Degree in translation required?
I've seen that some translation agencies, mostly in Europe, require all their translators to hold degrees in translation. Here's a telling excerpt from an agency sales pitch:
The first phase consists of the translation of a document by highly-qualified translators holding university degrees in translation and with previous experience with that type of document.
Notice that they require a degree in translation, but only "experience with that type of document" — not actual subject-matter expertise.
This is a pretty alien concept to me. As far as I know, there aren't any degree programs for professional translators in Japan, and I've never heard of a Japanese client requiring or even asking about a degree in translation in the market I serve (technical Japanese-to-English translation). In fact, I suspect that in the technical fields in which I translate, having such a degree might even be a black mark, because it would suggest that the translator doesn't have a degree or professional experience in the technical field.
In addition to there being no focus on translation degrees, I've never heard of a Japanese agency (let alone direct client) asking about translator certifications. The Japan Association of Translators (JAT) guide to Working with Translators bears out my experience: their main advice is to focus on translators who can walk the walk.
Select your translator on the basis of relevant qualifications and experience, appropriate resources, availability and cost. If your job requires specialized terminology or knowledge, look for someone who at least has experience in that broad area. <…snip…>
- Shop around and ask your associates for recommendations.
- Keep an eye out for good translations in a related field and track down the translator if possible.
- Ask potential translators for references or samples of work they have already done (both source and target texts).
- Have prospective translators do a half-page sample text, for which you should offer to pay. Show the translation to a language-sensitive native speaker of the target language.
- Verify the translator’s capabilities through cross-checks and on-going checks.
One practice common in Europe (and to a lesser extent in the US) that I wish Japan could emulate is using only native speakers of the target language. That simply isn't feasible with Japanese to English, where there's a huge dearth of native English speakers capable of translating out of Japanese. Here, I'd say that at least 90% of J->E translation is done by native Japanese speakers, with predictable results.
The translation-degree industry in Europe must be enormous. I wonder: do the ex-chemists, engineers, etc. in the European market also feel a need to get a degree in translation, or are they able to leverage their subject-matter expertise?
A degree in translation is required especially for authorised translations. Is required for legalization of documents translated.
I have a degree in Electronic Engineering and then further language diplomas and then in-house training as a translator, before going freelance. They have never asked me for translation certification (I only work with EU outsourcers). Considering I only translate documents in my field, I think that my engineering degree is worth more than a translation degree would be
I once met a “general” translator who had studied pure translation and been doing it her whole life and I was horrified to see that she translated Italian programma to “programme” in the context of computer programs (the one exception to the British English “mme” use). What use is your translation degree if you aren’t familiar with the context?
@Translation
“authorised translations”
I see — in other words, rules by bureaucrats without a clue about translation. That makes sense.
@Benny
Thanks! Good to know that there’s some sanity about technical-translator qualifications in Europe.
Europeans don’t get that there is no such thing as a “sworn” or “certified translator” in the United States; all a certification here is is a statement of accuracy that the translator (or agency) signs, usually with a notarization *of the signature.* That’s it. Nothing else. Doesn’t matter if the translator has only a third grade education.
Of all the U.S.-based translators I know, only *one* has an actual degree in translation. The rest have degrees in their translation language (literature or linguistics), or in engineering combined with lots of coursework in the source language, or time living in the relevant country. (I rather think that the American approach produces more and more diversely specialized translators than the European approach possibly can.) Europeans cannot and should not expect U.S.-based translators to bring a “translation degree” to the table.
I’m not sure how exactly the U.S. can offer translation degree programs in all the language combinations in use in this country of 300 million people, anway…
I have an MA in Japanese translation and can tell you that it is, at least from my experience so far, worthless. The reasons are myriad. I am too tired to go into all the gory details right now, but would not shy away from doing so. If anybody is interested, I’ll go into exhausting detail. A single, solitary response to this post is all I’ll need. I will, however, provide these tantalizing (?) tidbits:
1) The professors seemed to teach what they wanted rather than what could get people a job. This led, predictably, to an overemphasis on literature. By “overemphasis” I mean anything above 1.7% of the class time, which would correspond to the market demand for literature.
