| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] > | Poll: Do you consider yourself to be an excellent translator? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
|
|---|
564354352 (X) 
Denmark
Local time: 01:37
Danish to English
+ ...
Wow, you guys are so modest!
In Denmark, we have something called 'Janteloven' - the Law of Jante, which stems from a famous Danish novel. The gist of it is this: Don't think you are worth anything, don't think that you matter to anybody etc. It's a horrible thing that pervades Danish society and something I will always battle against.
I don't think you need to be ashamed of your talents, and translation is something that I know I do well. I am not PERFECT, nobody is, b... See more Wow, you guys are so modest!
In Denmark, we have something called 'Janteloven' - the Law of Jante, which stems from a famous Danish novel. The gist of it is this: Don't think you are worth anything, don't think that you matter to anybody etc. It's a horrible thing that pervades Danish society and something I will always battle against.
I don't think you need to be ashamed of your talents, and translation is something that I know I do well. I am not PERFECT, nobody is, but that was not what the poll asked. I make mistakes like everybody else, and I get very embarrassed when others point out such mistakes to me. However, I also have days where I have slogged over a difficult translation and think that I am utterly hopeless, then when I get to the proofreading stage, I discover that I have resolved all the difficult issues, and this is when I DO pat myself of the back and say: Damn, I'm good.
Is that such a bad thing?  ▲ Collapse
| | | | Interlangue (X)
Angola
Local time: 01:37
English to French
+ ...
Excellent is not perfect…
After all those years, I decided to accept the status my customers give me. But staying at the top (and worthy of their praise) is at least as difficult as getting there!
| | | | Paul Adie (X)
Germany
Spanish to English
+ ...
| A modest yes. | Apr 10, 2012 |
Revising heaps of tripe during 5 years of in-house work, and training junior translators, have shown me that I do produce excellent work.
But I know that there's still a lot to learn, and I look forward to the challenge!
Paul.
[Edited at 2012-04-10 13:31 GMT]
| | | | Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 19:37
English to Spanish
+ ...
Simon Bruni wrote:
I don't see the point in being modest for modesty's sake. I don't think there's any harm in patting yourself on the back once in a while for a job excellently done. If I couldn't produce excellent work I wouldn't be in this business, and that doesn't mean I'm not aware of my many faults and constantly striving to improve. To me excellence doesn't mean knowing everything, it means producing excellent work and always trying to learn and improve.
I couldn't agree more. Serious customers understand that we as human beings are perfectible. They will hire someone who is self confident, who accepts criticism and who knows how to fix his/her own mistakes.
We live in an era of extremes. In one, narcissistic behavior, and nauseating humility in the other. We do not need to excuse our imperfections or foibles. In the same vein, I tend to distance myself from potential customers that require 'perfect translations,' because, as any translator worth his dictionary knows, there is no such thing as a perfect translation.
| | |
|
|
|
| I couldn't say better | Apr 10, 2012 |
Ty Kendall wrote:
...is in short supply these days, Narcissus would be proud. Whatever happened to a healthy dose of self-deprecation?
"...when you get overconfident, that's when something snaps up and bites you."
Neil Armstrong
I prefer to look at myself and my abilities as an "unfinished product" still at the research and development stages. I think there are inherent dangers in overestimating yourself, even if you happen to be fantastically talented or gifted.
Of course, this is how I "consider myself" (reading the question: "do you consider yourself").
How you "sell" yourself and your abilities to your clients is another thing altogether (this is when you'd expect modesty to go out the nearest window).
[Edited at 2012-04-10 09:30 GMT]
| | | | | ..and I couldn't agree more.. Cheers | Apr 10, 2012 |
Mario Chavez wrote: Simon Bruni wrote:
I don't see the point in being modest for modesty's sake. I don't think there's any harm in patting yourself on the back once in a while for a job excellently done. If I couldn't produce excellent work I wouldn't be in this business, and that doesn't mean I'm not aware of my many faults and constantly striving to improve. To me excellence doesn't mean knowing everything, it means producing excellent work and always trying to learn and improve. I couldn't agree more. Serious customers understand that we as human beings are perfectible. They will hire someone who is self confident, who accepts criticism and who knows how to fix his/her own mistakes. We live in an era of extremes. In one, narcissistic behavior, and nauseating humility in the other. We do not need to excuse our imperfections or foibles. In the same vein, I tend to distance myself from potential customers that require 'perfect translations,' because, as any translator worth his dictionary knows, there is no such thing as a perfect translation.
| | | | Evans (X)
Local time: 00:37
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Excellence has to be the aim... always. | Apr 10, 2012 |
As a translator, you’re only as good as your last job. So every job involves striving for excellence. Some days I am more inspired than others (or I should say some hours I am more inspired than others... usually in the morning), but every job has to be as close to that target of excellence as you can get before you submit it.
| | | | Rosa Grau (X)
Spain
Local time: 01:37
English to Catalan
+ ...
| I have never | Apr 10, 2012 |
asked myself such a question. Why answer it?
| | |
|
|
|
Robert Forstag
United States
Local time: 19:37
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Agree with Ty and Thayenga | Apr 10, 2012 |
While I am proud of what I can do, I try to never forget my weaknesses and deficiencies. I feel this helps me in four critical respects: 1.) to constantly strive to improve; 2.) to decrease errors (i.e. through habitually checking things that "seem right"); 3.) to avoid taking on work outside my sphere of competence; and 4.) to maintain "a beginner's mind"and thus avoid the kind of stagnation that can sometimes even be the byproduct of success.
