Conheço minha profissão, mas sei bem o meu ofício?

Normalmente achamos que sabemos os motivos pelos quais escolhemos uma profissão, mesmo que tenhamos entrado nela por acaso, e que temos consciência do que essa escolha pode acarretar. Mas não é sempre que paramos para pensar o que realmente envolve ser aquilo que optamos ser.

Se você está estudando para se tornar tradutor ou se a vida está lhe levando para esse caminho, será muito benéfico pesquisar a fundo as demandas da profissão. Porém, além de pensar em mercado, faixa salarial e outras tantas questões profissionais de ordem prática, analise com calma as peculiaridades do ofício tradutório. Você está pronto para ele?

Abaixo, seguem partes destacadas de alguns textos muito interessantes que li sobre o que é necessário para ser tradutor (os grifos são meus). Para ser um bom tradutor. Sugiro que, depois, sejam lidos na íntegra. Certamente não será uma leitura em vão!

Brave New Words:

Where the dictionary ends(B.J. Epstein)

“… translation is not just about the meaning of the words. A translator must carefully consider the culture behind the original text and how that influenced the author, and why an author made the choices s/he did, and how all this can be expressed in a new language in a natural way that does not lose or change anything.”

Do you have what it takes to be a translator? (B.J. Epstein)

“Writers are the ideal people to work as translators because they generally already have excellent writing and language skills and an enthusiasm for words, yet not many attempt it”

“The fact is that the restrictions imposed by the form compel translators to be creative in a new way“

Unlocking the prison of language(B.J. Epstein)

“A translator has to not only translate the words, but also the concepts. In other words, a translator unlocks the prison of language…”

“This service is an unfortunately under-appreciated art and craft“

Translation Journal

To be a good translator (Leila Razmjou )

“And the most arduous part of the journey starts when translation trainees leave their universities”

“… not everybody who knows a foreign language can be a translator, as it is commonly and mistakenly believed. Translation is the key to international understanding. So in this vast world of communication and information overload, we need competent translators who have both the theoretical knowledge and practical skills to do their jobs well”

“… translators are not made overnight”

Translation Directory

On becoming a translator (Salvador Virgen)

“I feel a chill run down my spine when I hear the tales of those self-mademen and women who claim they built themselves from scratch and do not owe anything to anyone, and that they never took anything from others. That is not my case. I would not be the man that I am without the support of countless persons that helped me through the disparate stages of my career”

“… every now and then you’ll learn something that will make the whole universe (or at large part of if) twist and fold over and rearrange itself so the disjointed pieces fit precisely together and the whole thing is better”

“… a translator ought to have a deep love for his languages, and as any good craftsman, he should patiently hone his tools. Without this love and skill, a translator is doomed to failure“