and when they invited me, I just said no. All because I don't really know anyone there, all communications are through a work chat. Even when I'm working from the office, I'm just sitting there and typing away, no time to have a talk or a laugh. I guess wouldn't mind adding a bit of socializing to this routine, but how can this be done now that I still have to be sitting and typing, it's my job. I'm not a classic case of an introvert (i. e. nothing... See more Our company is having a team retreat tomorrow, and when they invited me, I just said no. All because I don't really know anyone there, all communications are through a work chat. Even when I'm working from the office, I'm just sitting there and typing away, no time to have a talk or a laugh. I guess wouldn't mind adding a bit of socializing to this routine, but how can this be done now that I still have to be sitting and typing, it's my job. I'm not a classic case of an introvert (i. e. nothing like how introverts are portrayed in memes), I feel okay being in different crowds (including international crowds, most of which in my case were quite lovely). When I was in the military, there was a time when we were squeezed in a tent and everyone had to sleep on his side because otherwise we wouldn't all fit on the boards, and I wasn't upset about it at all. It was a great time with great folks – excluding the big brass and a negligible number of other a**holes, of course. The only problem (besides those originating from the big brass) was the kinds of songs some of them would listen to or sing themselves, one such song being so awful that I wished I never heard it again after that field trip. And yeah, I'm still an introvert, there's nothing I can do about it. On the plus side, I love people and can always find an equilibrium where I'm neither foisting myself on nor shutting myself off from anyone ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Double-edged sword | Aug 29, 2022 |
It's a double-edged sword in my experience. While contact with colleagues can be nice, it's not always the case. In my last in-house job, I had to share an office with a guy I could not stand. Starting a new job soon and am feeling very nervous as I don't know what to expect.
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Kay Denney wrote:
I'm an introvert so I prefer social contact in small doses. I do enjoy translator events but I find them exhausting, so I need plenty of alone time before and especially after. I have been invited to events by my event-organiser clients, and that can be excruciating, especially when they take place in noisy bars where I have great difficulty hearing them properly.
Also, hanging out with clients in a place where alcohol is consumed, I feel awkward. I remember a client at the agency complaining that an interpreter we'd sent them enjoyed herself too much at the "after" event, swigging a little too much of the freely flowing champagne. She was no longer on duty, she wasn't drunk, she said and did nothing inappropriate, but the client rang up to complain. As a result I'm paranoid about being on my best behaviour. Not that I go wild in bars any more even.
I do find it helps when you meet your clients: they will obviously talk about their work since we know each other through that, and if I'm at their event it means they are important to me, which in turn means that I'm interested in their work. In person, they often drop nuggets of information that can inform subsequent translations, and also provide keen insights into what they do, why, and how. They also tend to give heads-ups about upcoming projects, so it's all very useful.
Once I had to decline because I was travelling, and it was the event I most wanted to attend, in that I'd have seen my work in action: I had translated instructions and a fun narrative for a kiddies' "time machine" and really wanted to have a go on that, see how it came across and of course make sure the client hadn't messed up my translation, and even (gasp) have a little bit of fun.
[Edited at 2022-08-26 06:56 GMT]
I find it awful that a client would complain about an interpreter like this. What exactly was the complaint? That the interpreter had too much fun?
| | | | Aline Brito
Brazil
Local time: 16:06
English to Portuguese
+ ...
I like being alone very much, but... Sometimes it feels lonely.
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:06
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Aline Brito wrote:
I like being alone very much, but... Sometimes it feels lonely.
I have always enjoyed my own company ever since childhood (although I also like company, if it's good company).
I wonder if we freelance translators are a particular species, fiercely independent of others and happy to spend most of our time alone?
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