Having worked as a translator for 6-7 years, I can attest that translation is super useful in getting a language "under your skin". It's different from just talking a lot, because you get the time and space to really interrogate how phrases, expressions and weird grammar twists work in action and what they actually mean.
I did read a bit about that in your interview with Vanya! It's amazing how translating can provide such a deeply immersive learning experience. I really love the idea of dissecting phrases and idioms, and understanding the nuances of grammar more intimately. Haruki Murakami is said to write his novels in English first and translate it to Japanese, which is why his style is unique. And as for your experience as a translator, I'd love to learn more! How did you start?
I never formally trained as a translator (apart from some classes and worshops), but I started working in the field while still studying. My degree was in Middle Eastern studies (Turkish) so I had the advantage of knowing a language that is pretty rare in my country. My first gigs were extremely boring -- court documents, customs declarations, things like that. And then I landed a job at a major TV network translating series, which is quite a tiring and not-that-well-paying job, but it gets you working with more "natural" language. I also worked for a bunch of cinema festivals, interpreted in court, and did all sorts of things. Today, I still do some translation jobs on the side, mostly from and to English, and only if I personally find the project interesting (it's usually scripts, movies and cinema-related stuff). I'll definitely write more about it on my blog!
I love this! We always speak about learning languages, but it's so exciting to realise understanding, speaking, translating, etc are all different skills we can choose to practise.
Although I didn't think about it as "translating", I do use this type of prompt to expand my vocabulary: "how would I say this in Korean?".
It sparks a bunch of fun questions like "does my first intuition mean the exact same thing? Are there cultural differences? Nuances in the feeling of the sentence?" - I'll think about all the benefits you wrote about!
That's a fantastic approach that I am definitely going to adopt! . This method encourages us to consider the subtle differences in meaning, cultural contexts, and emotional nuances that direct translations may not capture. How would you react in Korean if you stubbed your toe? Haha
Even in English I've had students ask me what certain words mean. One of the first times it happened was a preschooler asking me what it meant to "be bored". 😅
That’s funny! What did you tell them? I honestly think that English is a much harder language to learn from scratch. When I asked my students what variations of 待って (wait) they had, almost every answer had that word literally in it, making it easier to make sense of.
I struggled to explain it! The context was that the preschooler wanted to wait for his grandparents to pick him up instead of napping during nap time. I asked if he wanted a boom to read so he wouldn't be bored and that's when he asked me what it meant to be bored. He said he was happy to wait without doing anything and I wondered if I had just introduced a concept to him that could have negative effects. It must be nice to not know what it is to be bored and to enjoy waiting without having to distract yourself or fill up time.
I can't imagine what it'd be like to learn English from scratch 😅
Kids can really be our best teachers sometimes! And yes, I'm glad I can't imagine what it would be like to learn English either, which I think is why I always take it easy on my students.
Having worked as a translator for 6-7 years, I can attest that translation is super useful in getting a language "under your skin". It's different from just talking a lot, because you get the time and space to really interrogate how phrases, expressions and weird grammar twists work in action and what they actually mean.
I did read a bit about that in your interview with Vanya! It's amazing how translating can provide such a deeply immersive learning experience. I really love the idea of dissecting phrases and idioms, and understanding the nuances of grammar more intimately. Haruki Murakami is said to write his novels in English first and translate it to Japanese, which is why his style is unique. And as for your experience as a translator, I'd love to learn more! How did you start?
I never formally trained as a translator (apart from some classes and worshops), but I started working in the field while still studying. My degree was in Middle Eastern studies (Turkish) so I had the advantage of knowing a language that is pretty rare in my country. My first gigs were extremely boring -- court documents, customs declarations, things like that. And then I landed a job at a major TV network translating series, which is quite a tiring and not-that-well-paying job, but it gets you working with more "natural" language. I also worked for a bunch of cinema festivals, interpreted in court, and did all sorts of things. Today, I still do some translation jobs on the side, mostly from and to English, and only if I personally find the project interesting (it's usually scripts, movies and cinema-related stuff). I'll definitely write more about it on my blog!
I love this! We always speak about learning languages, but it's so exciting to realise understanding, speaking, translating, etc are all different skills we can choose to practise.
Although I didn't think about it as "translating", I do use this type of prompt to expand my vocabulary: "how would I say this in Korean?".
It sparks a bunch of fun questions like "does my first intuition mean the exact same thing? Are there cultural differences? Nuances in the feeling of the sentence?" - I'll think about all the benefits you wrote about!
That's a fantastic approach that I am definitely going to adopt! . This method encourages us to consider the subtle differences in meaning, cultural contexts, and emotional nuances that direct translations may not capture. How would you react in Korean if you stubbed your toe? Haha
Even in English I've had students ask me what certain words mean. One of the first times it happened was a preschooler asking me what it meant to "be bored". 😅
That’s funny! What did you tell them? I honestly think that English is a much harder language to learn from scratch. When I asked my students what variations of 待って (wait) they had, almost every answer had that word literally in it, making it easier to make sense of.
I struggled to explain it! The context was that the preschooler wanted to wait for his grandparents to pick him up instead of napping during nap time. I asked if he wanted a boom to read so he wouldn't be bored and that's when he asked me what it meant to be bored. He said he was happy to wait without doing anything and I wondered if I had just introduced a concept to him that could have negative effects. It must be nice to not know what it is to be bored and to enjoy waiting without having to distract yourself or fill up time.
I can't imagine what it'd be like to learn English from scratch 😅
Kids can really be our best teachers sometimes! And yes, I'm glad I can't imagine what it would be like to learn English either, which I think is why I always take it easy on my students.
how young are your students, o beautiful person?
I teach 4th to 6th grade EFL so my students are anywhere between 8 to 12 depending on the time of the year. 🙂