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Thread poster: WS McCallum
WS McCallum
WS McCallum
New Zealand
Local time: 07:58
French to English
Feb 4, 2021



One of the most common assumptions I get from people who I meet and tell I am a translator is that I must therefore translate novels as a living. Often they are disappointed when I explain that, in spite of my literary training, I ended up translating nearly
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One of the most common assumptions I get from people who I meet and tell I am a translator is that I must therefore translate novels as a living. Often they are disappointed when I explain that, in spite of my literary training, I ended up translating nearly everything but literature.

The other common assumption is that translation is a dilettante’s activity or some sort of sideline, where you polish off a highly-crafted page or two now and then, in-between doing “real” work.

Consequently, I often have trouble convincing people that this is work I do on a daily basis and, yes, it takes up a full working day, and I have generally worked 6 days a week for most of my self-employed life.

As part of my work archives scheduled destruction programme, I took the opportunity to snap the following photo of some of my professional output, along with some stats:

Period: Four years (2014-2017)
Files height: 2.1 metres
Estimated number of translated words: 4.6 million
Languages translated: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Slovene, Russian
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P.L.F. Persio
Dan Lucas
Christopher Schröder
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Zibow Retailleau
AMARILDA RUCI
Mervyn Henderson (X)
 
Sadek_A
Sadek_A  Identity Verified
Local time: 22:58
English to Arabic
+ ...
..... Feb 4, 2021

Totally biting my tongue!

 
Matthias Brombach
Matthias Brombach  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 19:58
Member (2007)
Dutch to German
+ ...
Wow! Feb 4, 2021

Do you still use a typewriter?
Honestly, I still experience the same problem with other people (mainly my neighbours; the experienced readers here on proz know who I am talking about) not respecting translation as "real" work. But when I tell them, that I can stay at home to make money, while others have to go to work for it, they hate me even more for what I do. But if I would tell them, how much I have to pay for my health
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Do you still use a typewriter?
Honestly, I still experience the same problem with other people (mainly my neighbours; the experienced readers here on proz know who I am talking about) not respecting translation as "real" work. But when I tell them, that I can stay at home to make money, while others have to go to work for it, they hate me even more for what I do. But if I would tell them, how much I have to pay for my health insurance, which is mandatory here in Germany, then they (would) look even more consternated and tell me, they didn't assume I would pay for insurances and taxes at all (because they think I live on their expenses). Next step in their question-and-answer game is to ask, why I still live in Germany and do not spend my working time on a tropical Island, with my laptop on the knees at the beaches. I could then answer, that their bad attitude motivates me to stay here, otherwise they wouldn't have anything they could maul over (and would have to annoy other people then).
The last question would be (which is sometimes the first question), in what languages (plural!) I translate. When I answer "Into German only" they have no further questions, but you can see in their faces, what they think about you then.

[Bearbeitet am 2021-02-04 07:28 GMT]
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P.L.F. Persio
Mervyn Henderson (X)
Christopher Schröder
Marina Taffetani
Oriana W.
Adieu
expressisverbis
 
WS McCallum
WS McCallum
New Zealand
Local time: 07:58
French to English
TOPIC STARTER
Typewriter Feb 4, 2021

Yes I do still have a typewriter - nothing beats it for typing addresses on envelopes.

It's odd what people think about our profession - misconceptions abound.


Matthias Brombach
expressisverbis
 
Dan Lucas
Dan Lucas  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:58
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
Paper-lite over here Feb 4, 2021

WS McCallum wrote:
Files height: 2.1 metres

That's a decent stack of paper. Anything printed here gets put through a cross-cutting shredder, and I have to submit a signed declaration to my clients every 12 months to attest to the fact!

Different strokes indeed.

Dan


P.L.F. Persio
 
Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
United Kingdom
Member (2011)
Swedish to English
+ ...
Time capsule Feb 4, 2021

Shelves of dictionaries and stacks of paper. Reminds me of our office circa 2005!

I still check on paper but I don’t keep paper copies of jobs any more. The CIA and the KGB both had full teams down our local recycling centre for a month to sift their way through 20 years of output when we finally cleared all the paper out.

Spot on, Matthias. But whether they are impressed or unimpressed, most people still seem to come out of it thinking I am an interpreter.


P.L.F. Persio
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Kevin Fulton
Mervyn Henderson (X)
expressisverbis
 
Matthias Brombach
Matthias Brombach  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 19:58
Member (2007)
Dutch to German
+ ...
Oh yes, certainly! Feb 4, 2021

Chris S wrote:

most people still seem to come out of it thinking I am an interpreter.


... good point, Chris, how could I forget to tell them neighbours that I translate, and do not in-ter-prete! That could change the situation here immediately and I will go and ring the doorbells around me right now! (Of course! A translator! And they all wonder why there is no mumbling to hear in my flat when they put their hearing aids against the walls! They think I am an interpreter, but don't believe it! How could I forget!) "Hello, Klukowski, wait a minute, I have to talk to you...!"

