“Translation is not an easy task”, the first thing we learn about translation in the first translation lecture in the university. From this point, we knew that translation is not just a job to earn money, but a profession that you have master, and a talent that some people may have. To be a professional translator, as we learnt, you have to transfer the author’s style in the source text into the target text as is and with honesty. And you have to master the two languages; the language of the text you are translating from “Source text” and the language of the text you are translating into “Target text”. And you have to be creative and think out of the box, but without changing in the source text or in its subject. Till the graduation year, we were thinking that this is the only struggle we face, and we have to deal with it appropriately. Yet, after graduation we faced another kind of struggle; struggle in the marketplace. The marketplace is not a paved way, instead, it is a bumpy way where we meet and deal with cheaters, foul, and hard to please people, and who also don’t appreciate the “translator’s effort”. And there is no syndicate, or a competent authority for the translator to seek shelter.
Professors of translation in the university taught us the importance of translation and the value of being a translator. They taught us the ethics of translation profession. They were always telling us that the translator is a bridge between two languages. In order to have a bridge built on firm foundation, some good elements should be used. The translator also must be built on a firm foundation; a foundation that needs some elements such as proficiency, invisibility, intellectuality, and honesty. To be firm bridge; professional translator, as we learnt, you must know how to firstly differentiate between text types; informative, expressive, operative, and hybrid. And you must learn how to deal with the technical problems you always face during the translation process; semantically, syntactically, and pragmatically. Invisibility and honesty are vital for the ethics of the profession. In other words, the translator has no room to reflect his own opinion through his translation; the target text. It is forbidden for the translator, especially the beginners, to delete or add words or sentences to or from the source text, or to change the subject of the source text, otherwise there is a justification for that, and. Only some professional translators are eligible to rewrite a text, a story, or a novel during the translation process, but after asking for permission from the author. Last but not least, the translator has to be a good reader and a good follower of the news worldwide. These are the elements that must be mixed together to build a firm bridge; a professional translator on a solid ground.
After graduation, many fresh graduate translators dream of satisfying opportunities in the translation marketplace to cling to. They think that they will find the guide and savior he used to have besides him; about professional professors and senior staff I’m talking. Yet when they get involved in the marketplace, they get back to reality. They find themselves caught up in challenges and obstacles. Step by step, the elements of the good translator begin to fade away, and the ethics he learnt in the university begin to be forgotten. They find themselves working with employers, either cheaters or arrogant. Some employers claim that they are certified translators whose translation is characterized by the highest standards and accuracy. For arrogant employers, they don’t even accept your discussion on anything related to the technical problems or the text type, either because they don’t have time or they have worked in the translation marketplace for many years, so you are not on the same professional level. They only want you to follow his orders and instructions. In addition, the employer always considers the client as the king, according to the German proverb “Der Kunde ist König”, and you are the slave. You don’t have any right to object. And you have to accept this treatment for 400 pounds per month in return, in hopes of acquiring experience in the translation field, but in vain. It will end up with no money, no experience, and no good treatment.
And if you want to liberate yourself from slavery and work on your own, you will find yourself getting through an irritating experience. To be a freelance translator requires strenuous effort. Clients are usually hard to please. If you tell him your rate, he will definitely object and enforce you to accept his own rate, as if he is haggling over the price of vegetables. And if he asked you when the documents will be finished, and you tell, for example, after one week, he would absolutely reject. Instead, he puts a deadline that the translator must forcibly accept. There is no appreciation neither of the effort you are willing to put into the translation, nor of the pressure you work under; many documents that have to be translated in accuracy and in a limited time.
Sometimes you don’t deal directly with the client, but with a “dealer” I call him a “dealer” because they remind me of “drug dealers”, who always cheat on people, and with whom you cannot argue. If you argue with him on the rate that you deserve, he will prevent you from the drugs you need; I mean from the work you need. Further, he often tells you that you will take 10% of the total cost of the work into which I put my utmost effort, and the dealer takes the rest. Sometimes there are dealers who send you a very long text as a test midnight and ask you to translate it quickly. And after you finish it, he tells you in the morning, “Sorry, this part is cancelled from the project, maybe we cooperate next time.” Undoubtedly, you realize that this is not a test, this is fraud and deception.
In conclusion, after graduation there are many dreams related to finding a professional employer who can train you to be professional like him, and give you the chance to apply what you learnt in the university. But these dreams don’t often come true. There is no law, no syndicate for translators, and no competent authority that can protect the translators from such foul and dirty deeds. Translation field becomes nothing but business. And it is not necessary for the translator to be passionate or professional in his job. Instead, he has to be a drug dealer.
By: Salma Omar
Photography: Mahmoud Mansi