We’ve talked about translation in such a theoretical, technological and diverse sense this semester that the practicality of actually translating from one language to another has taken a back seat at times. For instance, addressing whether subbing or dubbing is preferential when creating or viewing cinema makes the technicality and ideological interpretation of cinema the central topic of translation.

However, when I made the trip to 2345 North Quad and attended the “Translation at Work: Panel on Technical, Legal, and Medical Translation,” on Monday 5th November, translation was discussed at a notably practical level. One thing that we all can’t live without  (although something that some seem to need more than others) became a central theme of the discussion: Money.

The intriguing panelists who shared their knowledge with us are all current linguistic translators and interpreters. All panel members translated between Spanish and English except the only male panel member, who translated between Japanese and English. Although I regretfully cannot recall his name, this man is the owner of Arbor Translations and immediately let the audience know how monetarily beneficial a freelance translating job could be for students straight out of college.

The panelists also shared with us that translation is one of the few growing fields in the United States, although the increase has slowed down in the past couple of years. The decent payment, the lack of a required graduate school education, and the flexible schedule (if freelancing) made being a translator a very tantalizing option. Think about it, as a freelance translator for a translation agency I could wake up anytime of the day I wanted, open my laptop, do an hour or so of translating, eat, play Xbox, translate for a couple more hours, go out with friends, come home, do another hour of translating, unwind with my lady friend, drive her home, come home and do another hour of translating.

So you get the point. As a freelance translator one has the ability to dictate how much, where, how, and when one works. This job allows one to Live, Translate, and Make Money.

My overview of this panel discussion? I perceived the discussion to be informative and, in some way, even refreshing due to the fact that for once people were giving us advice and options that can be applied to our financial and professional selves.

So how did this panel discussion relate to translation? Well the people on the panel were all professional translators who have made respectable livings off translating. So this discussion succeeded at drawing my attention to view translation as a means to generate income. One could call it translating human skill into cash flow via linguistic translation.

* Might I also add that this panel discussion also opened my eyes to the sensibility and severity of translation in different professional settings, specifically the life-altering events that can occur in court or in hospitals due to inaccurate translations.

– Zerubbabel Oluwaremi