For the love of the job...

I was given food for thought this week by a comment made by psychologist and child development specialist Annette Karmiloff-Smith on Radio 4's The Life Scientific.

She started her career as a simultaneous interpreter with the UN (immediately my ears pricked up...hello?! Dream Job?!)... but she sounded rather dismissive of this profession, saying that a) she "learnt nothing" because she worked in so many different areas at the same time, and b) she hated not being able to have and express her own opinion.

I was a little taken aback by this view as I personally find it to be quite the opposite.

I ADORE the diversity of this work - be it interpreting or translating - and I am the envy of my friends. Far from "learning nothing", my work has allowed me to discover, and learn about in a lot of depth, certain sectors and fields which I would otherwise barely have given a second glance. Mycology. Enology. Apiculture. Soil Erosion. Castles. Wind Farms. Bridges. Grain Silos. And the list goes on...

Obviously, nobody can become a true expert in everything - and it is always recommendable, particularly in translation, to specialise in a particular area, as increases your credibility and prevents you from spreading yourself too thin - but there is always the opportunity to learn new things... if you're willing.


On Karmiloff-Smith's second point, well, I guess it's all about personal preference. I would say I'm outspoken and a good communicator, but I don't miss expressing my own opinion while I'm working. For me, it's part of the challenge - transforming someone else's words into another language and making it sound natural involves a lot of mental gymnastics and creativity at times and I focus on that and leave my soapbox at the door. Proofreading jobs offer more of an opportunity for arguing your point (or choice of words) particularly if you have a picky or stubborn client - and while I welcome the chance for some good negotiating, I actually prefer to let the original speaker/writer's words play around in my head and find the best possible translation for them than worry about having to argue all the time.

I suppose that's why I'm a translator and Annette Karmiloff-Smith isn't. Which is fine, of course. We both love our jobs and are well suited to what we do. Horses for courses and all that. It's what makes the world go round!