ProZ.com Translation Forums

Poll: Do you typically have to explain your work when people ask what you do? | Not the work per se

Mario Freitas — Sun, 24 Dec 2017 05:13:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Do you typically have to explain your work when people ask what you do?
Poster: Mario Freitas
Post title: Not the work per se

I don't recall many people who didn't quite understand what my job is. Saying I'm a translator is usually good enough.
However, I do have a hard time explaining that I'm not unemployed, I'm not some kind of tramp, I don't stay at home eating and watching TV, I do pay lots of taxes, I will retire, I have a health plan for my kids, etc, etc. In my country, people have a really hard time understanding that someone can work at home and make four times more money than they make in their traditional jobs. But well, who gives a sht anyway?

[Edited at 2017-12-24 05:14 GMT]

Poll: Do you typically have to explain your work when people ask what you do? | No

Maxi Schwarz — Sat, 23 Dec 2017 20:22:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Do you typically have to explain your work when people ask what you do?
Poster: Maxi Schwarz
Post title: No

First, because "I am a translator" is enough of an answer. Either they know what it is, or they don't. I haven't actually encountered anyone who doesn't. Also, since I live in Canada's capital, the usual response is "Oh - my cousin / uncle / wife / neighbour is a translator / I'm a translator too!" Often the next question is "Do you work for the government?", because many do.

Poll: Do you typically have to explain your work when people ask what you do? | Yes

Ricki Farn — Sat, 23 Dec 2017 18:01:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Do you typically have to explain your work when people ask what you do?
Poster: Ricki Farn
Post title: Yes

My typical conversation goes like this:

- I'm a technical translator.
- What languages do you translate?
- Bad English into bad German.
- ???
- It's all about IT.
- Oh!

Poll: Do you typically have to explain your work when people ask what you do? | One word can make a difference

Anton Konashenok — Sat, 23 Dec 2017 17:13:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Do you typically have to explain your work when people ask what you do?
Poster: Anton Konashenok
Post title: One word can make a difference

Adding just one word to a description of what you do can make a lot of difference. Here are two typical conversations - both occurred to me more than once:

- What kind of work do you do?
- I am a translator.
- You mean you can make any decent money by doing that?

- What kind of work do you do?
- I am a technical translator.
- Wow, so you have so know all that technical stuff? Sounds like a difficult job.

Poll: Do you typically have to explain your work when people ask what you do? | last time

Kay Denney — Sat, 23 Dec 2017 15:45:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Do you typically have to explain your work when people ask what you do?
Poster: Kay Denney
Post title: last time

Last time it happened: we were hosting a party for our musician neighbours, and so people from their record label came along. I went to talk to them in my role as gracious hostess, and when the conversation started to flag, one asked me what I did. When I answered that I was a translator, they immediately said they desperately needed one! And so hey ho, a new client in a one of my speciality fields!

Poll: Do you typically have to explain your work when people ask what you do? | The voice of reason?

Jennifer Forbes — Sat, 23 Dec 2017 15:21:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Do you typically have to explain your work when people ask what you do?
Poster: Jennifer Forbes
Post title: The voice of reason?

Yes, I get all those questions about being a translator (as opposed to being an interpreter) and about translating for preference into one's native tongue and not being able to translate Czech, etc. etc. Heigh ho ...
However, to be fair, how many of us understand much or anything about what other people's work involves?

Poll: Do you typically have to explain your work when people ask what you do? | OMG

Daniela Duarte — Sat, 23 Dec 2017 15:02:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Do you typically have to explain your work when people ask what you do?
Poster: Daniela Duarte
Post title: OMG

Well, in such cases my answer would not be that polite.

[quote]Daniel Frisano wrote:

When I lived in Spain, I stopped telling the truth after I had the following conversation:

HER - So what do you do?
ME - I am a translator.
HER - Like when they show in TV like Putin meeting like Angela Merkel and there's someone in the middle translating what they say to each other?
ME - Technically that's called an interpreter. I do written stuff.
HER - Who would need that? It sounds useless.
ME - Well, next time you buy a new cell phone and you find the instructions in Spanish, it's because somebody translated them from English.
HER - Wouldn't it be easier to just write it directly in all the languages?
ME - ...

So I started telling everybody that I was retired. Not working is something that everybody in Spain understands immediately, without explanations.

[Edited at 2017-12-23 11:54 GMT] [/quote]

Poll: Do you typically have to explain your work when people ask what you do? | People?

Michael Kapitonoff — Sat, 23 Dec 2017 14:30:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Do you typically have to explain your work when people ask what you do?
Poster: Michael Kapitonoff
Post title: People?

What people?:)

Poll: Do you typically have to explain your work when people ask what you do? | Not really

Ian Keith Jones Williams — Sat, 23 Dec 2017 12:54:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Do you typically have to explain your work when people ask what you do?
Poster: Ian Keith Jones Williams
Post title: Not really

I don't have to explain what a translator is but people often ask what type of translations I do and about my work process.

Poll: Do you typically have to explain your work when people ask what you do? | I used to lie

Daniel Frisano — Sat, 23 Dec 2017 11:47:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Do you typically have to explain your work when people ask what you do?
Poster: Daniel Frisano
Post title: I used to lie

When I lived in Spain, I stopped telling the truth after I had the following conversation:

HER - So what do you do?
ME - I am a translator.
HER - Like when they show in TV like Putin meeting like Angela Merkel and there's someone in the middle translating what they say to each other?
ME - Technically that's called an interpreter. I do written stuff.
HER - Who would need that? It sounds useless.
ME - Well, next time you buy a new cell phone and you find the instructions in Spanish, it's because somebody translated them from English.
HER - Wouldn't it be easier to just write it directly in all the languages?
ME - ...

