This article is from WeChat official account:Netease Upflow (ID: heyupflow)< span class = "text-remarks">, author: Liu Xing Yan, editing: is not there, the original title: “you give me translation, in the end Shajiao translation” head – source: IC photo
A while ago, “Translation Day” was on the hot search, and the translators with wisdom and beauty also circled a lot of fans. They maintained their professional standards in such serious and formal occasions. Whoever reads it and doesn’t want to say something, my sister is so shameless. !
In addition to being obsessed with the beauty of temperamental beauties, there are also people who envy the professional strength of the “Translation Team”. Students of various related majors regard national team translators not only as idols, but also as a ceiling to look up when they jump up.
In short, this time, the translation profession is in the limelight!
How to provoke a translation?
It’s no wonder that everyone admires it so much. After all, most people’s first reaction to translation is either the English-Chinese or Chinese-English translation that tortured the dead back then.
Either I’m caught blindly, I can’t control my mouth’s random translation–
△The American translator translated Ai Fukuhara’s Tohoku dialect to the British reporter, crying
At every turn, you can translate “Yi Yu Xin’s kindness, although nine deaths, he still has no regrets” translated into “For the ideal that I hold dear to my heart, I’d not regret a thousand times to die” , Can only worship!
Are your translation professionals so good? !
Translation major: We only have to worship, okay?
In fact, before this time, both translation professionals and translation practitioners have been very small and transparent.
When not talking about on-site interpreting, the interpreter is either hiding behind or in the corner of the listener and speaker, or hiding in the “small black room for simultaneous interpretation”. Of course, this is also a serious business need.
Just talk about reading so many famous foreign books and so many famous foreign authors, but which translator can you remember?
The cover of a foreign masterpiece must be read in primary and secondary schools. The name of the translator is often appended to the name of the original author, but no one will remember the name of the translator. Even if the translator regards the translated work as his own work, readers often don’t care.
ObviouslyFor two people’s movies, the translation can never have a name.
The translator feels bitter.
There are also very few film and television works that highlight the importance of translation. In the past few years, there was a workplace drama “Dear Translator” that presented the translation industry. However, netizens complained that it was a romantic drama dressed in translation. It is far from the actual translation.
Let’s take a look at the daily routine of translation.
An angry translation of the three-piece suit, the first sentence-“What do you say? Can you understand it? Translate for a translation?”
Just to open a foreign language film, let you move a small bench to sit next to it, and simultaneously interpret it while broadcasting.
Don’t be angry, don’t be angry, just treat it as an actual combat drill.
However, this situation is basically that parents often do, and they can resist a little bit. What’s terrible is that once you learn translation, you will inevitably be arrested to teach English to various bears. During the Chinese New Year, we will also face random assessments by relatives:
——I heard that you learn to translate. Your English must be very good. Let me hear a few words.
——Ahem, in fact, I am not an English translator. I am Spanish Portuguese. Do you know Spanish and Portuguese? That’s where the “Goddess of Translation” Zhang Lu is.
——(stunned) Is there this? That… it doesn’t matter, just say a few words and listen.
Dear friends and relatives, is the translation really not only English, but also French, Japanese, Korean, and French…
The three-piece translation is annoying, the second sentence-“The translation is not easy, just find a foreign language professional/good foreign language.”
First of all, a major in translation is really not the same as a major in foreign languages!
When it comes to translation, people will think of majors in English, Japanese, French, and language, but rarely pay attention to the small transparency of translation majors, but in fact, according to the professional catalog of the Ministry of Education, translation majors are usually assigned to The major category of “foreign language and literature” is tied with other language majors.
In fact, there are more than 200 colleges and universities in the country that offer master’s degree programs in translation alone, and even more colleges and universities open to undergraduate admissions.
Some middle schools are also quietly cultivating and transporting translators, such as HangzhouIn foreign language schools, 20% of graduates are sent to Peking University, China Foreign Affairs University, Beijing Foreign Affairs University and other universities every year. Two of the “Translation Team”-Zhang Jing and Qian Xinyi-both graduated from Hangwai.
Of course, there are also many minor languages of humanities who have a background in translation, and graduate students specialize in translation. But it’s really not a good level of foreign language, it is of course qualified to be a translator!
Some translator friends come to complain, saying that the client does not want to spend money to translate, and directly let employees with a background of studying abroad or good foreign language proficiency to translate, but the final things that are turned out are likely to be reworked in their own hands.
