Poll: Is translation an art or a skill? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Is translation an art or a skill?".
This poll was originally submitted by Oriol Vives. View the poll results »
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For me it's only a nice way to earn a living. Provided you employ your skills artfully. Philippe | | |
I don't know | Mar 27, 2020 |
For me it’s a mixture of talent, qualifications, creativity, knowledge, experience (in no particular order). P.S. Some days I’m craftier and artsier than others… | | |
Ahmed ALEM Algeria Member (2014) Arabic to English + ... Both but more of a skill to me | Mar 27, 2020 |
A skill that develops into an art through practice. | |
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Seriously, all we do is rewrite other people's words. How can that be art? Some translators really do spend too much time cooped up alone. Any imaginative, conceptual ideas intended to be appreciated for their beauty or emotional power are the domain of the original author.
[Edited at 2020-03-27 15:54 GMT] | | |
As we all know, even machines can now translate - and some of them do a decent job of it. However, it takes a good translator to take that machine translation and breathe life into it by changing one or two words, or inserting that comma that makes all the difference. That's skill. They may also opt to forego the twenty word machine translation and use three or four words to render the meaning of the original text naturally and idiomatically. That's art))) | | |
Aline Amorim Brazil Local time: 03:56 English to Portuguese + ... |
In my first in-house job there were two English translators serving a large department of subject-specialized officers. One of these officers referred to the senior translator as "the technician" and the junior translator (me) as "the "artist." I think I was a word artist from the time I was a child*; my translation skills came later as I gained experience in the profession, which included practice and feedback, along with a hefty dose of education. *When I was 4, it was reported th... See more In my first in-house job there were two English translators serving a large department of subject-specialized officers. One of these officers referred to the senior translator as "the technician" and the junior translator (me) as "the "artist." I think I was a word artist from the time I was a child*; my translation skills came later as I gained experience in the profession, which included practice and feedback, along with a hefty dose of education. *When I was 4, it was reported that I said: "You think I think with my brains; I don't, I think with my feelings." ▲ Collapse | |
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Kay Denney France Local time: 08:56 French to English
Richard Purdom wrote: Seriously, all we do is rewrite other people's words. How can that be art? Some translators really do spend too much time cooped up alone. Any imaginative, conceptual ideas intended to be appreciated for their beauty or emotional power are the domain of the original author.
[Edited at 2020-03-27 15:54 GMT] It maybe depends on subject? There's not much room for artistry in a financial report for a firm that makes railway wagons, or in software manuals, I'll grant you that. But I can assure you that you need it for the type of translation I do: deciding when to rephrase the description of a restaurant menu because Brits will be put off by descriptions of snails and smelly cheese, cottoning on to the fact that simply saying you don't need to cross the road to go to the beach from the hotel doesn't necessarily mean that it's right on the sea front, describing artwork for an upcoming exhibition in such a way that people will flock to see it, and describing articles of clothing in such a way that anyone perusing the bumph will click on BUY NOW. | | |
Baran Keki Türkiye Local time: 09:56 Member English to Turkish
Personally I've never understood those banging on about "playing with words", "creating stuff through translation" etc. I really fail to see the artsy side of translating a user manual, clinical research study, court decision, online game, corporate newsletter, hotel brochure, marketing survey etc., which is what an ordinary translator using a CAT (or not) does almost 80% of the time. Perhaps the (real) native English speakers translating from other languages wouldn't know this, but one of... See more Personally I've never understood those banging on about "playing with words", "creating stuff through translation" etc. I really fail to see the artsy side of translating a user manual, clinical research study, court decision, online game, corporate newsletter, hotel brochure, marketing survey etc., which is what an ordinary translator using a CAT (or not) does almost 80% of the time. Perhaps the (real) native English speakers translating from other languages wouldn't know this, but one of the most crucial skills a translator needs in this business is the ability to decipher the English texts written by non-native English speakers (usually Europeans) thinking in their own language and using totally out-of-context Americanisms and expressions to show off their 'English'. In my opinion, that's the real skill gained through years of experience and something that you can't be taught in a translation program at a university. As far as I'm concerned it's all about making a living using your acquired skills. 'Art' does not come into it. ▲ Collapse | | |
Tom in London United Kingdom Local time: 07:56 Member (2008) Italian to English Pondering deeply | Mar 28, 2020 |
Hmmmmmmmmm Q. Is translation an art or a skill? A. Who can tell? | | |
Tom in London United Kingdom Local time: 07:56 Member (2008) Italian to English
Baran Keki wrote: ..... non-native English speakers (usually Europeans) thinking in their own language and using totally out-of-context Americanisms and expressions to show off their 'English'.... You are SO RIGHT. It's like you know almost like as bad as like listening to them talk. | |
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jyuan_us United States Local time: 02:56 Member (2005) English to Chinese + ...
Science and technology translation is a skill. You can never imagine someone would tell you translating software strings is an art. It is simply not. But for topics in which more human emotions are involved, translation is definitely an art. | | |
Mario Freitas Brazil Local time: 03:56 Member (2014) English to Portuguese + ...
for a simple reason: everything is both art and skills. Everything you can possibly do has a portion that is a skill and a portion that is an art. Otherwise, everything done by anyone would look exactly the same, and it's precisely the opposite.
[Edited at 2020-03-28 23:09 GMT] | | |
I think it depends largely from the subject you are translating. For technical translation, I would say Skill, but when you end up translating a book for a reader that lives in a totally different culture, you have to translate not only the words but the deep meaning in an elegant form. It can be really an art. | | |