Translation Facts & Basics
Some translation entities, before recruiting any translation staff, set some questions for the candidate. These questions may not only relate to the capacity of the candidate, but also to gain knowledge of candidate's personality, attitude, and other personal criteria, attributable to a successful translation.Recently, before admitting to be a freelance translator for an Australian company, I was subject to some questions, and would hereby wish to share these questions with those wishing to be a translator or as an additional knowledge for all current translators.
Q: How responsive you are to email?
A: I am living in a world that uses email, even with a friend in an adjacent room. Actually, I do have great knowledge about email; signature, forward, respond, respond to all, delete, checking language mistakes. Actually, sometimes, I can't count how many emails I send and receive per day. I have used emails for three years already. I translate for company in Indonesia, Malaysia and the U.S.A, so I use electronic mail for working in these foreign companies.
Q: How many times do you check email a day?
A: About three to four times.
Q: How often are you online per day?
A: Usually one time (I mean yahoo messenger), so we might need to set a consistent time that you and me can talk via "yahoo messenger."
Q: How many days per week are you online?
A: Five days per week.
Q: Are you using yahoo messenger?
A: Yes, absolutely.
Q: What do you think are the qualities of a good translator?
A: A good translator shall have correlative qualifications/skills/experiences to the document being subject to be translated, speedy typing skills on both the target and original languages, nearly perfect or perfect terminology knowledge of both target and original languages, near native knowledge on the targeting language, patience and stamina, time sensitivity, professionalism-/dignity-oriented sentiment, knowledge in time/stress management and prioritization and finally, commitment to full understanding of the context of the target language.
Q: What does it need to be a good translator?
A: Understand at least 70 percent of the document being subject to be translated, translate with full understanding not just word by word, not accept any translation work beyond one's knowledge/ability, must always be on time or before time, not assigning the work to any third person no matter how she/he qualified, always go beyond expectations, having all relevant credible resources, research tools and specialized person to refer to when stuck with the translation work.
Q: What are your specialization areas of translation?
A: Law, commerce, politics, international relations, philosophy, history, and other humanity and social science fields.
Q: Code of ethics for translator?
A: It is the complete set of rules that determine the morality, ways of work performance, and moral attitudes of work performance of a translator and translation entities. Countries rarely have codes of ethics for translator, but we have international code of ethics for translator.
Q: What does it consist of?
A: Code of ethics for translator is consisted of professional and moral responsibilities, norms, qualification, admission criteria and should-be penalty of a translator. It also determines the qualification and admission criteria, professional and moral responsibilities, as well as the penalty/dissolution of the translation entities.
Q: Why translator needs to adhere to code of ethics?
A: Because it is the tool that determines success of our clients and professional work performance of a translator. It is the methodology that leads translator to quality and professional translation works, and the set norms or maybe penalties that stick translator to corporate and professional responsibilities.
Vicheka Lay is the Assistant Managing Director of Cambodian War Amputees Rehabilitation Society [a Canadian NGO registered in the Province of Alberta, Canada], and a freelance translator for a company in Indonesia. Also, he is currently an LL.M candidate, with specialization in International Law. Vicheka Lay is also an "expert blogger" for the Center for International Governance Innovation, based in Ontario, Canada. | Article Source
Tags: Translation Facts, Translation Industry Overview, Translation Basics, translation fact, translation questions, translation 101. Translator Training.
