What translators think about polyglots?Language degree WANTED

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frenchfish55
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What translators think about polyglots?Language degree WANTED

Postby frenchfish55 » Fri Aug 12, 2022 5:21 am

I want to know opinion of those who studied linquistic and translation in university(recieve a degree)
1.What they thought about polyglots when they were in highschool?
2.Did you think that polyglots are the same as you they just spend more time learning languages or you just thought that Learning language is easy and "I want to be a translator or foreign language teacher? Or I don't want to be a lawyer and accountant, manager and there is no good options at all.
4 Do you agree that taking foreign language degree is a mistake and is better to study language on your own?
5 How difficult is studying languages in universities? What would happen if you don\t know language and you need to pass exam in next few weeks(foreign language).
What teachers will say? Give a man chance. We need bad translators too. He will learn languages in the future, during his job:-)
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Re: What translators think about polyglots?Language degree WANTED

Postby Iversen » Fri Aug 12, 2022 9:49 am

I studied French at the Romance Institute of the university in Århus in Denmark in the 70s (NOT translator or "tresproglig korrespondent" or anything like that) so my experiences are somewhat old - and from a time where the study schedules were somewhat more loose, but not less demanding than now. So I was allowed without being formally inscribed to follow regular courses in Italian, Old Norse and Romanian (the courses in Spanish were however filled to the brim with regular students so I have never had a course in Spanish). Besides we had special courses in the Romance languages for those who 'only' studied French . And my experience was that the hardcore polyglots among our teachers were admired for their skills, and those that taught linguistic topics all knew at least half a dozen languages. Those that taught sociological/historical topics or literature were not quite as versatile, but we accepted their limitations because they had studied other things.

I mentioned that study schedules were more 'elastic' in my time, so my teachers accepted that I studied many things on my own. For instance there was a stipulation that the final thesis should be written in one half year, and that there should be at least one obligatory talk midway to adjuct the title and other things. And that was the only occasion where I talked to my advisor about my thesis - but I admired his knowledge and used some of his tricks in it. And we did talk about other things - he was actually the only man I ever met that could speak Ancient French fluently, and he also taught Ancient Occitan and spoke Romanian. And very few of my fellow students delivered within the official half year. Our only full professor at the institute taught Brazilian Portuguese (though I only managed to follow a course in all the Romance languages with him). A third teacher knew Catalan and introduced some of us to that language, and I knew that at last one of the 'Spanish' teachers also was fluent in Italian. So all in all I would say that we would have been sceptical about a 'linguistic' teacher who only spoke Danish and English and German and one Romance language. As for the literature and sociology/history teachers ... well, at least we didn't taunt them.

I have never regretted to study languages at the university - it gave me access to lots of materials for free and to qualified people with whom I could discuss ultra-nerdy subjects. However I have never used my exam in my later jobs - I found an economically better safer haven in informatics. And my degree in comparative literature was a fullblown waste of time.

Those who wanted to become interpreters or translators in the 70s and 80s didn't study at the university, but at a parallel institution called 'Handelshøjskolen'. I also frequented that school later, but to study economics, so I don't really have any idea about the language courses there - except that they were more narrowly goal oriented (and probably less interested in producing hyperpolyglots). Since that time (the 80s) the universities and business high schools have been integrated, and I have absolutely no idea about the current climate is there now for would-be polyglots.

By the way: I did publish one translation during my study time: "Gaspard de la Nuit" by Aloysius Bertrand. And if the demand had been there I could have produced other translations too - I think translation is piece of cake compared to finding people to have conversations with.
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Re: What translators think about polyglots?Language degree WANTED

Postby BeaP » Fri Aug 12, 2022 10:11 am

When I was at university translation was a postgraduate course for MAs in philology/linguistics. I have the MA, but I didn't do the postgrad course, although I was thinking about becoming an interpreter. Nowadays, I have the impression that a lot of books are translated by the friends and family of the publisher. However, degrees are probably essential in official environments, like politics and legislation.

1. I didn't know that they existed, it was before the internet. I thought that learning languages was a rare opportunity that most people lacked. I think those famous polyglots in my generation who really speak several languages at a high level have spent a lot of time abroad, in different countries.

2. I've studied linguistics and teaching because that's what I'm interested in. Still today, if teaching was a real, respected, well-paid profession, with good working circumstances and active, curious and intelligent colleagues, I'd like to do it. (I quit teaching 15 years ago.)
I got very little help in my studies from my family: they payed for some extra courses, but I had extremely weak learning skills. I think people usually excelled in those subjects that were taught by a good teacher. All knowledge was a bit esoteric at that time, we didn't have the material of uni entrance exams in our high school books. We needed a tutor or an insider to give information about how to prepare. Someone with a good family background knew better how to learn, and also saw the opportunity of getting other degrees as an ordinary, evident thing. On the other hand, I could have studied law for example if I really wanted to, but I didn't.

3. A good university doesn't only teach you a science or a profession, it also teaches you critical thinking and how to do research. That's very hard to achieve at home. My friends who have done languages work in a lot different fields because they've gained these skills. Companies could train them to do any special job, and they knew how to look up information, what to ask. These skills also help you to become a successful autodidact, including a better language learner.