In this field, there are plen... See more While I am proud of what I can do, I try to never forget my weaknesses and deficiencies. I feel this helps me in four critical respects: 1.) to constantly strive to improve; 2.) to decrease errors (i.e. through habitually checking things that "seem right"); 3.) to avoid taking on work outside my sphere of competence; and 4.) to maintain "a beginner's mind"and thus avoid the kind of stagnation that can sometimes even be the byproduct of success.
In this field, there are plenty of opportunities to make mistakes, and I am suspicious of those who laud their own work in superlative terms.
In the end, as Thayenga writes, one's professional standing as a translator is determined by the opinions of those qualified to pass judgment. Not much else really matters. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Excellent translations | Apr 10, 2012 |
Only the best will do: that was how I was brought up, so that's the standard to reach. And I will always continue to try to reach it.
And while Paul points out that if you look around you, you can indeed feel pretty excellent (there's a strange collocation for you), I don't think comparing ourselves with others is necessarily the right road to go down. One of the techniques I have to abide by as a language assessor and examiner (one of my other hats) is never to compare one candida... See more Only the best will do: that was how I was brought up, so that's the standard to reach. And I will always continue to try to reach it.
And while Paul points out that if you look around you, you can indeed feel pretty excellent (there's a strange collocation for you), I don't think comparing ourselves with others is necessarily the right road to go down. One of the techniques I have to abide by as a language assessor and examiner (one of my other hats) is never to compare one candidate with another, only ever with the standards by which we grade them. So I don't compare myself with other translators either, only with my own standards.
That said, I often find myself pretty wanting, altough, as the Spanish say, "I have no grandmother", and most of the time I would say that I am really rather good.
 ▲ Collapse
| | | |
I have received a lot of spontaneous compliments over the years. My clients give me nice feedback. I have a lot of steady customers who have been with me for years. I have a reputation for turning a sow's ear into a silk purse. Of course, not everyone wants a silk purse...
I always feel challenged when I'm working on a translation, but I take my time to figure it out and--hopefully--get it right.
| | | | Oleg Osipov
Russian Federation
Local time: 02:37
English to Russian
+ ...
Join the team of excellent translators and interpreters.)
| | |
|
|
|
I am not excellent, but not because I am bad, simply because I can still learn from colleagues, and this means there is room for improvement.
I see translations done one year ago, and I think: uhm this could have been done much much better.... again. Never stop learning
| | | | Emin Arı
Türkiye
Local time: 02:37
English to Turkish
+ ...
| beginning of decline? | Apr 11, 2012 |
well feeling like an "excellent entity" is very dangerous. It just stops development in every aspect. Keep away.
| | | | 564354352 (X)
Denmark
Local time: 01:37
Danish to English
+ ...
| Consider other professions | Apr 11, 2012 |
Consider this:
You want to get your house decorated, so you call a painter/decorator and ask:
How good are you?
And he says: Well, I'm pretty good, but not exactly excellent. However, I like to think that I get better every day, and I am always looking for ways of improving my skills, although I know that I make mistakes along the way. That can'r be helped, I am not perfect, but I do my best and am grateful for the kind comments I get from some clients, if... See more Consider this:
You want to get your house decorated, so you call a painter/decorator and ask:
How good are you?
And he says: Well, I'm pretty good, but not exactly excellent. However, I like to think that I get better every day, and I am always looking for ways of improving my skills, although I know that I make mistakes along the way. That can'r be helped, I am not perfect, but I do my best and am grateful for the kind comments I get from some clients, if not from all.
Would you hire such a decorator?
Guys, have more faith in yourselves. If you are in the profession of translation, be good, be very good, be excellent, because that's what your clients pay for. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] > | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Poll: Do you consider yourself to be an excellent translator? | CafeTran Espresso | You've never met a CAT tool this clever!
Translate faster & easier, using a sophisticated CAT tool built by a translator / developer.
Accept jobs from clients who use Trados, MemoQ, Wordfast & major CAT tools.
Download and start using CafeTran Espresso -- for free
Buy now! » |
| | Trados Business Manager Lite | Create customer quotes and invoices from within Trados Studio
Trados Business Manager Lite helps to simplify and speed up some of the daily tasks, such as invoicing and reporting, associated with running your freelance translation business.
More info » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