Moreover, in many professional fields, such as medicine, economics, biology, etc., even senior translators must prepare in advance, otherwise a lot of professional terms will definitely be blinded.
An angry translation of the three-piece suit, the third sentence-“Aren’t you just sitting around and repeating other people’s words in another language?”
Although in the eyes of outsiders, translators are mainly engaged in work equivalent to decoding + relaying, but this work is not simple.
Many important conferences will provide the interpreter with the speech in advance, but in fact, the interpreter is absolutely afraid to relax. Many speakers will play on the spot, which is a test of the translation’s coping ability and agility.
What’s more, I sometimes encounter the speaker saying hi, and there is no pause for 20 minutes in a paragraph, when can the translation be interrupted, and how to ensure that the 20-minute long conversation can be translated smoothly without missing the main point , Are the basic skills of translation.
Plus, if the tone of both parties in the negotiation is sometimes bad, and the words are awkward, should they be translated truthfully?
What exactly does translation do?
So, what exactly does translation do?
Actually, translation work mainly includes translation and interpretation.
Written translation, as the name suggests, is written translation. Interpretation is oral translation. Consecutive interpretation and simultaneous interpretation belong to interpretation.
Simultaneous interpretation is to listen and turn, the speaker will not specifically pause. This requires translators to multitask, input and output at the same time, and they must be fluent and coherent without making mistakes.
< /p>
△Source: station b@中日同传李双
Many people have seen translation headphones on TV, but have you ever wondered where the sound in the headphones comes from?
Then we must mention the “Simultaneous Interpretation Little Black Room”. How does it work in the “Little Black Room”——
It is said to be a “little black room”, but most of the time the simultaneous interpretation room is a transparent glass box house. Generally, two interpreters are in a soundproof room, observing the venue through a transparent screen, and one person interprets 15-20 minutes.
Because simultaneous interpretation requires a high degree of concentration, if two people cooperate, they can take turns to rest, which is more efficient. The reason for the glass is also to ensure that the translator can see the speaker and the on-site projection screen and other visual aids.
△Source: Interpreter
International conferences are more inclined to use simultaneous interpretation. People participating in the conference wear headphones, and people in different countries listen to different channels.
This requires high on-site equipment. As many participants need to prepare as many sets of earphone receivers, and in the background, the language channels accepted by different participants must be set. At the same time, it is necessary to ensure sound insulation to prevent translators from being disturbed, and to prevent translation from disturbing listeners in other languages.
Usually after a meeting, the listener’s ears are useless, and the translator’s ears are basically useless.
△Tucao from a translation major|Source: Knowing @晚霞中的灿烂少年
Consecutive interpreting means that the speaker will stop after speaking a paragraph, wait until the translation is finished, and then speak again. The requirements for equipment are relatively low. The speaker and the interpreter each have a microphone. It’s just a bit time-consuming. For example, at the lecture site, the speaker speaks for 1 hour, and the interpreter should alternately translate for 1 hour.
When the speaker is speaking, use his brain to memorize key words in his notebook. The average hand speed of an ordinary person is 20 English words per minute, but the normal speaking speed is 150 words per minute, and the hand cannot keep up with the mouth.
Not to mention the situation where the speaker suddenly said hi as mentioned above. At this time, the translation depends on strong memory and shorthand ability.
You will never understand a translated book note.
Mature translators will slowly find out a set of shorthand methods that suit them, such as using acronyms, fixed symbols or images to represent different vocabulary.
△Translation usually uses symbols to refer to fixed phrases or sentences|Source: NetEase Open Class
Some people also use Pittman shorthand, or Greg’s modified shorthand, which uses shorthand notations of different thickness and shape to refer to words and sentences, and take notes quickly so that they can repeat them when they see them. Out of original intention.
Yes, the translators have to look at these twists and turns to interpret the complete sentence paragraphs. Of course, everyone has their own memory preferences, translators have their own shorthand system, and colleagues cannot fully understand other people’s notes. Just an arrow can refer to dozens of words.
△Just ask, can you look at the pile of symbols in the lower right corner and repeat the paragraph above? |Source: Station B@马可小凤梨
Spending time to memorize symbols to improve the speed and accuracy of shorthand is also a compulsory course for translation.
Okay, here comes the question. Which is more difficult to understand, the translated sketch notes or the doctor’s medical record sheet?
