| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] | Poll: Do you think it's an advantage to live in your target language country? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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Mario Freitas 
Brazil
Local time: 21:39
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
| Advantages is the key term | Jul 28, 2015 |
Mario Chavez wrote: Balasubramaniam L. wrote: Mario Freitas wrote:
For us translators, I don't think it makes a lot of difference professionally.
70% of my clients are from abroad, and it makes no difference to them where I live, either. What matters is if my native language is the target language.
Now, when you live in a country like the one I live, and translate from English to Portuguese, there are no advantages whatsoever living here. There are no Portuguese-speaking countries in the world that are better in any aspect than most English-speaking countries, considering all aspects of well-being.
If I lived in Canada or England, bening a native, of course, I would probably answer "yes" to this question.
Note that most people who answered "yes" live in America or Europe. In the southern hemisphere, you will mostly get "no" for sure.
[Edited at 2015-07-28 18:46 GMT] I don't think the poll or this discussion is about how where a translator is located contributes to his economic (or other) well-being. Instead it has to do with the science and technique of translation, and with the translation quality that can be achieved when the translator is located in a place where his main languages are spoken. … It is well-documented that long residence in an area where one's languages are not predominantly spoken can weaken or corrupt one's command over one's languages. Some posts in this thread itself have highlighted this. It is also a myth that it is possible to maintain live contact with one's languages through TV, or the internet, or by reading books or magazines. These are all one way mediums where you silently absorb what you read or listen to, and miss the other active half where you respond actively to language stimuli (that is you speak in the language to native speakers of the language). … In a sense, we are talking here about ideal situations which produce the best translation - clearly translators located where their languages are spoken are in the best position to achieve this ideal translation. Let's not get dogmatic. The poll doesn't qualify the advantage or advantages. For some, it's cultural benefits and advantages; for others, it's a combination of advantages, including financial and social ones. Let's not read too much into it (ie, “it has to do with the science and technique of translation”). A well-documented phenomena about long residence? Can you prove this or supply us with well-researched papers that document and support what you are saying? About the so-called myth: it depends on your particular circumstances. There are no rules, so let's not impose ours. Finally, regarding ideal situations to produce an ideal translation: no such thing. Throughout history (and I mean millenia of history), translators have made do under whatever circumstances they found themselves in. By ideal, we mean not realistic.
What advantages are to be considered if not for the person's better living. How would they be "advantages" otherwise?
| | | | Balasubramaniam L.
India
Local time: 06:09
Member (2006)
English to Hindi
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SITE LOCALIZER | Advantages to the client | Jul 29, 2015 |
Mario Freitas wrote:
What advantages are to be considered if not for the person's better living. How would they be "advantages" otherwise?
Obviously, advantages to the client commissioning the translation who gets a more accurate, nuanced translation that is true to the original in every way and reads like original writing in the target language because the translator is intimately in touch with both his languages and knows every nook and corner, quirk and idiocy of them and is able to produce an exact one to one correspondence of the source text in the translation.
If translators don't live their languages, they often have to rely on guess work or on embellishing the translation and this can often go woefully wrong. It may read well and many people not knowing the source language may be conned into thinking that it is a nice translation, but it won't fulfill one of the two critical requirements of a good translation - accuracy and elegance.
This is why I said, we need to separate the two issues here - the individual situation of the translator, and the requirements of a good translation. Translators may or may not fulfill the requirements, and in many cases reasonably ok translations can be produced when one or more of these critical requirements are not met, but in mission critical situations, it is imperative that the translator fulfill all the critical requirements, and one of the most critical requirement is to live where his main languages are spoken.
[Edited at 2015-07-29 03:32 GMT]
| | | | | depends on situation | Jul 29, 2015 |
If a translator is translating into a non-native language, I would say it is a huge advantage if they live in a target-language country (and see to it that they live in their target language there).
Otherwise, I simply don't think languages change that fast and I think that it is more advantageous to learn my way into the linguistic and cultural nooks and crannies of my source language by osmosis (by living in a source-language country) than to keep my target language "up to date" b... See more If a translator is translating into a non-native language, I would say it is a huge advantage if they live in a target-language country (and see to it that they live in their target language there).
Otherwise, I simply don't think languages change that fast and I think that it is more advantageous to learn my way into the linguistic and cultural nooks and crannies of my source language by osmosis (by living in a source-language country) than to keep my target language "up to date" by living in a target-language country.
From a business perspective, being able to fluently deal with my clients in their language (my source language) is obviously a gigantic advantage. Personally, I would lose that in under a year of not spending most of my day in German.
Probably the worst situation would be to live in a situation where my target language serves as a lingua franca or a strange variety of my target-language is spoken. I can imagine living in English in a foreign capital could do irreparable damage to one's native language over time.
EDIT: Nice to have two peope agreeing so completely here - I also prefer Gitte's choice of words ("weakest language") as a way to appropriately avoid the ever-contentious "native language".
[Edited at 2015-07-29 08:07 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | 564354352 (X)
Denmark
Local time: 02:39
Danish to English
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| Maybe the ideal is to live in your 'weakest' language area? | Jul 29, 2015 |
I agree with Michael in this sentiment:
Michael Wetzel wrote:
If a translator is translating into a non-native language, I would say it is a huge advantage if they live in a target-language country (and see to it that they live in their target language there).
I imagine that our first language will always be our strongest language, the one that we understand and use intuitively. Whether this is also our 'native' language (by whichever definition you prefer) is, perhaps, irrelevant.
Then I would think that living in a country where our weakest language is spoken will always be an advantage.
Hence, if the language you translate FROM is your weakest language, you'd be better off living in a country where that language is predominant so as to keep constantly fluent in that language, and if the language you translate INTO is your weakest language, then you'd be better off living in a country where that language is predominant.
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Mario Freitas
Brazil
Local time: 21:39
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
| Advantage to the translator! | Jul 30, 2015 |
Balasubramaniam L. wrote: Mario Freitas wrote:
What advantages are to be considered if not for the person's better living. How would they be "advantages" otherwise? Obviously, advantages to the client commissioning the translation who gets a more accurate, nuanced translation that is true to the original in every way and reads like original writing in the target language because the translator is intimately in touch with both his languages and knows every nook and corner, quirk and idiocy of them and is able to produce an exact one to one correspondence of the source text in the translation.
This is a query to the translator, not to the agency or to the outsourcer, whatsoever. You may interpret it as you wish, of course, but if you consider an advantage to the boss as an advantage for yourself, good luck.
[Edited at 2015-07-30 15:42 GMT]
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