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Poll: Do you consider that your profession as a translator has made you a better person?
论题张贴者: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
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May 20, 2021

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you consider that your profession as a translator has made you a better person?".

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Raimundo Nonato Robert de Freitas
Claudio Nieto
 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
葡萄牙
Local time: 16:33
正式会员 (自2007)
English英语译成Portuguese葡萄牙语
+ ...
Other May 20, 2021

Probably, it has, because I’ve been doing what I love and loving what I do and that’s important in life, though I have no way of comparing. What if I had pursued a different career? One thing is sure I’m no longer the social animal I once was. I love being and working alone. I wonder if this is an age thing or a translator thing?

P.L.F. Persio
Marina Taffetani
Rachel Waddington
Raimundo Nonato Robert de Freitas
Alix Paupy
Katarina Perna
Kevin Fulton
 
Gerard Barry
Gerard Barry
德国
Local time: 17:33
German德语译成English英语
How? May 20, 2021

How on earth could working as a translator make anyone a better (or worse) person?

Josephine Cassar
Gabriella Vento
Philip Lees
P.L.F. Persio
 
Angie Garbarino
Angie Garbarino  Identity Verified
Local time: 17:33
正式会员 (自2003)
French法语译成Italian意大利语
+ ...
Same here May 20, 2021

Teresa Borges wrote:
One thing is sure I’m no longer the social animal I once was. I love being and working alone. I wonder if this is an age thing or a translator thing?


I sometimes feel as a lonely wolf.


Elena Feriani
P.L.F. Persio
Marina Taffetani
Raimundo Nonato Robert de Freitas
Katarina Perna
Gibril Koroma
Anja Hajek
 
Marina Taffetani
Marina Taffetani  Identity Verified
意大利
Local time: 17:33
正式会员 (自2013)
German德语译成Italian意大利语
+ ...
No May 20, 2021

I don't see why it should have made me a better person, honestly. A profession doesn't make a person better or worse (that is, unless you save lives working as a doctor, but then again you can be an outstanding doctor and a horrible person at the same time).

On the other hand, there is truth in what Teresa says.


Christine Andersen
Tanja Oresnik
P.L.F. Persio
Raimundo Nonato Robert de Freitas
Katarina Perna
Zibow Retailleau
expressisverbis
 
Rachel Waddington
Rachel Waddington  Identity Verified
英国
Local time: 16:33
Dutch荷兰语译成English英语
+ ...
No May 20, 2021

Not really. It probably makes me a more knowledgable person in some ways, but then again when I have time away from translation I get interested in other things so become knowledgable in other ways.

What it does make me is more introverted - I notice this when I take time away from it and suddenly become more outgoing.


Raimundo Nonato Robert de Freitas
P.L.F. Persio
expressisverbis
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Nikolay Novitskiy
nathalia woglo
Philip Lees
 
Christine Andersen
Christine Andersen  Identity Verified
丹麦
Local time: 17:33
正式会员 (自2003)
Danish丹麦语译成English英语
+ ...
No May 20, 2021

I doubt very much whether it has made me a better person.
However, it has made me a much happier person after years of not being able to do what I wanted - or thought I wanted - with my life.
I finally found my niche, and feel better able to make a contribution as well as just earning a living. I am not sociable, and not good with my hands, so I felt clumsy and out of place in other jobs, no matter how hard I tried. It was always the others who were noticed and praised.

... See more
I doubt very much whether it has made me a better person.
However, it has made me a much happier person after years of not being able to do what I wanted - or thought I wanted - with my life.
I finally found my niche, and feel better able to make a contribution as well as just earning a living. I am not sociable, and not good with my hands, so I felt clumsy and out of place in other jobs, no matter how hard I tried. It was always the others who were noticed and praised.

I came to translation late in life, and was amazed to find suddenly that clients actually liked what I did, and criticism was often positive: 'you're doing a good job, but could you make just a little change?'

People have helped me and put up with me along the way. I can never pay them back, but sometimes I am able to help others instead.
Collapse


Raimundo Nonato Robert de Freitas
P.L.F. Persio
expressisverbis
Angie Garbarino
Rachel Waddington
Jean Dimitriadis
Peter Shortall
 
P.L.F. Persio
P.L.F. Persio  Identity Verified
荷兰
Local time: 17:33
正式会员 (自2010)
English英语译成Italian意大利语
+ ...
Hungry like the wolf May 20, 2021

Angie Garbarino wrote:

I sometimes feel as a lonely wolf.


