| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Poll: Would you like your children to consider translation as a career? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
|
|---|
John Walsh 
Italy
Local time: 16:30
Italian to English
| Serkan Doğan
Türkiye
Local time: 17:30
Turkish to English
+ ...
Let's stay in line with the machines..
I will say her "don't be a translator, never.."
So, do you say, why?.. 
Xola wrote: ...the machine that'll be translating literature 15 years later!
Williamson wrote:
Besides in now and 15 years, technology will have advanced in such a way that translation will only consist of correcting machine-translated texts.
[Edited at 2005-12-04 18:00]
| | | | Henry Hinds
United States
Local time: 08:30
English to Spanish
+ ...
In memoriam | A dark perspective | Dec 4, 2005 |
I'm sad to see a dark perspective here, not too many children and a bleak future in our profession. I myself have only one daughter, but she is bilingual, bicultural and a citizen of two countries, and on the U.S.-Mexico border that is a great advantage. She has no problem finding a job in a city that has always had a very high rate of chronic unemployment.
Whether a translator or not, what she has is no product of our educational system, but of her home. It will be a great advantag... See more I'm sad to see a dark perspective here, not too many children and a bleak future in our profession. I myself have only one daughter, but she is bilingual, bicultural and a citizen of two countries, and on the U.S.-Mexico border that is a great advantage. She has no problem finding a job in a city that has always had a very high rate of chronic unemployment.
Whether a translator or not, what she has is no product of our educational system, but of her home. It will be a great advantage to her all her life. I would be still happier if more people had the same advantages.
Machines will never replace us, the only hope is in our childen, who will.
We need to increase our family and our profession. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Thanks, Atenea and Sandra, you read my mind!! | Dec 5, 2005 |
I am child-free by choice. I am 33 years old, make a good living, and have been with the same man for 13 years.
This is a personal decision that has nothing to do with our professions or finances.
IMO, it is dangerous to read more into the "no, I don't have children" response than is really there.
I agree with Steffen that the previous poll on translators' income was a little scary, but let's not make any links between that one and whether or not translato... See more I am child-free by choice. I am 33 years old, make a good living, and have been with the same man for 13 years.
This is a personal decision that has nothing to do with our professions or finances.
IMO, it is dangerous to read more into the "no, I don't have children" response than is really there.
I agree with Steffen that the previous poll on translators' income was a little scary, but let's not make any links between that one and whether or not translators have children.
My 2 cents!
Sara ▲ Collapse
| | |
|
|
|
Özden Arıkan
Germany
Local time: 16:30
Member
English to Turkish
+ ...
A big, warm hug to you -if you allow me- from freezing Westphalia:
Henry Hinds wrote:
Machines will never replace us, the only hope is in our childen, who will.
We need to increase our family and our profession.
| | | | | My son is changing direction again... who knows? | Dec 5, 2005 |
My son dreamed about being an astronomer, took an MSc in biochemistry, moved on to physics and now he's moving on again to IT...
He is more or less bilingual, but not fully in all domains - Danish is his native language, or slightly dominant language.
He has tried his hand at ad-hoc interpeting from German to English and is dabbling in Japanese (or was - he hasn't time just now...) He writes excellent English, both profesionally and in funnly letters or magazine articles. He u... See more My son dreamed about being an astronomer, took an MSc in biochemistry, moved on to physics and now he's moving on again to IT...
He is more or less bilingual, but not fully in all domains - Danish is his native language, or slightly dominant language.
He has tried his hand at ad-hoc interpeting from German to English and is dabbling in Japanese (or was - he hasn't time just now...) He writes excellent English, both profesionally and in funnly letters or magazine articles. He uses languages as a tool, and that was my attitude for a long time - they were not my favourite subjects at school...
It took me a long time to get into translating, and I enjoyed all the jobs I did on the way. But when I started studying languages again as an adult, I knew I had really 'ended up on the right shelf' as the Danes say. If my son goes the same way, I'd be delighted. I'm not sure he will, but as long as he is happy about what he is doing, it's fine.
My own father was a translator in between a lot of other jobs - and loved it. He was delighted when I started full time. The world is going to need lots of good translators in the foreseeable future, so I hope the profession will gain respect and be properly rewarded financially.
Best of luck to the younger generation, whoever their parents are!
 ▲ Collapse
| | | | | I would encourage other choices... | Dec 5, 2005 |
Don’t get me wrong. Translating is an awesome and interesting job.
However, we all have to reckon that:
- In most cases it is highly undervalued.
- If you get a good customers base -decent rates, prompt payment, etc. - then you will be able to get by satisfactorily. However, how many of us struggle just to survive? As Steffen pointed out, the amount of people who can’t afford to pay a health insurance or a pension scheme is really scary.
