So you just graduated from a school of Translators or you are very fluent in two or more languages or even still your Boss learned that you spent some 3 months in a language immersion class in Paris when you were 16 and has put you in charge getting the office brochure localized for the new Francophone clients, whatever the case may be, you are thinking of taking a dive into the multiverse of translation and our bet is, you’re probably feeling a bit overwhelmed by the proverbial villain and need a Superman to come save the day! Well, look no further, help is here; the name of our company is Translingua Solutions and we will be your knights in shining armor for today.

We are a language services company with over 15 years of collective working experience under our belt. But guess what? Our Translators weren’t always old crooners, some 15 odd years ago, 3 of our employees were in the exact same positions described above with a whole lot more questions than answers. We all wished we had wise old fairy God-mothers to reveal to us even half of the things we are about to tell you. So sit back relax and wear your reading glasses properly, because we are about to save you a lot of aimless running around. Here are our 10 tips for becoming a Translator.

1) Translate The Spirit of the Text

The holy grail in translation is not to translate words but instead ideas, in Translation Theory terms, we translate the spirit of the text and not it’s form. Once you have grasped this very basic and yet essential concept you will notice that translation becomes a whole lot more manageable. This concept also works for interpretation where it can really help to capture the ideas being communicated, and packaging it up in your own words in the target language rather than trying to interpret word for word because you will definitely meet a word or two you are not familiar with. This concept will go a long way in helping you navigate your way through the translation waters once you have a grasp on it.

2) Be Concise

The number two tip we have for you is to be concise. There is no need rumbling on with superfluous words in order to show that you have an A-grade level of mastery in vocabulary. Try to keep it as simple as possible while making sure you respect the ideas and meaning the Writer was trying to convey, remember this wise saying, simple always gets the job done!

3) Mastery of First Language

If you want to become a Translator, you need to have a perfect command of your first language, which is usually your mother tongue, and have an excellent knowledge of at least one other language. To be among the crème de la crème of the profession, we would even recommend you start learning a third language if you haven’t done so already. This will broaden your mind and sharpen your thinking skills and it provides you with more options and opportunities when it comes to employment.

4) Flawless Grammar

Your grammar needs to be flawless in your language A and excellent in your language B. If it can be equally good in your language C, all the better but practically speaking, most Translators are slightly weaker in their language C since this is usually the last language they learned at a more advanced age. In order to master your grammar, you need to be an avid reader. Read whatever you can get your hands on since a Translator needs to be knowledgeable in various fields. Reading is no longer restricted to books, we live in the twenty first century and chances are, you are a millennial and are already conversant with computers. Get connected, read wide but be sure to make a difference between the verbal chaff and the wheat, there is a lot miseducation out there on the internet.

5) Specialization is Key

The next tip we have for you is to try and specialize. This may seem like the total antithesis of the previous paragraph but the fact is, and you will soon notice, that there are several other Translators who work with the same language pair as you do. In such cases, what makes the difference is the specialization. At this point you might be thinking, hold on, that disqualifies me for certain jobs but trust us, you are most likely to get more jobs in your field when you specialize than if you do it all because LSCs are currently hiring experts in specific fields. You might want to become a legal translation expert or maybe a medical one, this gives confidence to employers that you are best suited for a specific job and not just a Jack of all trades and master of none.

6) Ability to do Research

If you want to become a Translator you should be able to carry out research work. Remember scouring the internet at school during your final year project work and thinking “Yay” it’s all over when you were done? Well, guess again, there’s more of that ahead. You literally have to spend hours searching for translations for terms you may not be familiar with like acronyms, etc. You will need to build multilingual glossaries and translation memories (TMs) from scratch, that’s if you are not lucky enough to be hired by an already established company with its own TMs and glossaries. This might seem like a daunting task but some people already have an affinity towards research, this is part of what we call the flair for translation and this might be a make or break factor in the decision to become a Translator. We at Translingua absolutely love to do our research work and so should you.

7) Ability to Work Under Pressure

A Translator should be able to work under pressure and meet tight deadlines. As a matter of fact, this is the Translator’s modus operandi, we almost always work under the pressure of time constraints, clients almost always give tight deadlines and your whole craft depends on being able to hand in high quality results within the short timeframes. Translators have many ways of soaking up this pressure, some share the work amongst colleagues making sure they use the same TMs to maintain a certain level of consistency across sections. This method helps speed up the work a great deal but keep in mind that each person will have to get a slice of the pie when it is baked.

8) Don’t Rely Blindly on Machine Translation

One of the most tempting things to do when you are a young, naïve and up and coming Translator is to plug the whole source text ( ST) into Google Translate and send the output to the client without checking it, thinking machines are better translators. This is the biggest mistake you could ever make in your short lived career. Never give a Google Translate target text (TT) to a client without having it proofread, or proofreading it yourself first, if the target language (TL) is your language A! One thing you quickly have to understand is that no matter how far we’ve come in terms of progress in Artificial Intelligence (AI), we have still not reached the point where machines can better translate a text than humans and without human input. To put it simply, words might have nuanced meanings depending on the context in which they are used and though machines have come a long way, they have not yet mastered the tiny differences in meanings that only a human can detect. This is why Translators can assist themselves with Machine Translation (MT) or Computer Assisted Technology (CAT) tools but can never be replaced by them… at least, not yet.

9) Use CAT tools

We highly recommend you use CAT tools rather than using the Stone Age way of translating off the top of you head. True, it meant that Translators were very knowledgeable back in the days and it is in no way a validation of mediocrity in the industry, but CAT tools help you do the work faster, more consistently and also efficiently. Investing in CAT tools might seem steep upfront but trust us, they are well worth the investment and besides, there are some free open source CAT tools like Omega T which will get a descent job done. We highly recommend investing in SDL Trados Studio, SDL is one of the market leaders with respect to CAT tools, you can check out how they placed on the 2019 MarketFlex Report. This is our preferred CAT tool at Translingua.

10) Make Hay while the Sun Shines

The final tip we have for you is an old adage but certainly not overrated; make hay while the sun shines. Unless you work for an established LSC or you are a salaried worker in the translation department of a company, in which case job security may not be guaranteed either and so the adage still applies to you, translation is the kind of tricky profession where when you start, you probably don’t have the connections to keep the contracts coming in regularly. There can be long periods of drought before your next lucrative contract and so you must learn to manage your money well. If you don’t, there could be periods where you might begin to question if you are in the right profession but God takes care of all His children and after the storm, the sun shall surely come out again. Remember, a word to the wise is enough.

So there you have it, Translingua’s 10 tips for burgeoning Translators. At this point you’ve probably got a solid idea of what it takes to become a Professional Translator and might be trying to decide if the profession is for you. Well, know this, translation can be one of the most gratifying professions if you have the flair coupled with the skills, the knowledge and the experience. The third factor that you don’t often learn at school, the knowledge, is very critical in determining if you survive the first few years in the profession. Well, you have just received the knowledge in a nutshell, the experience is on you to go out and carve for yourself, no one can teach you that. So in conclusion, you now possess all the prerequisite information to possibly become a seasoned Translator, use it wisely and may the force be with you.