Poll: How old were you when you realized you wanted to be a translator/interpreter? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "How old were you when you realized you wanted to be a translator/interpreter?".
This poll was originally submitted by Iulia Parvu. View the poll results »
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I never actually decided to become a translator. Translation found me quite late in life (my late 30s). It started as a complement to my full-time work. I translated part-time for a good while, then worked as staff translator at an EU institution for 20 years and retired in 2006. I have been freelancing since…
| | | | Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 23:40
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
+ ...
From the age of 12 to 18 I studied Greek and Latin, which involved a lot of translation. I wasn't very good at it until one day (I must have been like 17 years old) I got some sort of aha-experience and everything fell into place. I remember it felt like I had cracked some complex code and it felt great. From that moment on I knew I was going to become a translator and so I did. I've never regretted it since. Despite all the challenges from the past 24 years and the future I'm still doing great.
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I didn't really decide - I wanted to go to art school or study languages. Did languages at uni and then got a job as a PM, hated it, then got offered an in-house job in Barcelona and that's how it started. Nearly 20 years ago now... I also ended up going to art school later in life and now combine both: www.pauladie.com for those interested.
I'm now wondering how the next 20 years of my career will d... See more I didn't really decide - I wanted to go to art school or study languages. Did languages at uni and then got a job as a PM, hated it, then got offered an in-house job in Barcelona and that's how it started. Nearly 20 years ago now... I also ended up going to art school later in life and now combine both: www.pauladie.com for those interested.
I'm now wondering how the next 20 years of my career will develop. ▲ Collapse
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Not only, under 14.
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I've never "wanted" to work for a living.
I was in my 30s when I realised translation was something I could tolerate
| | | | expressisverbis
Portugal
Local time: 22:40
Member (2015)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
It all started when I was 10 and began learning English.
I wanted to have a profession that involved languages.
At first I wanted to pursue international journalism and be a special envoy and/or foreign correspondent, or translator.
I didn't study journalism because there wasn't a public university at the time. So I went to the Faculdade Letras da Universidade do Porto and chose translation.
I do not regret the decision I made. I love what I do!
[Edited at 2024-0... See more It all started when I was 10 and began learning English.
I wanted to have a profession that involved languages.
At first I wanted to pursue international journalism and be a special envoy and/or foreign correspondent, or translator.
I didn't study journalism because there wasn't a public university at the time. So I went to the Faculdade Letras da Universidade do Porto and chose translation.
I do not regret the decision I made. I love what I do!
[Edited at 2024-04-06 14:26 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Ana Vozone 
Local time: 22:40
Member (2010)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
... I finished highschool at 16 and wanted to be a translator and conference interpreter for the UN, so I enrolled at the translator/interpreter school in Lisbon (ISLA) that summer (1970). I had turned 17 by the time school started.
After two years (it was a 3-year course), those in my class (including myself) who wanted to do the interpretation course took a very, very, very brief test and all of us failed the test. It turns out the teachers who conducted that test were, themselves... See more ... I finished highschool at 16 and wanted to be a translator and conference interpreter for the UN, so I enrolled at the translator/interpreter school in Lisbon (ISLA) that summer (1970). I had turned 17 by the time school started.
After two years (it was a 3-year course), those in my class (including myself) who wanted to do the interpretation course took a very, very, very brief test and all of us failed the test. It turns out the teachers who conducted that test were, themselves, part of a very small team of interpreters in Lisbon that got/grabbed all the good jobs and, apparently, they did not really want any local competition at that time...
My Father then said I could do the course in Heidelberg or Geneva but, by then, I was more interested in finishing my studies here (as a translator) in Lisbon and starting to earn money and becoming independent. End of story...
[Edited at 2024-04-06 18:33 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Daryo
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:40
Serbian to English
+ ...
| I never "wanted" to be an interpreter | Apr 7 |
It just happened that by pure accident I discovered that I'm pretty good at it, and as it was more interesting that other options requiring knowing more than one language, I stayed around.
[Edited at 2024-04-07 08:03 GMT]
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After dossing about for three years at university waiting in vain to be approached by MI6, I applied in desperation to a number of merchant banks but then decided I couldn't bear to be around all those Hooray Henrys any longer, and translation was the only thing I could think of.
It turned out to be a good decision. I'm not cut out for having a boss and working 9-5. Or operating miniature cameras and remembering codewords. Although I am pretty good at blowing up secret missile bases... See more After dossing about for three years at university waiting in vain to be approached by MI6, I applied in desperation to a number of merchant banks but then decided I couldn't bear to be around all those Hooray Henrys any longer, and translation was the only thing I could think of.
It turned out to be a good decision. I'm not cut out for having a boss and working 9-5. Or operating miniature cameras and remembering codewords. Although I am pretty good at blowing up secret missile bases. ▲ Collapse
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I spent my early childhood with my parents discussing languages over meals, and hearing a variety of languages in town. When I was sent to school in England, I made the big mistake of coming top in the first Latin exam. It was sheer luck! I could not cope with the teacher's sense of humour, and I could not keep it up - I have never come top in anything before or since. Fifty years later, I can still see her neat, red handwriting at the bottom of my exercises: You can do better. In fact I ... See more I spent my early childhood with my parents discussing languages over meals, and hearing a variety of languages in town. When I was sent to school in England, I made the big mistake of coming top in the first Latin exam. It was sheer luck! I could not cope with the teacher's sense of humour, and I could not keep it up - I have never come top in anything before or since. Fifty years later, I can still see her neat, red handwriting at the bottom of my exercises: You can do better. In fact I tried really hard, but it was never good enough.
I liked French and picked up German fast, so everyone thought I was good at languages, but I was NOT interested. All I wanted was to get into medical school and be a doctor, but it was not to be.
As a compromise I became a librarian, and then met and married a Dane. He tried unsuccessfully to land a job in the UK, but was offered a good one in Copenhagen with a couple of trips to Nigeria, so I had to pick up Danish and manage without him when he was off on his travels.
The Danish libraries did not need me, so I minded children and worked in the home-care service among other things. All the while going to night school to try to qualify for a more stable job - unemployment was high back then!
I gradually considered reviving my French and German - the Business School would not recognise my English degree, but accepted my mediochre A Levels and a Danish exam.
I was well past 40 and had been fired once again from the home services: I needed to find something else. By a chance in a million I got an in-house job with a translation agency, and discovered it was not so bad after all. In fact everyone was very kind, and I had really landed on the right shelf, as the Danes say. That lasted nearly five years, and I have been freelancing since.
And now, past retiring age, I am still here! ▲ Collapse
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