2) Not enough time to cover anything in depth.
3) No emphasis on automotive translation. Why do I stress this? Because in the USA in general and the Midwest in particular, the auto industry provides the lion’s share of in-house translation jobs. Okay, perhaps I overstate the point, but not in Ohio.
4) Some of the professors have either never held a real job in their lives (i.e. have always been protected by the bubble of academia) or have real-world experience that is so dated as to be irrelevant.
5) They try to teach CAT tools but don’t spend enough time on them to do anything but gloss over them. To wit, I got an A (IIRC) in my CAT tool class but failed the TRADOS practice certification test online miserably.
6) The education is too academic as opposed to what it should be–a trade school and nothing but. Who gives a rat’s ass about translation theory or the Gideon Crapkicker theory of feminist translation? No kidding, that’s not too far from some of the worthless crap I had to waste time on.
7) The professors routinely lied and talked up the program. They either had egos they couldn’t fit in the same room with (doubtful) or simply had no clue about how the real world functions (highly likely).
Heavy, heavy European language bias in the curriculum.
All in all, a terrifically bloated waste of time and money.
Like I said, I’d be more than happy to spiel more about this. Anybody responds and I will. Questions accepted.
Cary Strunk
@Cary
Thanks for that comment. I don’t want to say that degrees in translation are not valuable (especially not having one myself), but it’s great to read about the experiences of people who have them.
The intrinsic value of the program aside, do you think it’s helped you get work? Do you think it would have helped your career more if you had gone for an advanced degree in your specialization instead?
Helped me get work? Nope. Hells no. Advanced degree in my specialization? What specialization? See, that’s the problem. I was a double major in Japanese and International Studies. Two crummy majors. Seriously, International Studies!? I think that’s also known as “Couch Surfing” or “Starbucks Barista”. If I didn’t have a learning disability in math, I could have done something else. Ah, who am I kidding? That’s nothing more than a pathetic excuse. I should have suffered through Chemistry or something, at least gotten an Associate’s in Bio. Then maybe I’d be better equipped to answer your question. I can’t speak for everyone, but I personally would not be offended in the slightest if you cracked on translation degrees. I’d throw my arm around you. Look at it this way–you obtained the wisdom without the two years of time and trouble. Thanks for writing. Feel free to ask whatever you want.
Oh yeah, lest I forget. I want to make two other points.
1) I am NOT trying to impugn all of the instructors I had. They were barely given a chance to teach anything in some cases. You try teaching HTML, TRADOS, etc. in one 3-hour session per week. Epic fail. Mr. Wizard himself couldn’t have done it. There were some poor instructors and worse-than-worthless excuses for classes. Of that there is no doubt. Still, many of the instructors were at the mercy of the schedule. I have tried never to forget that.
2) Not to belabor the above, but in my view, there are only two types of classes: a) ones that attempt to impart knowledge; and b) ones that attempt to impart a skill. a) requires students to do a lot of the work on their own outside of class, while b) requires repetition, complete with relentless drilling and task-based homework. The chief problem I had (okay, one of the problems) with the school I attended was that this is simply not the way things were taught. As far as translation went, students were shown a text type and then thrown to the wolves. I am not even kidding. Remember in math class when the teacher would show you how to do a problem BEFORE giving you the homework that required you to know how to solve it? Alas, that technique was lost. The M.O. at this particular school was to give you a handout on a text type, maybe do a bit of an article in class, and then assign the remainder for homework. Think you’d make mistakes? Of course, considering you had never been taught how to do the work. Facepalm, right? And so it went in the computer classes. See it once? Good, now you do it. Forget about ever reviewing stuff. See Trados? Can you use it? Good. I believe you. Now don’t touch it again ’till the end of your time here. Too bad if you forget. That’s your problem. Would it make more sense to have people use it (at least for certain text types) throughout the years as they do their homework as a reinforcement exercise? You bet. Once again, teaching techniques as old as time were ignored. It always put me in mind of Allen Iverson’s immortal “Practice?!” rant. Yes, believe it or not, once a week is not enough.
Again, budget and time constraints being what they were, things were bound to be compromised. That said, they could have been better. Much better.
