WHY IS TRANSLATION SO BORING?
Aka why we need a change in the translation industry and what we can do to make it happen
Have you ever thought about the word translation itself? It comes from two Latin words, trans, meaning ‘across’ and latum, the past form of the verb ‘to bear’. Its etymology gives us an idea of what translating means to us, and what kind of connotation it evokes whenever we talk or think about it. In other words:
Translation means to bring a message across from one language to another.
While quite appealing and certainly logical, this definition limits somehow the possibilities and the many aspects of the job of a translator. It almost feels like the act of translating is merely carrying a package full of words and meanings from A to B, just like a delivery company.
Looking at it from this perspective, translation seems pretty boring and definitely not cool.
But is this really it? Are translators actually the truck drivers of languages?
Throughout my studies, there have been countless times when people have asked me why on earth I would pursue this career since we all have access to machine translators and computers can do the job “just as fine.”
I even met people who declared themselves “professional translators” just because they learned a foreign language.
If I think about translation I can’t help but notice how undervalued a discipline it is, and how everyone thinks expressing something in another language is a piece of cake.
I also feel like we as translators don’t really have our superhero to look up to.
Or rather, we do have one hero, and that’s the Rosetta Stone.
As important as it might be, I still think it should not exactly be the only source of inspiration the world needs to enjoy languages and play with them.
At the end of the day, it is just a stone. Quite static to be a hero, isn’t it?
What if we start looking at translation differently? What if we change perspective?
My love for the outdoors and the mountains has always pushed me to improve myself and step across my limits. The spirit of adventure evoked by outdoor companies and athletes is incredibly inspirational and is the fuel that makes me achieve my goals.
It’s time for a change in attitude: there is nothing more exciting than communication, and to be able to convey a message not only in your mother tongue but also in foreign languages opens endless possibilities to what you have to say.
Your content can reach new audiences, expose your uniqueness and inspire people all over the world, but to do so it has to speak a language that is correct, effective, and most importantly, true to the original. If you spent a lot of time thinking about the perfect way to describe a product or an experience, selecting the best words carefully, adjusting the tone of your writing style, and making sure to evoke a certain feeling in your audience, why wouldn’t you want to express the same energy in another language? Don’t you find it a little annoying when you read something and it just doesn’t sound right?
To me, translation is an adventure across different languages and cultures.
I might not be a hero, but I will do my best to promote better language use and knowledge while drawing attention to why we say things in a certain way and what effects they generate. I encourage you to embark on this journey, whether you are a language professional, the owner of a company who’s planning to broaden its market abroad, or simply curious.
There is so much more to translation than looking up words on a dictionary and writing them down.
Let’s work together to make the world a better place, one word at a time.
Find out more about Aka Denise