Anyway, I... See more Don’t get me wrong. Translating is an awesome and interesting job.
However, we all have to reckon that:
- In most cases it is highly undervalued.
- If you get a good customers base -decent rates, prompt payment, etc. - then you will be able to get by satisfactorily. However, how many of us struggle just to survive? As Steffen pointed out, the amount of people who can’t afford to pay a health insurance or a pension scheme is really scary.
Anyway, I guess that Julio is right, and at the end of the day happiness is all that matters, and I would accept their decision whichever it is. Nevertheless, I will certainly let them know that their choice will certainly shape their income, lifestyle and everything that this implies.
My 2 cents. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Сергей Лузан
Russian Federation
Local time: 17:30
German to Russian
+ ...
| Perspective not so dark, future generation is coming | Dec 5, 2005 |
[quote]Henry Hinds wrote:
I'm sad to see a dark perspective here, not too many children and a bleak future in our profession. We need to increase our family and our profession.
I don't want my son to to consider translation as a career. Of course he knows English & German, passed exams in both with excellent marks at school (I helped him a little, surely). Knowledge of English helps him in his part-time soft- and hardware jobs. But he didn't show any interest in the métier and never insisted and let him go his way. I know at least that he is able to help a foreigner in the streets of Moscow and won't need any interpreter abroad. Probably personal observations influenced that - he saw me exhausted after long hours of simultaneous interpreting, working 36 hours uninterruptedly to meet the deadlines (my clients with English, German & Spanish assigned the jobs, & didn't want to lose any of them).
In addition to translations, I work at home as a language tutor. Many of my former students entered numerous colleges, universities & academies. Quite a huge number learned the 2nd language additionally (German or Spanish), there are some that entered schools in English-speaking countries (US & UK) - I lost them out of sight, several work or live abroad. One female student was the only that learned 3 languages with me - English, German & Spanish. In the 4th year of her university she was already working for a Spanish tourist firm with English, German & Spanish (& native Russian, of course She received her 1st job at the age of 16 - translated business negotiations for her father in Paris (that allowed him to keep quite a sum of money within the family, as he confessed later). So future generation is on their way - and I'm afraid, independent of our wishes and desires.
| | |
|
|
|
Williamson
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:30
Flemish to English
+ ...
| Translation in now and 20 years | Dec 5, 2005 |
Don’t get me wrong. Translating is an awesome and interesting job.
.
However, we all have to reckon that:
- In most cases it is highly undervalued.[/quote]
- If you get a good customers base -decent rates, prompt payment, etc. - then you will be able to get by satisfactorily. However, how many of us struggle just to survive? As Steffen pointed out, the amount of people who can’t afford to pay a health insurance or a pension scheme is really scary..[/quote]
Isn't that a question of supply and demand: in the combination EG, ES, there are simply too many suppliers (translators) and not enough clients...
[/quote]
Anyway, I guess that Julio is right, and at the end of the day happiness is all that matters, and I would accept their decision whichever it is. Nevertheless, I will certainly let them know that their choice will certainly shape their income, lifestyle and everything that this implies.
.[/quote]
It is easier to be happy with a filled bank-account than with an empty one.... If I had kids, based on my experiences I would stimulate them to become pilot (I never forget the polar flights in the cockpit of a DC10),politician (for they have the power), rock-star or corporate officer.
With regard to M.T.: Now, we use a word-processor, a CAT tool, Machine-Translation, Databases like Eurodicautom and hopefully IATE and Dragon Dictate. Compare the evolution of the p.c. From 16KB to 5 Ghz it took 20 years. If computing-power and robotics continue to evolve at the same speed and given that tools on the market will improve, then I would not be surprised if instead of dictating a text, you can dictate a source-language to dictate and the translated text in the target-language appears on-screen.... Whether that will take another 20 years, remains a ???
[Edited at 2005-12-05 16:16]
| | | | | Pages in topic: < [1 2] | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Poll: Would you like your children to consider translation as a career? | Trados Studio 2022 Freelance | The leading translation software used by over 270,000 translators.
Designed with your feedback in mind, Trados Studio 2022 delivers an unrivalled, powerful desktop
and cloud solution, empowering you to work in the most efficient and cost-effective way.
More info » |
| | TM-Town | Manage your TMs and Terms ... and boost your translation business
Are you ready for something fresh in the industry? TM-Town is a unique new site for you -- the freelance translator -- to store, manage and share translation memories (TMs) and glossaries...and potentially meet new clients on the basis of your prior work.
More info » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