[Bearbeitet am 2021-02-04 08:37 GMT]


Christopher Schröder
P.L.F. Persio
Mervyn Henderson (X)
expressisverbis
 
matt robinson
matt robinson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 19:58
Member (2010)
Spanish to English
Out of mother tongue Feb 4, 2021

Where I live (central Spain) people don't seem surprised that I can earn a living as a full-time translator, but they almost always assume that I translate out of my native language into Spanish, and are surprised when I tell them that translators usually translate into their mother tongues.
As for paper I don't use it in a work context, apart from the odd NDA that I have to print off and physically sign, and even then I could probably manage without the printed format. I would also say th
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Where I live (central Spain) people don't seem surprised that I can earn a living as a full-time translator, but they almost always assume that I translate out of my native language into Spanish, and are surprised when I tell them that translators usually translate into their mother tongues.
As for paper I don't use it in a work context, apart from the odd NDA that I have to print off and physically sign, and even then I could probably manage without the printed format. I would also say that nowadays around 50% of my input and output has never and will never be put down on paper.
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P.L.F. Persio
Eric Azevedo
Mervyn Henderson (X)
neilmac
expressisverbis
 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 18:58
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
My output? Feb 4, 2021

Period: 36 years (1985-2021) full-time + 5 years part-time.

Files height: no idea (just imagine how many meters it would be if I had kept everything on paper!). Anyway, when I move back to Lisbon in 2015 and because I had plenty of space in Brussels it took me two long weeks to select and shred all old and unneeded documents.

Estimated number of translated words: no idea of the total, but I know what I did last year: EN/PT: 465,417; ES/PT: 8,911; FR/PT: 154,285; IT/PT:
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Period: 36 years (1985-2021) full-time + 5 years part-time.

Files height: no idea (just imagine how many meters it would be if I had kept everything on paper!). Anyway, when I move back to Lisbon in 2015 and because I had plenty of space in Brussels it took me two long weeks to select and shred all old and unneeded documents.

Estimated number of translated words: no idea of the total, but I know what I did last year: EN/PT: 465,417; ES/PT: 8,911; FR/PT: 154,285; IT/PT: 6,857 = 635,470 words (no CAT tools).

Languages translated: English, French, Italian, and Spanish to Portuguese. Work in EN-PT has been on the rise over the years, while FR, IT and ES are losing ground.

People around me are not surprised that I work at home as a freelancer (some are surprised that I’m still working), but like others I’ve also seen how disappointed they are when I say that I translate exclusively into Portuguese.
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P.L.F. Persio
Mervyn Henderson (X)
 
Marina Taffetani
Marina Taffetani  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 19:58
Member (2013)
German to Italian
+ ...
What do translators even do? Feb 4, 2021

Luckily most people seem to understand that translating is a "real" profession and that I do indeed work. Of course, it's different with older people, who usually cannot even grasp the meaning of working from home, let alone understand what a "translator" is.

However, people are astonished when I say I don't translate novels, that seems impossible to them. Why, what do translators do then? Oh yes, of course, translators are actually interpreters, that's what they must be if they don
... See more
Luckily most people seem to understand that translating is a "real" profession and that I do indeed work. Of course, it's different with older people, who usually cannot even grasp the meaning of working from home, let alone understand what a "translator" is.

However, people are astonished when I say I don't translate novels, that seems impossible to them. Why, what do translators do then? Oh yes, of course, translators are actually interpreters, that's what they must be if they don't translate novels, right? And why would I only translate into Italian? Then surely I'm not that good, right? Obviously all translators work in at least 10 language pairs. It's absolutely impossible I don't translate into English. Why, certainly I can translate this letter their granny wants to send to someone in Germany, right? And these hospital brochures into English for non-Italian-speaking patients. Uh, I must be terrible at my job if I won't accept that kind of work.
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P.L.F. Persio
Matthias Brombach
Christopher Schröder
Mervyn Henderson (X)
Zibow Retailleau
Adieu
 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 18:58
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Generalizations... Feb 4, 2021

Marina Taffetani wrote:

Of course, it's different with older people, who usually cannot even grasp the meaning of working from home, let alone understand what a "translator" is.


Many translators here are classified as older people (aged 60 and above) and I’m one of those lucky ones…


Renée van Bijsterveld
Tina Vonhof (X)
Philip Lees
 
Renée van Bijsterveld
Renée van Bijsterveld  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 19:58
Member (2007)
English to Dutch
+ ...
Where does this come from? Feb 4, 2021

I do wonder where your wisdom "Of course, it's different with older people, who usually cannot even grasp the meaning of working from home, let alone understand what a "translator" is." comes from, especially the last part.

neilmac
Beatriz Ramírez de Haro
 
IrinaN
IrinaN
United States
Local time: 13:58
English to Russian
+ ...
What is the starting point for "older"? Feb 4, 2021

Marina Taffetani wrote:

Of course, it's different with older people, who usually cannot even grasp the meaning of working from home, let alone understand what a "translator" is.



Usually, in child's mind it's 30


Mervyn Henderson (X)
expressisverbis
Barbara Carrara
 
Adieu
Adieu  Identity Verified
Ukrainian to English
+ ...
Wow Feb 4, 2021

I don't think I've ever printed a single sheet of translation.


EDIT: no, I lied. I had a weird lawyer shop client in the mid 2000's that wanted hand-delivered hard copies... we didn't hit it off, for obvious reasons.


Jorge Payan
 
P.L.F. Persio
P.L.F. Persio  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 19:58
Member (2010)
English to Italian
+ ...
Or even before 30 Feb 4, 2021

IrinaN wrote:

Usually, in child's mind it's 30


Our 16 y.o. pussy cat died when my daughter was 4, so that was her first encounter with the notion of death:

Her: Mum, please don't die.
Me: Aw poppet, don't worry! I don't think I'm going to die any time soon.
Her: But you're so old!
Me: I'm 29, you little bugger.

[Edited at 2021-02-04 15:11 GMT]


Christopher Schröder
IrinaN
Matthias Brombach
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Zibow Retailleau
Mervyn Henderson (X)
Beatriz Ramírez de Haro
 
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