She-wolf

Here's a she-wolf, photographed on the Belgium-Netherlands border a couple of years ago (not my pic, I hasten to add; I found it on The Guardian).

Aren't they beautiful creatures? She looks like she's smiling, and her eyes are twinkling with a naughty sparkle.

Translation might have taught me something, but becoming a better person has nothing to do with it, it's an ongoing process, a work in progress, neither necessarily, nor always successful, at least in my case.
Well, as long as I don't become a worse one.


Katarina Perna
Zibow Retailleau
expressisverbis
Angie Garbarino
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Christine Andersen
Tom in London
 
Kevin Fulton
Kevin Fulton  Identity Verified
美国
Local time: 11:33
German德语译成English英语
No May 20, 2021

If it had any effect, I'd be a better person.

P.L.F. Persio
 
Giovanni Guarnieri MITI, MIL
Giovanni Guarnieri MITI, MIL  Identity Verified
英国
Local time: 16:33
正式会员 (自2004)
English英语译成Italian意大利语
No May 20, 2021

I was already a better person...

P.L.F. Persio
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
expressisverbis
Christopher Schröder
Matthias Brombach
Jean Dimitriadis
Mervyn Henderson (X)
 
Jean Dimitriadis
Jean Dimitriadis  Identity Verified
English英语译成French法语
+ ...
Better May 20, 2021

No, but it got the better of me 🙂

P.L.F. Persio
Christopher Schröder
Mervyn Henderson (X)
 
Jean Dimitriadis
Jean Dimitriadis  Identity Verified
English英语译成French法语
+ ...
Wolf May 20, 2021

A Big Better Wolf, then?

Reminds me of Radiohead's "Fitter, happier"...

https://youtu.be/O4SzvsMFaek


P.L.F. Persio
Angie Garbarino
 
Tina Vonhof (X)
Tina Vonhof (X)
加拿大
Local time: 09:33
Dutch荷兰语译成English英语
+ ...
What it has done May 20, 2021

Turning to translation and editing after my retirement made me aware that, after wearing many other hats in the course of my life, this was really my niche, what I like to do best. It gave me a reason to get up in the morning and structure to my days. It made me feel happy and confident. Communicating with people of many different feathers has made me more thoughtful, patient, and understanding of others and more aware of what goes on in other parts of the world. Does that make me a better perso... See more
Turning to translation and editing after my retirement made me aware that, after wearing many other hats in the course of my life, this was really my niche, what I like to do best. It gave me a reason to get up in the morning and structure to my days. It made me feel happy and confident. Communicating with people of many different feathers has made me more thoughtful, patient, and understanding of others and more aware of what goes on in other parts of the world. Does that make me a better person, I don't know, but at the very least it has added something to the person I was before.Collapse


P.L.F. Persio
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
edna escalante
Beatriz Ramírez de Haro
Ying-Ju Fang
Agneta Pallinder
Paul van Zijll
 
Barbara Cochran, MFA
Barbara Cochran, MFA  Identity Verified
美国
Local time: 11:33
Spanish西班牙语译成English英语
+ ...
Yes, DEFINITELY... May 20, 2021

... in that it has made me a much more knowledgeable person in terms of the kinds of subject matter I've been interested in, either for a long time, or for just the past 20 years or so, and which I cover as a translator. I always enjoy expanding on what I already know, and new facts and theories are forever surfacing as time marches on, and translators help with their dissemination.

expressisverbis
Tom in London
P.L.F. Persio
Muriel Vasconcellos
 
Tom in London
Tom in London
英国
Local time: 16:33
正式会员 (自2008)
Italian意大利语译成English英语
EVerything May 20, 2021

Everything I translate broadens my mind and extends my knowledge. It's enormously rewarding. And sometimes very geeky. I know more about the functioning of hot dip galvanising machinery than is healthy for a normal human being.

Being a translator is an extremely interesting and life-enhancing occupation, although it isn't great as a chat-up line at a party.

Man at party: "I'm a translator. Italian to English"
Woman: "I have to go now."


Barbara Cochran, MFA
Darren Aguis
Beatriz Ramírez de Haro
P.L.F. Persio
Angie Garbarino
Mervyn Henderson (X)
Muriel Vasconcellos
 
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Poll: Do you consider that your profession as a translator has made you a better person?






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