How To Become A Translator
1 How to become a translator
‘They know enough who know how to learn.’
Henry Adams, 1836†1918
People usually become translators in one of two ways. Either by design or by circumstance.
There are no formal academic qualifications required to work as a translator but
advertisements for translators in the press and professional journals tend to ask for
graduates with professional qualifications and three years’ experience.
Many countries have professional organisations for translators and if the organisation
is a member of the Fédération Internationale des Traducteurs (FIT) it will have demonstrated
that it sets specific standards and levels of academic achievement for
membership. The translation associations affiliated to FIT can be found on FIT’s
website †www.fit-ift.org. Two organisations in the United Kingdom set examinations
for professional membership. These are the Institute of Linguists and the Institute of
Translation and Interpreting. To gain a recognised professional qualification through
membership of these associations you must meet certain criteria. Comprehensive details
of professional associations for translators in the United Kingdom are given in Chapter
10.
If you have completed your basic education and have followed a course of study to
become a translator, you will then need to gain experience. As a translator, you will
invariably be asked to translate every imaginable subject. The difficulty is accepting the
fact that you have limitations since you are faced with the dilemma of ‘How do I gain
experience if I don’t accept translations or do I accept translations to get the experience?’.
Ideally as a fledgling translator you should work under the guidance of a more
experienced colleague.
1.1 ‘Oh, so you’re a translator †that’s interesting!’
An opening gambit at a social or business gathering is for the person next to you to ask
what you do. When the person finds out your profession the inevitable response is, ‘Oh
so...
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