Translation is one of the inspiring works that help you develop your skills, abilities and even your vision of the world, so be proud of your translation work and make the most of it.
Some people may think that in order to be a professional translator, he must master a foreign language, in addition to his mother tongue only, but if you intend to work in translation, there are a lot of necessary skills that are not related to language skills, such as time management skills and communication skills. In this article, we will learn about The skills that the translator should acquire.
Here is a list of the essential skills that translators will need
1. Professionalism
Ethics and codes of conduct are very important in translation. You need to know when to maintain confidentiality, and when to refuse translation of a project because you are not qualified to do so.
2. Communication skills
People think that translation is a solitary activity, but in reality translators often work in teams even if they are virtual (via the Internet), or they review each other's work or participate in large projects, so communication skills are a must in order to be able to market your work. And attract more customers.
3. Attention to details
The translator needs a great deal of focus, and has good audit skills.
4. Flexibility / Adaptability
Translation is a rapidly changing profession and the translator must be ready to acquire new skills and provide new services such as writing, summarizing, editing and proofreading.
5. Organizational skills
One of the important things that a translator should adhere to is to fulfill the translation delivery on time. You must be able to meet deadlines and effectively organize your time.
6. Writing skills are very important
Translators are professional writers. For this, you need to fully know your native language: grammar, vocabulary and style. Reading regularly will help you improve more and more, as will writing practice such as blogging, creative writing, and dictation; Spelling mistakes can make a bad impression on customers.
7. General knowledge
General knowledge is very important for translators. It can help you learn errors in texts. Read newspapers, watch news and documentaries… it's part of your job!
8. Analytical skills
The translator needs advanced analytical skills to understand how the source text works in order to be able to reproduce this text and express it in its translation.
9. Research skills
The translator translates different texts from day to day, and you may come across some specialized vocabulary, so you should master research skills to get the accurate and correct meaning quickly.
10. Knowing general information on any topic
If you are interested in any subject, whether in law, medicine, sports, or any other field, you can read about it in your second language and make your hobby a source of learning and developing your language skills.
11. Curiosity
Curiosity is one of the best qualities you can get as a translator. This will help you learn new skills, research unfamiliar topics, search for unfamiliar words that you encounter, identify potential problems in translation jobs and get to the heart of what your customers want.
12. Excellent knowledge of the foreign language
You should be able to read widely and easily in your foreign language, and understand not just what you say - but what you really mean - a lot of training in reading, watching TV and movies, and listening to the radio in your foreign language will help.
13. Information technology skills
Translation is an information technology-based profession. Translators use various Internet communication systems and a wide range of general and specialized programs for word processing, file formatting, and translation memory retrieval. Term management and machine translation tools are becoming increasingly required in this profession. Software is evolving rapidly, and translators must be able to follow and develop their skills.
14. Good cultural awareness
Language is not just a language but a culture as well. Be aware of both local and international cultures.
15. Love of reading
The translator should be a professional writer, reading will help you in all areas and this is a must for developing a good writing style. Read good novels, good journalism, history, and science, or know that some translators get paid to read books to publishers and comment on whether a book is worth translating. A translator with a high level of culture makes him the most qualified to do the job.
My friends from college are good at translations too, I prefer doing foreign language lessons,. I would like to do more translations in the future so it can make me more self - confident for this kind of job.