So I started telling everybody that I was retired. Not working is something that everybody in Spain understands immediately, without explanations.

[Edited at 2017-12-23 11:54 GMT]

Poll: Do you typically have to explain your work when people ask what you do? | With neilmac

Sheila Wilson — Sat, 23 Dec 2017 11:22:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Do you typically have to explain your work when people ask what you do?
Poster: Sheila Wilson
Post title: With neilmac

[quote]neilmac wrote:
I tend not to associate with people that don't know what a translator is/does. And few ask anyway. Occasionally, someone might ask if I translate into or out of Spanish, but that's usually about as far as it goes...[/quote]
I get asked the same question. My answer surprises them - unless we're conversing in Spanish, in which case they're relieved to hear it :). What I do have to explain sometimes is where my clients come from. People expect me to work with clients based in Fuerteventura, where the need for French to English translations must be very low. They're often surprised when I tell them I rarely work with a Spanish client, let alone a Canarian one.

I live in a really multicultural community and everyone here is aware of the need for translators (to explain those dire Google-translated menus :(). I'm surprised that more of my neighbours and acquaintances aren't trying their hand at the job. Mind you, very few people here ever pay for professional translators or interpreters - they just ask someone for a favour! One Ukrainian woman who speaks English, German and Spanish as well as her native languages of Russian and Ukrainian is quite interested in the possibilities of this site though.

Poll: Do you typically have to explain your work when people ask what you do? | Most people have peculiar misconceptions

José Henrique Lamensdorf — Sat, 23 Dec 2017 11:16:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Do you typically have to explain your work when people ask what you do?
Poster: José Henrique Lamensdorf
Post title: Most people have peculiar misconceptions

The most common one:

In Brazil, sworn translations are required by federal law for any document in a foreign language to be accepted for any legal/official purposes. Incidentally, I am one of the ~3,000 sworn translators among the 200 million inhabitants we have here. I mean, there is roughly one sworn translator for each 70,000 people in this country.

In other words, if this picture were a sample of the entire population of Brazil:
[img] [url removed] [/img]
... statistically there would be [b]ONE[/b] sworn translator among all these people.

Yet the FIRST question people ask me after I say that I am a translator is: [b][i]Sworn???[/i][/b] ... as if any other kind of translation deserved contempt, on the grounds that "Google can do it".

Then some assume that:[list][*] I am a simultaneous interpreter (NO)
[*] I am a court interpreter (YES, but not so often)
[*] I translate books (YES, but not so often)
[*] I translate videos (YES)
[*] I dub movies on TV (NO)
[*] I can speak any language (NO!)
[*] I meet famous international people every day (NO)
[*] I use Google Translate all the time (NO!!!)
[*] I have private access to a "good" version of Google Translate (Is there one???)
[*] and so on...[/list]
So every time I say that I am a translator, I have to explain.
When I say I'm a mechanical engineer, they move on to some other subject.
Few people are interested in nuts and bolts, literally.

UNLESS... there is another translator in their circle who has already gone through this step with them.

[Edited at 2017-12-23 11:18 GMT]

Poll: Do you typically have to explain your work when people ask what you do? | No

Yetta Jensen Bogarde — Sat, 23 Dec 2017 10:15:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Do you typically have to explain your work when people ask what you do?
Poster: Yetta Jensen Bogarde
Post title: No

most have a general idea. But some are more interested than others as to specializations, work routines etc.

Poll: Do you typically have to explain your work when people ask what you do? | No

Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida — Sat, 23 Dec 2017 09:36:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Do you typically have to explain your work when people ask what you do?
Poster: Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Post title: No

People I mingle with know what I do.

Poll: Do you typically have to explain your work when people ask what you do? | Not really

neilmac — Sat, 23 Dec 2017 09:14:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Do you typically have to explain your work when people ask what you do?
Poster: neilmac
Post title: Not really

I tend not to associate with people that don't know what a translator is/does. And few ask anyway. Occasionally, someone might ask if I translate into or out of Spanish, but that's usually about as far as it goes...

Nor am I intolerant of those who are unaware of the interpreter/translator dichotomy some of our interpreter colleagues get so incensed about. IMHO, they're simply 2 sides of the same coin and anyway, there are bigger issues to whinge about.

Poll: Do you typically have to explain your work when people ask what you do? | Yes; have your [translation] job done

DZiW (X) — Sat, 23 Dec 2017 09:04:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Do you typically have to explain your work when people ask what you do?
Poster: DZiW (X)
Post title: Yes; have your [translation] job done

Although for most Joe Does 'interpreter' or 'translator' will do, it's sad that even clients often don't know what they really want.

Poll: Do you typically have to explain your work when people ask what you do? | Not many people ask

Muriel Vasconcellos (X) — Sat, 23 Dec 2017 08:56:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Do you typically have to explain your work when people ask what you do?
Poster: Muriel Vasconcellos (X)
Post title: Not many people ask

I was really surprised the other day when someone was actually interested. (Bear in mind, I live in the US.)

Poll: Do you typically have to explain your work when people ask what you do?

ProZ.com Staff — Sat, 23 Dec 2017 08:10:02 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Do you typically have to explain your work when people ask what you do?
Poster: ProZ.com Staff

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you typically have to explain your work when people ask what you do?".

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