Who says translation is tasteless
However, translation sounds so good, why can’t it be one of the most popular majors?
Let’s take a look first, the income level of translation is actually not high. In Beijing and Shanghai, the average salary for translators is around 8k.
△Source: Professional Friends Collection
According to the “2018 China Language Service Industry Development Report”, 66.7% of freelance translators earn less than 3,000 yuan a month. This is probably because there is no stable order and the prices given by different parties are different.
Most translators will choose to sign a labor contract with a company organization to serve as a full-time translator, and work like the majority of office workers.
The salary structure of full-time translation is a basic salary plus performance reward. After completing the basic translation volume every month, the excess part can receive a performance commission based on the number of words.
Because I read a lot and earn a lot, some on-the-job translators said that the working atmosphere is dull and dull, and colleagues are all working on translation at their desks. Some big cows translate 200,000 words a month, but newcomers who have just started to translate 50,000 words a month are exhausted.
If there is an error in the translation document or the interpretation site, a well-meaning client may remind him to correct it. However, once the client is very strict or demanding, it is very likely that the remuneration will be owed or not paid.
Furthermore, once you enter the translation pit, it is basically equivalent to endless learning!
Hey, hey, the freshman who said that he loves translation, you love it too early, try to finish MTI(Master of Translation Professional Degree) Can you still love it?
Chinese-English translation, English-Chinese translation, consecutive interpretation, simultaneous interpretation, two-way interpreting, literary translation, subtitle translation, translation research, legal translation… Seeing these courses, I have a big head, let alone this is only a part.
In addition to this major, it is best to have interdisciplinary knowledge. After all, when getting a job, employers are more inclined to recruit people with interdisciplinary backgrounds. For example, pharmaceutical-related companies expect to recruit people with medical pharmacy backgrounds and good foreign languages to translate professional terminology more accurately.
△Beijing Advanced Translation Institute Chinese-English Conference Interpretation Course List
In addition, translation pays special attention to practice. Party A values the experience of the translator very much, so sometimes the older the more popular, the on-the-spot adaptability is better than the young white in the workplace.
A translation company is usually a carrot and a pit. If you want to get promoted, you need not only long-term qualifications, but also various certifications.
The top national team level must pass AIIC, the professional certification of the International Conference Interpreters Association. No more than 3,000 people have passed this exam in the world, and only 32 people in China have passed this exam. This is also the reason why senior translators charge by the minute, and talents are scarce.
Unfinished new materials, unintelligible terms and acronyms, daily exposure to new knowledge in the industry, basic awareness of becoming a junior expert in the industry, anxiety in the preparation process, and trembling on the spot… this is possible It’s the daily routine of translation.
Not to mention, like all minor language majors, translation majors still face the problem of insufficient employment competitiveness.
Nowadays, many low-level translation jobs have been replaced by artificial intelligence, and many people even believe that in the future, AI technology will become more and more developed, and even interpreting and other jobs will be replaced by artificial intelligence.
Therefore, many graduates choose to change careers. Some go back to their hometowns to take the civil service examinations, some work as teachers, clerical teachers of overseas study institutions, and some go to do marketing, human resources, and public relations.
However, at least for now, translation software still relies on artificial improvement. Usually after machine translation, there are a large number of staff checking and editing in the background to continuously improve the accuracy of machine translation. And the professionalism of the translation itselfSex and flexibility can hardly be completely replaced.
Not to mention that translation software can also make jokes. As for ancient poems, idioms, etc., it is more difficult for machines to translate the charm, or even the meaning of the original sentence.
Those who are interested in translation careers still work hard to enter translation companies, publishing houses, or work in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or embassies abroad after graduation.
Fortunately, “Translation Tian Tuan” did not change careers, otherwise we would not see such a wonderful translation scene.
Reference materials
[1]2018 China Language Service Industry Development Report[R]. Beijing: China Translators Association. 2018.
[2] “National Directory of Translation Master’s Degree Sites”. National Translation Professional Degree Postgraduate Education Steering Committee.
[3]Sister Bernard Mary OP The Application of Gregg Methods to the Teaching of Pitman Shorthand[J]. Journal of Education for Business Volume 35, Issue 7. 2010. p. 301-303.
This article is from WeChat official account:Netease Upflow (ID: heyupflow)< span class = "text-remarks">, Author: Xing words, Editor: not there