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Thursday, January 14, 2016

Translation & Leeches

Translation & Leeches

I was a bit skeptical when I first picked this subject to talk about but it’s important to figure out the differences between translators and Leeches. It is hard to embark on a career in translation without at least being Bilingual. All over the world, translation has become a universal activity. Bilingualism as a concept is based on the field of psycho-linguistics with different scholars having divergent views about its role in the theory of translation but are the translators following the basic rules? Are the translators choosing the right document suitable for their brain? I doubt it, especially there’s this group of people in Bhooter Bazar, who are using this sacred job to squeeze cash out of the miserable asylum seekers. In order to translate correctly a systematic categorization of the documents and their clear delimitation from other documents is necessary. Such delimitation can be based on documentation types, professional areas or departments but in Bhooter Bazar, it’s quite a different thing.  I have seen people  with  borderline lingual skills, embracing this profession as a leech. It’s even funnier when you ask these so called translators about their gibberish piece of work. I said funnier because these people always come up with hasty remarks like the way they translate using online tools to get a rapid result. Immediately, they will picture you judging them because deep down they do know, what they are doing is wrong. So this is what they would answer: “Oh God! Have you seen the documents? Who in the earth will translate such documents? We are just rendering services”. It’s true that some of the documents are incomprehensible & they lack authenticity but whenever I hear them utter those lines, I feel like crushing their head. These Leeches are plundering the resources of the struggling ones yet they call it rendering a service. It could have been considered as a service, if they were devoted to their work, if they didn’t squeeze money out of the miserable ones but these Leeches chose this profession just to make easy money. What can one possibly translate a document using Google translation? Google translates each and every word, so it doesn’t even provide a correct sentence, especially when it comes to the languages that are metaphorically rich.
Translators are considered special people because of the seriousness applied in capturing every detail of the speaker’s message and conveying it in another language without omitting anything but sometimes when I see the leeches, I feel sad because I started my career as a translator with a passion. When I first started, my mentor always told me : Find excitement and joy in studying languages, whether or not you’re getting paid for it. Take your profession seriously, because your one mistake can change the whole thing. So I did and it’s been over three years. Translation continues to be extremely fascinating and fun work for me, making use of the many experiences I’ve had. I’ve been able to find enjoyment, even fun, at every turn, while at the same time earning enough money to live moderately comfortably and support my family. I do reckon I am devoted to my work but truth to be told I still believe I am not yet ready to label myself as a translator because everyday i am learning something new. Even If I want, I can’t say that I’m a translator because even my mentor never popped his collar and say that he’s a translator, although his lingual skills are totally off the hook. So, if a person like him, refrains from calling himself a translator, then was I wrong to label the Online TOOL Users as “Leeches”?

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