Traduzione e Interpretazione

You know you’re a translator when…

Translation_(biology)1- You get the same empty stare after answering the question “What do you do?” or “What do you study?”

2- People tell you “So… Translator… You just study a foreign language? You work as a teacher, right? What else do you do? How many languages do you speak?”

3- People ask you how to say something in a different language, because a translator is supposed to have learnt the whole dictionary by heart…
(Translator ? WALKING DICTIONARY)

4- You admit you suck at maths.

5- You know how to use Trados, Wordfast, etc.

6- Sleeping is not as important as deadlines.

7- You realise that you can’t avoid learning new things all the time with each text you translate.

8- You learn to loathe gerunds and false friends.

9- You know Alicia Zorrilla.

10- You’re aware of issues such as gender and political correctness, which no one around you seems to care about.

11- You frequently have nightmares in which you’re chased by Saussure, Chomsky, Halliday or Pinker.

12- You find certain words, expressions or translations utterly amusing… Yes, you laugh at words.

13- …

There are 26 more reasons why We are Translators (and Interpreters), and I’m sure you’ll laugh at following ones on: http://rominantica.spaces.live.com/blog/ or on Facebook (where reasons keep on growing in the group called “You know you’re a translator when…”)

PS Thanks to the person inviting me to this facebook group gathering people with a common interest in languages :)

2 Responses to “You know you’re a translator when…”

  1. Ilaria scrive:

    …e grazie a te che mi hai fatto scoprire quel bellissimo gruppo! :)
    Sono d’accordo con molti punti elencati nel gruppo… però, ahimé, a me piace dormire, e 7-8 ore di sonno me le voglio fare!! Mi devo abituare a dormire di meno… ;)

  2. Michele scrive:

    tutto verissimo! aggiungerei che uno si sente interprete (traduttore) anche quando i clienti ti fanno domande che tu sai essere insensate; mi sono sentito chiedere, ad esempio, “quanti **passaggi** servono per tradurre dal Cinese all’Italiano? ci sono più **passaggi** con queste due lingue rispetto ad altre coppie di lingue?”. -ma cosa sono questi **PASSAGGI**?-
    E qui hai l’ennesima conferma che l’esame di teoria della traduzione I era effettivamente necessario ;)

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