Cary, it was interesting to read about your experiences getting a translation degree. I’m glad I didn’t. By the way are you from Ohio?
Me too.
@Cary #7
I think there are lots of specialized degrees you could go for after an undergraduate degree in international studies. Political science, international relations, economics (though maybe not if you have trouble with math), and sociology, to name a few. Specialization isn’t limited to engineering or even the “techie” side of the techie/fuzzy divide (or 理科系/文科系 in Japanese parlance)
@Ryan Taylor: Yep. Yes, indeedy.
@Ryan Ginstrom: But see, those are all what I would consider worthless too. When’s the last time you needed, requested the services of, and paid somebody who majored in any one of those? Case closed. Law school, maybe, but…
@ William Taylor: Sorry for calling you “Ryan Taylor”. Duh. Will be more careful next time. PIMF. Also, yeah, be glad you didn’t go for the degree. (Puts back of hand to forehead and cocks head back.) If I save …just…one…it’ll all be worth it.
@Cary
“But see, those are all what I would consider worthless too.”
I don’t know about that. One of my translation heroes, Fred Uleman, does political/economic translation and seems to have made a good career of it. You might not get that kind of work from “crank and bank” agencies, but there is demand out there for people who can talk the talk in those fields.
The trick, I think, is to find a field you really like and specialize in it. Doesn’t really matter which, within reason (like don’t expect to make huge wads of cash translating Nara-period Buddhist poetry).
Guess I’ll have to give up my dreams of poetry, then…>sigh<
Had to post more b/c I couldn’t let this end on #13. I also have scads of admiration for Mr. Uleman. He is, no doubt, an expert at what he does. Not a tincture of an argument there will you get from me. If I could ever have 33% of his professionalism, skill, and savvy, I’d consider myself lucky. Still, my belief is that he is the exception that proves the rule. Y’see, not to be to cynical, but I believe life is about playing the odds. That’s why you invest, say, 10k in the stock market rather than on lottery tickets. (Yes, even in today’s economy.) If you’re prepared to take that leap of faith with me, I think you can see that a person is more likely to get a job translating, I dunno, medical patents than political articles or whatever. We only need a few people at the Japan Times and Yomiuri, and they don’t retire that often. (I’d imagine.)
Nope. Some things just have to be done properly. Those things are needed constantly. Demand. Supply. Positive feedback loop.
I do believe that it is easier to translate a great deal of technical “tab A into slot B” documents on mental autopilot. No question about it. IMHO, it takes thought on a level an order of magnitude higher to produce a perfect piece in, say, Japan Echo than in Black and Decker Toaster Manual 88B. Still, the world only needs comparatively few people who can do the political stuff, while it needs legions who can crank out accurate, if eye-glazingly boring, ISO documents.
I don’t know…I certainly don’t want to be a talentless hack with a reputation for not caring and being generally slipshod, but I’m reminded of the guy who made Terrytoons. Remember them? Crap like Deputy Dawg. Anyway, the guy in question was supposedly asked about Walt Disney and how he thought they would stand up to each other in competition or some such. His reply? “Walt is the Tiffany’s of this business. I’m the Woolworth’s.” Now, Tiffany’s is still around (Although you can find a Woolworth’s in Australia or GB.), but who has ever been there? Except maybe Fred Uleman
Seriously, I would just rather take a shot at being one in 10 or 100 as opposed to 1 in 10 million.
I don’t want to rag on anybody’s choices. Hey, if someone is happy and earning an honest buck, power to him (or her).
But, to come full circle, the knock on translation degrees is that the people who give them out, in my experience, are cloistered members of the literati who would never stoop to sully their hands at a common trade school…which is exactly what I believe a translation school should be. I am a biiiig advocate of outcome based education. Pass ATA certification. Get certified in TRADOS. Something! Those are the sorts of things people should be trained to do if they are paying their money and making an effort. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY but another academically-trained linguist cares if you know about the cannibal theory of translation from Brazil. (I only wish I were making that theory up.) Studying that piffle is academic smut of the worst kind; pure narcissism and classroom masturbation. You write a good blurb for my book, I return the favor. Wooly-headed, fuzzy bunny, kumbaya malarkey. All that leads to is more worthless “educated” fools with doctorates from the close-cover-before-striking school of human paperweights, ready to eat up more taxpayer dollars and spit out more victims with a false sense of security and next to no marketable job skills. Don’t get me wrong-the graduates do usually get jobs in the field…at low wages, at least to start.
