International Translation Day, a holiday dedicated to important specialists, whose usefulness cannot be overestimated, is celebrated annually on September 30th. Senior lecturer of the Department of Linguistics and Translation Studies, translator of the Academic Writing Office Ekaterina Shefer tells us about the profession and its specifics.
– Let us first get to know each other a little. Please, tell us what your path in obtaining the profession of a translator was like?
– I fell in love with the English language back in high school, when I came to the language lyceum, and since then my love for the language only grew stronger. My profession is entirely connected with the language. I am not only engaged in translation, I also teach the language and translation studies, organize contests and Olympiads in translation at the university, and there was no single day when I regretted that I mastered this profession!
– In your opinion, what qualities are important for a translation specialist?
– If we talk about professional qualities, then this is, first of all, literacy in both the native language and the target language. Ideally, a translator should understand the field in which they are translating, have a rich vocabulary and a sense of language. As for personal qualities, this is stress resistance, perseverance, even meticulousness to details that need to be checked and double-checked, and not done carelessly.
– As far as I know, there are two main types of interpreting: consecutive and simultaneous. Please, explain which of them is more difficult?
– Consecutive interpreting is done when a speaker has finished speaking partially or fully and makes pauses for translation, and simultaneous interpreting is done while the person is speaking. Both types are difficult in their own way. With consecutive interpreting, it is necessary to be able to record what was said or keep in mind large amounts of information for subsequent translation, and with simultaneous interpreting, the receiving, processing and reproduction of information occurs almost simultaneously, thereby creating a certain stress for the interpreter.
– The profession of a translator is quite complicated, but is considered to be creative. Do you agree with this statement?
– I believe that any profession is complicated if you approach it responsibly and perform it at the proper level. The same is true for the profession of a translator. As for creativity, technically it is not difficult to make a word-for-word translation, it is difficult to make it in such a way that the translated text has the same effect on the reader as the original text has on native speakers. This is where creativity is needed, especially if we are talking about translating advertising or fiction texts.
– How does a translator differ from a person who simply knows a foreign language very well?
– First of all, a translator knows the tools and techniques of translation and what tool to use in which case, since word-for-word translation is far from always successful and acceptable.
– How do you assess the importance and popularity of this profession at present?
– Today, with the development of Internet technologies and artificial intelligence, of course, people start to believe that translators will be replaced by machine translation and they will not be in demand anymore. Yes, machine translation is now reaching a high level, it is good in certain fields, but you cannot trust it blindly under any circumstances. Such method of translation often results in inaccuracies, context is not taken into account, not to mention the poor quality of translation of humour, advertising and the impossibility of cultural adaptation of the translated text. Therefore, translators are still in demand and facilitate the intercultural and international interaction.
– And finally, what advice would you give to those who are just starting to learn foreign languages? What should you pay special attention to?
– Most of all, you need to love the language you wish to learn, listen to songs, watch films with subtitles at first and develop listening skills. The more you listen, the faster and easier you will remember whole phrases, and not bookish ones, but live conversational ones, which will help you in the further mastering of the language.