The translator - Working with

language
Are you a linguistic talent? The perfect travel companion? Did everyone want to sit
next to you during French lessons?
To be really successful as a translator, you need a sense of language. What does
that mean? Quite simply, you don't translate texts like a robot word for word, but
maintain style and characteristics. So there should be a good writer in you, too. By
the way, the translation profession is not to be confused with the interpreter, because
while the interpreter is responsible for the spoken language, the written translation is
the most important thing for you. These can be journalistic articles, literature or even
advertising texts and annual reports. You will therefore find work as a translator at
publishing houses or in interpreting offices. Independence is not uncommon among
translators either.

Everyday work and tasks as a translator

Become a translator
As a translator, your everyday work can be easily explained. You will be presented
with texts that need to be translated. As a rule, you translate texts from a foreign
language into English, even if you have to master the foreign languages perfectly, it
is more important that you have a great feeling for the language in your mother
tongue. Because translation is about much more than just readability. The style of
the text has to be maintained. Wordplays in particular cannot be translated one to
one, so you are looking for alternative formulations that do justice to the text. Even
the best translator may lack specialist vocabulary, so checking in the dictionary is by
no means a disgrace.
In general, as a translator you rarely work in a team. Instead, you work through your
stack of tasks on your own. For that reason, you need very good time management
to meet all your deadlines.
Depending on the order situation, there will be times when come home late from the
office. And when there is a lull, you may be able to treat yourself to a long weekend.
You will find work mainly in publishing houses, but don’t get the impression that you
will not only translate novels. A large part consists of non-fiction books and scientific
works.
Even the website localisation could become your specialist field in the translation
profession. But translators also have great career prospects in politics. This is about
making documents and decisions accessible to international politicians. A great
responsibility.

Requirements for the profession of

translator
In order to be allowed to practice the profession of translator, you do not need a
specific certificate from the official side - the professional title is unprotected. But in
practice graduates of linguistics are clearly preferred. The ideal course is, of course,
the completion of an interpreter/translator course as the mastery of languages is the
absolute prerequisite. Of course, one language is not enough, you should be fluent
in two or three languages. Consider going abroad, doing internships and
traineeships, otherwise it would be difficult to gain a foothold in the translation
profession.
To be successful in a niche, the language can of course also be a little more
unusual. Of course, the competition among German, Spanish and French-speaking
translators is strongest.
Translators often become freelancers in the course of their careers.

Opportunities for specialisation

In general, the translating profession distinguishes between three areas of
specialization in which you can specialize. The literary translator, the technical
translator and the terminologist.

As a literary translator, you're one of the best known of the three. Whether thriller,
comedy or biography - you ensure that books are made accessible to an
international audience. If there were no translators, would the Nordic Noir novels
have made it to global success? Unlikely.
Your stylistic confidence is particularly important here, because even the best book
will become a shelf warmer if the translation doesn't live up to its original promise.

As a specialist, like medical translator, on the other hand, you will be dealing less
with literature than with scientific articles, annual reports or even advertising copy.

In order to become a professional translator, you should therefore not only have the
linguistic background, but also the technical background. Without business know-
how, for example, it could be difficult to translate reports on the economic situation.

Choose your profession wisely and most importantly: Enjoy what you are doing!