4. In Hungary you need B2 to study English or a FIGS language at university, Arabic or Chinese used to be (and probably still is) different. Theoretically you leave university with a C1 (after 3 years) or a C2 (after 5 years). The university I went to was quite strict, a lot of people failed exams and had to leave. The postgrad course for translators was probably also strict.
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Polyglot translation - a different approach

Postby anitarrc » Fri Aug 12, 2022 9:29 pm

You don't need a language degree to become a translator. This, in some countries, is necessary to translate legal documents though.
The other approach is a degree in law and some language studies. I met a Finnish solicitor who works at the European court of justice. She is probably one of the few people in Luxembourg who earn more than the bankers.
I studied electrical engineering, started at 29 and pulled through part time till I graduated (ME)
After a life of automotive electronics just after my 60th birthday I became a translator. My boss said today to a young new employee who will translate Ukrainian that I am the rock star there, because I do speak so many languages and will translate many combinations.
And yes I am still far from perfect. Every day I come across new words. I will remember many, but not all. We have a huge database where we keep all these new entries for further reference, always with links, dictionary entries or other sources, even if it is "30 years of workfloor.

If I can't remember a specific subjuntivo, then RAE, Priberam or dicciio will .

My advice is: there are many translators out there. But only those who can do less common combinations and/or have a field of expertise will earn well.

Mine is obviously engineering (apart from civil engineering). Some clients are very happy if I notice a technical mistake in the original text. Others might not like my style. I am glad that I will have part time work after 65 and that I will travel all the way to Tierra de fuego from my home with a day of writing the workshop manual for your truck or a new wind power plant in between. It is a nice future, even if in my field there is no fantastic, but decent pay.

Find your niche and your professional life will be interesting and safe.
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Re: What translators think about polyglots?Language degree WANTED

Postby frenchfish55 » Mon Aug 15, 2022 9:34 am

Iversen wrote: (and probably less interested in producing hyperpolyglots).

It's first time when I see this term.
1. Did you forget ancient languages?Why iLatin instead of arabic or chineese?
2. Have you ever think that knowing many languages might have negotive effect (for example employers may think that you are more interested in languages and you spend more time to support fluency instead of IT?
3. Do you regret that you missed opportunities in IT sector? start you own business etc?
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Re: What translators think about polyglots?Language degree WANTED

Postby Le Baron » Tue Aug 16, 2022 9:04 pm

I did translation work as an interim job after I left teaching (also worked a language school for a short time) translating French and Dutch materials to English and extracting transcripts from audio. They also produced subtitles for television there. I found this mentally exhausting work, usually because it required accurate results within a short time-span. I was always convinced after sending things off to the final check person, that I'd made a mistake. :lol: I was doing this for decreasing numbers of hours right up until I started doing what I do now.

None of the people I worked with had specific training as a translator, though the final proofreader(s), or at least the one I met, had specifically trained for it. It was mainly people who just had a different native language and competence in one or more foreign languages. The aim was to produce as-rapid-as-possible the bulk of the translation to be tidied-up by professional proofreaders.

With things like manuals it was learning on the job and there were lists of translations of things that turn up a lot e.g.: a grub screw or welding rods etc. Also some technical dictionaries. I imagine if you specialise on certain areas you just get familiar with everything. Including a certain 'style' for whatever the area of expertise is.
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Re: What translators think about polyglots?Language degree WANTED

Postby Iversen » Tue Aug 23, 2022 5:21 pm

Iversen wrote: (and probably less interested in producing hyperpolyglots).

frenchfish55 wrote:It's first time when I see this term.
1. Did you forget ancient languages?Why iLatin instead of arabic or chineese?
2. Have you ever think that knowing many languages might have negotive effect (for example employers may think that you are more interested in languages and you spend more time to support fluency instead of IT?
3. Do you regret that you missed opportunities in IT sector? start you own business etc?


0) I didn't invent the term "hyperpolyglot" - Richard Hudson did, and later Michael Erard revised the definition.

1) In the beginning I focused on Romance and Germanic languages, and Latin is a natural companion to those. Arabic and Chinese aren't. However I did once have a peek at Arabic, but dropped it when I realised that vowels mostly aren't written. This would make it hard to learn from written sources without a teacher. As for Chinese its writing system should be reason enough. And I haven't learned Ancient Greek yet because I prefrerred spending my time on Modern Greek - and that has taken longer time than antecipated..

2) I don't think my English or German or French would become better if I had limited myself to those three - and I would have lost a lot of fun studying the rest. As for my employer - I spent 29 years as an informatics employee in public service, and during that time I didn't really study languages (at least not before 2006 when I discovered the HTLAL forum and restarted my language studies) so the problem didn't arise. I was offered the employment that later developed into a lifelong position when I during a short internship discovered how to reprogram the driver for IBM matrix printers so that they printed Danish ø and Ø instead of cent and yen signs. I could however imagine situations where a job application was rejected because the applicant only seemed to be interested in something other than the job (like languages or drinking beer).

3) Actually I got a job in IT without having any education (apart from a 2 weeks course in Dos and an 80s office suite called Symphony), so if anything I should deplore that I didn't get a language job at some university in spite of having a degree from such a place.
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Re: What translators think about polyglots?Language degree WANTED

Postby anitarrc » Wed Aug 24, 2022 12:37 pm

Le Baron wrote:
With things like manuals it was learning on the job and there were lists of translations of things that turn up a lot e.g.: a grub screw or welding rods etc. Also some technical dictionaries. I imagine if you specialise on certain areas you just get familiar with everything. Including a certain 'style' for whatever the area of expertise is.


We have about 300,000 English terms in our database. Many are client specific, others are more general.
It definitely helps if you know where to use a grub screw. Germans and some Dutch tend to use protracted passive constructions so I always use an abstract mental 3D image of the job described to write the English or Spanish manual. Often I stumble upon sentences that don't make sense or don't follow in the context. To illustrate: Just had an Austrian on the phone ... after 10 minutes of trying to sort his sentences he says.. but this is about insonorisation.. no I said..your header says it is about ceiling constructions and their static properties. No insonorisation in the whole text.
:oops:
I am waiting now for text V 2.1. Then comes the fun of revision 2.23 of my Spanish text. To be honest, my job would be extremely stressful without my engineering background.
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