A degree in translation could be a terrific thing-if it were actually indicative of something. In certain cases, it seems to me, it is not.
My advice? Skip it. Go to a “vocational” translation school in Japan, preferably as far away from theory, writing, and analysis of Edgar Allen Poe (another thing I’m not making up) as possible. Run away if you can. Learn what skills employers want. Bust your hump to attain those. Get some certification if you can, but please, please emphasize performance.
*Side note: Babel does seem to have been infected with a bit of the academic flu as of late.
As you can no doubt tell, I am more than a bit bitter. If you think, however, that I don’t place the responsibility for my own life and career squarely on my own shoulders, you’ve got me all wrong. I simply think that my school, well-intentioned as the majority of the faculty doubtlessly were/are, have squandered a terrific opportunity. Translating each text type once (in grad school!) doesn’t make you a master of anything.
In summation: Translation school is like teenage suicide in “Heathers”-Don’t do it.
Unless, of course, you can find a vocationally-oriented boot camp. DeVry, I dunno…
Typo in line 6. “to”=”too”. Hell, make that “overly”. There, I’ve got to sound at least .5 IQ points smarter now…
I wanted to support Cary by stating my opinions on this matter, since I was his classmate and all.
I think that there are merits to studying translation, but I agree that the program needs to be restructured to fit the needs of the industry and not the interests of a few people. There are nearly two semesters devoted to literary translation (the “translation theory” course centers on literature) and one semester called “practice translation” that focuses on articles and essays, while scientific, technical, and medical translation are lumped into one semester and business and legal translation are lumped into another semester.
Also lacking from our particular program were field-specific Japanese language courses. In fact, we had no classes in our B language at all. Other language pairs, such as Spanish-English and French-English, have mandatory classes that must be taken in the B language (which are not necessarily relevant or helpful for translation). Since the Japanese group did not have mandatory classes in the B language, we were left to search the course catalogues for something “useful” to take, but another dilemma arose from all this: Forget about taking 101-type courses in other fields, because we were graduate students and taking those undergraduate-level courses would be insufficient to receive an MA, but also forget about taking any graduate-level courses in other fields if you have no background in those fields at all (usually a prerequisite and/or permission from the professor is required to take the courses).
Going to a trade school in Japan or simply studying a different field and making an effort to learn that field in the B-language may very well be the best option for most people. It really depends on what your aspirations are.
very intresting
Wow the new blog layout looks really nice! I’m glad Cary put a link to this on the Honyaku ML today. We even have Gravatars now! Nice.
@ Cary
(Have you contacted us about doing a trial, BTW?)
Thanks for the kind words about Japan Echo.
International relations and poli sci can be perfectly serviceable fields to specialize in if you want to end up doing translation along those lines. In my case, I studied almost nothing of the sort, and I still ended up at Japan Echo. It’s been quite an education on the job (which is something else to keep in mind as a learning path, in addition to grad schools and trade schools and the like). Every once in a while a company like mine needs to hire someone to work in-house; the English-language dailies in Tokyo use translators who need to know those things; a while back I posted about a job at the US embassy that would have been great for an international politics wonk; on and on. I grant that the work is a relatively small stream compared to the mighty river of “This invention comprises a widget . . .” and “Net profits were up 3.6% on the strength of . . .” texts, though.
Re the “trade schools” in Tokyo: I’m teaching at Simul Academy now (where Fred used to teach). We don’t often have classes for native English speakers, since it’s tough to line up teachers and interested students all at once to make the things fly economically, but it’s something I’d like to get going again at some point. You could take one of the classes for native Japanese speakers, but the problems they face are fundamentally different from the ones that NES translators have to overcome, so much of the instruction wouldn’t come in so handy, unfortunately.