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Poll: Being a translator/interpreter feels like...
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
SITE STAFF
Aug 2, 2025

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Being a translator/interpreter feels like...".

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Alex Lichanow
Alex Lichanow
Germany
Local time: 09:17
English to German
+ ...
Invisible but essential Aug 2, 2025

The "invisible but essential" option is absolutely correct, because - if done right - a translation doesn't read and feel like a translation at all. That being said, I do explicitly advocate for translators' visibility in the form of credits. Don't get me wrong now: I don't need my name under every single instruction manual I translate. But when it comes to video games and other audiovisual media in particular, crediting should be the norm rather than an exception.
As for the "juggling bet... See more
The "invisible but essential" option is absolutely correct, because - if done right - a translation doesn't read and feel like a translation at all. That being said, I do explicitly advocate for translators' visibility in the form of credits. Don't get me wrong now: I don't need my name under every single instruction manual I translate. But when it comes to video games and other audiovisual media in particular, crediting should be the norm rather than an exception.
As for the "juggling between accuracy and nuance" option, what's important is to know when to be accurate and true to the source and when to take more liberties to provide the necessary amount of nuance. This is why I do not even consider marketing transcreation and technical translation to really be the same kind of task. ▲ Collapse


Josephine Cassar
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
P.L.F. Persi (X)
Philip Lees
expressisverbis
Maria Laura Curzi
 
CasaPhil
CasaPhil  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 09:17
Member
English to French
+ ...
Other Aug 2, 2025

a less contemptuously accepted way to make a living than human trafficking.
I don't feel like I'm on a mission being a translator/interpreter, because I don't belong to the admirable category who interpret in international summits, war zones or emergency management settings.

It pays bills and I can work wearing mid-height socks and flip-flops, even if I don't. If my work were so glittering and essential to mankind, I'd likely have earned slightly more and would be retired on a... See more
a less contemptuously accepted way to make a living than human trafficking.
I don't feel like I'm on a mission being a translator/interpreter, because I don't belong to the admirable category who interpret in international summits, war zones or emergency management settings.

It pays bills and I can work wearing mid-height socks and flip-flops, even if I don't. If my work were so glittering and essential to mankind, I'd likely have earned slightly more and would be retired on a private island by now. No, not a private island, too contentious.

Philippe

[Edited at 2025-08-02 09:46 GMT] ▲ Collapse


Peter Simon
writeaway
Maria Laura Curzi
 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 08:17
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Invisible but essential Aug 2, 2025

Although occasionally all of the above...

Philip Lees
expressisverbis
Maria Laura Curzi
 


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Poll: Being a translator/interpreter feels like...






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