| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Poll: Are you proud of your profession? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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EvaVer (X) 
Local time: 15:19
Czech to French
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| I absolutely agree | Jul 29, 2014 |
Chris S wrote:
What is there to be proud of? It's just a job. We're not saving lives.
I'm proud of most of my work, but that's not the same thing.
| | | | Yaotl Altan
Mexico
Local time: 07:19
Member (2006)
English to Spanish
+ ...
Yes, we are the bridge among cultures.
| | | | 564354352 (X)
Denmark
Local time: 15:19
Danish to English
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| Sad, but true | Jul 29, 2014 |
Chris S wrote:
What is there to be proud of? It's just a job. We're not saving lives.
I'm proud of most of my work, but that's not the same thing.
When I was a child, I used to dream of being an interpreter, not a translator. I thought it would be very exciting to be a whispering interpreter with politicians, never realising that only a small minority of interpreters end up as such. As an adult, I have qualified as both, but have opted to work as a translator, and there is very little glory in that. In fact, in Denmark, the government is planning to do away with the state-authorisation of translators/interpreters, which means that anyone who wants to can use the term 'translatør', which has been a protected title so far. I can't think of a better way to describe how any pride we might feel in our profession is gradually being stripped away.
Like Chris, and others, I can feel proud of my work, even sometimes look at a particular translation and say to myself, "Damn, I'm good", and I love to see my name in print on books I have translated and proudly keep copies of such works. But most of the time, it's just the work that puts bread and butter on my table and pays the rent...
The profession as such is a shambles, I think... Sad, but true...
| | | | Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 09:19
English to Spanish
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| Proud...with a pinch of snobbery in the eyes of those who don't know me well | Jul 29, 2014 |
I was hoping to find yeses in the 80-90% range...but I was wrong. Why so much cynicism?
Neilmac, just because there are arrivistes and inept bilinguals who pretend to translate doesn't mean we should let them erode our joy and pride in what we do and what we chose to do as an avocation or profession.
Chris S., perhaps translation as a profession is just a job for you and you don't think that it's as important as saving lives. What job would you rather do instead? Are yo... See more I was hoping to find yeses in the 80-90% range...but I was wrong. Why so much cynicism?
Neilmac, just because there are arrivistes and inept bilinguals who pretend to translate doesn't mean we should let them erode our joy and pride in what we do and what we chose to do as an avocation or profession.
Chris S., perhaps translation as a profession is just a job for you and you don't think that it's as important as saving lives. What job would you rather do instead? Are you that unhappy?
Everyone: Why should you measure your joy and contentment in what you do in your chosen activity by what other practitioners do wrong? Are your feelings that easy to manipulate?
Some people are happy to go to TJ Maxx or Marshall's to get decorating items that resemble the real thing: knicknacks and tchotchkes selling for 20 or 30 dollars that any beginner artisan could have put together for 5 or less (dollars or euros).
Likewise, some clients are happy to use Google Translate or whatever their bilingual sales rep can cough up as a valid conversion of a message —a letter, an email, a website— from one language to another as good enough effort to improve their sales and their bottom lines. I'm pretty sure you don't want those clients in your life.
Translation as a craft, an occupation, a creative endeavor, has been with humankind for millenia, from those small bilingual lists found in clay tablets to those wonders to behold, illuminated books fashioned in the Middle Ages. As a profession, translation rises and drops with major cultural and geopolitical events. I love history in general, and history of translation in particular. It gives me a wider and deeper framework to showcase my joy and what I do for a living.
Find your own joy in what you do. ▲ Collapse
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Laureana Pavon
Uruguay
Local time: 10:19
Member (2007)
English to Spanish
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MODERATOR | I must be really lucky | Jul 29, 2014 |
I'm proud of my profession and I love what I do.
What's more, my clients respect my work, pay well and tell me how much they appreciate my efforts. They do this all the time.
Maybe it's because of where I live, or maybe it's because of the type of customers I have. I really can't understand why so many translators feel under-appreciated. I'm also an engineer, and I've never heard so much complaining among my engineering colleagues.
| | | | janen
Local time: 01:19
Spanish to English
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| Not recognised by others | Jul 29, 2014 |
I know that what I do is difficult, so I feel some pride in that, but it is not generally recognised by others. Recently I was talking to someone about the fact that I translate five languages. When I mentioned that I also have a law degree she said "Oh, you really are clever". I feel she had it the wrong way around.
| | | | DianeGM
Local time: 16:19
Member (2006)
Dutch to English
+ ...
I voted yes, definitely - but that response is personal rather than general.
I don't often think about it like that, but I am proud of the work I do, the skill involved, the range of knowledge I have acquired in different subjects, the contacts I have made and the relationships I have forged over the years. I don't mind being an unsung hero or that other people aren't impressed or don't really know or care what I do. I don't think other people should be your yardstick for judging yo... See more I voted yes, definitely - but that response is personal rather than general.
I don't often think about it like that, but I am proud of the work I do, the skill involved, the range of knowledge I have acquired in different subjects, the contacts I have made and the relationships I have forged over the years. I don't mind being an unsung hero or that other people aren't impressed or don't really know or care what I do. I don't think other people should be your yardstick for judging yourself.
As other have mentioned there are things I come accross in a profesisonal context which I wish were different.
Still, I think every profession probably has its fair share of cowboys but I don't think that should be a reason for not being proud of who you are or what you do, whatever profession you are in. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | I'd choose other wording | Jul 29, 2014 |
I take pride in my work, in doing it well. The idea of being proud or not proud of a profession never occurred to me.
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Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 09:19
English to Spanish
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Maxi Schwarz wrote:
I take pride in my work, in doing it well. The idea of being proud or not proud of a profession never occurred to me.
Good point, Maxi. Come to think of it, current English usage indicates that we are usually proud of something we do or represent.
However, to say that one feels proud of one's country, or a group or entity bigger than oneself may be equally acceptable in usage.
| | | | Erzsébet Czopyk
Hungary
Local time: 15:19
Member (2006)
Russian to Hungarian
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER
and I am also proud to be here, among excellent colleagues.
Thanks, ProZ.com community
(Henry, it was a good idea
but...
sometimes I miss my Dad. He passed away on my 8th birthday, a day before his 40th birthday.
He did not see my maturity exam, my graduation, my wedding(s), my children... i would be so grateful ... See more and I am also proud to be here, among excellent colleagues.
Thanks, ProZ.com community
(Henry, it was a good idea
but...
sometimes I miss my Dad. He passed away on my 8th birthday, a day before his 40th birthday.
He did not see my maturity exam, my graduation, my wedding(s), my children... i would be so grateful just once again hear his voice, saying "I am proud of you, dear"...
[Módosítva: 2014-07-29 20:56 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Yaotl Altan wrote:
Yes, we are the bridge among cultures.
This is something I say all the time, I will go even further... we are bridges among souls...
I usually translate articles, and I feel that the writers (usually professors, politicians) are sharing their souls and I have to take a picture of their souls in another language...
| | | | Michele Fauble
United States
Local time: 06:19
Member (2006)
Norwegian to English
+ ...
| Sometimes not | Jul 30, 2014 |
There are too many "translators" who should be doing something else.
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Michele Fauble wrote:
There are too many "translators" who should be doing something else.
For example, take my case. A very curious case. I must be and should be teaching "what is translation, how to translate, how to research translations, theories of translation, the future of translation studies" to my students in a university. Or I should be writing screenplays, auteuring films, and teaching "what is cinema" to my students in a film institute. Or I should be writing poems, novels, short stories, columns, and nonfiction. Instead, I am doing translations, editing translations by others, criticizing the translations of others, etc.
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