Translation, like painting, music or writing, is an art. One cannot be considered a painter simply because he purchased a set of brushes and few meters of canvas: he should be familiar with painting techniques, the rules of perspective and basics of coloristics in order to be an artist One cannot claim he is a musician just because he purchased a musical instrument: the knowledge of music theory and ability to read the notes are required for becoming a musician. One misleads himself and others by stating he is a writer only because he mastered an alphabet and grammar: writing requires skills to deftly enfold one’s thoughts into words, phrases and sentences and a distinctive talent to entice the attention of audience.
When it comes to translation, it is just the same. One deceits himself stubbornly claiming he’s a translator, merely because he can speak and write in two or more languages: ability to convert the text from one language into another without misrepresenting the meaning, in-depth knowledge of cultures and ethnology of countries of source and target language, advanced knowledge of professional terminology (in case of medical, technical, financial or legal translations), skills to intuitively pick up a expression which mirror the source the best, to find the translation of untranslatable words, ability to adroitly decipher the foreign ideas and concepts by decomposing intercultural diversities and delivering proper explanation of these diversities across the cultures.
So, do you think anyone can be a translator? Share your opinions on translators with us!
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