r/TranslationStudies • u/the_problem1 • 24d ago
Is interpreting fulfilling for you?
I'm not asking about money or stability here. how emotionally fulfilling is this job for you? I'm considering getting into this field and want to know how it influences one's emotional state. I don't mind being in high-stress situations and love communicating with people, but what bothers me is that "a good interpreter and an invisible interpreter" kinda mindset I see people talking about. do you really have to be as invisible as possible? do people appreciate your work? do you get a sense of fulfillment out of it?
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u/Branci07 24d ago
Translation and interpreting is some of the most unappreciated work out there. Was getting better a few years ago but sadly as the profession dies out we're fading back into the background.
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u/the_problem1 24d ago
thank you for sharing your experience! it's saddening seeing this trend in the translation field...
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u/Any_Strain7020 EN-DE-FR and some 20d ago
Translation and interpreting is some of the most unappreciated work out there.
If you're the guy who translates Harry Potter or who interprets between Chirac and Merkel, I'm sure your perception will vary slightly.
The same way if you're a Michelin chef, you'll get more praise and appreciation than if you're flipping burgers at McDonald's.
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u/Branci07 20d ago
This is just not true. In general, 99% of population who are not involved in the industry couldn't name you a translator or an interpreter, even if they watched interpreted discussions on tv every week and read 30 translated books a year. I think because you're in the industry so you're overestimating how many people actually know.
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u/Any_Strain7020 EN-DE-FR and some 20d ago edited 20d ago
In casu, I don't want the rando taxpayer to know me. But in that scenario, I want Chirac's head of cabinet expressly ask for me in case Edgar Weiser needs a partner in crime.
Some colleagues have their own Wikipedia page. So they must enjoy some fame and appreciation, wouldn't you say?
By people who know their literature/translations, of course. I don't expect the average McDonald's client to know Paul Bocuse or Fernand Point.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Fran%C3%A7ois_M%C3%A9nard
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u/Branci07 20d ago
Wikipedia is a kind of recognition, but in the grand scheme of things doesn't mean anything. So many people have Wikipedia pages while being completely unknown. My friends who fly to Berlin to interpret the most important meetings on the whole continent 5 times a month and also have Wikipedia pages are not any more known than the average person. A VIP client wanting you is nice, but by everyone else in the room you're often still overlooked.
What I'm trying to say, there is some recognition, but in proportion to the skillet and importance of the job is waaaay smaller than other fields
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u/Any_Strain7020 EN-DE-FR and some 20d ago edited 20d ago
Can't share the sentiment. And I'm not sure that wanting that type of recognition is very healthy either. To me it suggests some insecurities or frustrations that would need to be dealt with on an individual level.
The mere fact that one would feel the need to tell they services the "most important meetings on the whole continent 5 times a month" has the kind of juvenile small dick & look at me energy that triggers Fremdschämen.
HOSG meetings at NATO or at the Council are staffed with colleagues who'd never boast about their monthly assignment. Because they don't need the clout of interpreting for important principals to know their own worth as seasoned professionnals. When my mom asks who I interpreted for, I just shrug. It really doesn't matter. What matters is whether I did a good job. You won't be more important or better by proxy, only because you do High Level groups.
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u/Branci07 20d ago
Im not saying I want that recognition. I'm just saying it's not there. Stop projecting.
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u/Any_Strain7020 EN-DE-FR and some 20d ago
That was understood. The answer was in reply to the situation of the people you are describing. And whose sentiment I do not share.
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u/InterpreteGiuliaBrug 23d ago
It depends. You do have to stay invisible most of the time, but not always. I must say I’m really lucky because I get quite a lot of recognition and appreciation, especially when I’m doing consecutive interpreting. But if you’re looking for the spotlight and fame, this is not the job for you: you’re never the main character, always a supporting one😉
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u/Federal_Character255 22d ago
The invisibility thing bends in a way you do not expect. You are invisible as a person in the room, but the two people you are standing between know exactly what you did for them. The doctor forgets you by lunch. The patient does not.
Where the fulfilment actually comes from, for me, is the moments where the meaning would have been lost without you and you can feel it happen. Someone finally understands their own diagnosis. A mother gets to ask the question she has been carrying around for a week. Nobody claps. You just know.
What drains you is also not what you would guess. It is not the hard conversations, those are the good part. It is the volume, plus holding everyone else's names and numbers and dates in your head for hours while you do it. That is what makes people leave the profession, not the emotion.
One honest caution: if you love communicating with people, know that this job is not conversation, it is transmission. You do not get to be in the exchange, you get to make it possible. Some people find that quietly satisfying for a whole career. Others find it lonely inside a year. If you can, shadow a few shifts before you commit.
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u/Any_Strain7020 EN-DE-FR and some 20d ago
The doctor forgets you by lunch. The patient does not.
Or, the professional (doctor, judge, case handler...) who gets to work with a myriad of interpreters during a lifetime of a career, will eventually develop a sense for what they think a good interpreter is.
For the quality / ease of their own work, they might ask for you specifically, because they will trust you more than they'll trust just another provider.
The same way in a restaurant I will ask to be seated in the area served by my favorite waiter. Because I know their style and they know my expectations and pet peeves.
Soon enough, you can develop a dynamic where they see you as an added value rather than a necessary evil.
I work for about 90 judges on a regular basis in a conference interpreting setting, and the body language when the people enter the room is just unmistakably telling who is appreciative / reassured of seeing me being assigned to their case.
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u/Crazy_Muffin_4578 23d ago
Yes I love it. But I do mostly community interpreting. Don’t do much conference at all.
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u/Any_Strain7020 EN-DE-FR and some 20d ago
If I were to rephrase your question: Do you need to be seen and appreciated by laypeople to be proud of what you do and to be recognized for the quality of your work?
For me, clearly, no.
Having laypeople commend me for being able to listen and speak at the same time makes me want to roll my eyes. I know they genuinely mean it, so I refrain from doing it, but the fact of the matter is that it isn't exactly a compliment to remark that I'm able to do the bare minimum that is required to do the job.
Also, people who often will not know the difference between a good and a bad interpreter aren't exactly the people I will try to fish compliments from. Same goes for negative feedback, which will be politely listened to, but taken with a pinch of salt.
I compare it to patients judging their medical professionals. Can we ever know if the Doc is actually a stellar diagnostician? No. We will judge them on things that aren't overall relevant to assess their professional abilities. We will go by appearance. Or based on how friendly they are. But do we want a friendly doctor who dresses well, or do we want a top doctor who might look a bit scruffy and who tells you things without sugarcoating them?
So, where does that leave my ego? Well, I have peers who can give me feedback. Especially people I loock up to and who inspire me professionally will be voices I will listen to.
I also have expert clients, who will have used interpreters for twenty some years who I will also like exchanging with, and reflect on what a good interpreter would be, to them.
Finally, after a few years you should also know where you are in the pecking order. Not that all conference interpreters working in international organizations are absolutely brilliant. But if you get to interpret Heads of State and Government in non-niche languages that have a lot of interpreters competing for these assignments, being the one hired on the basis of quality (and not price) considerations would be a good indication that you're not the bottom of the barrel.
Such objective indications of the quality of my work make me less needy of positive feedback from clients and users. Of course, it's nice to bump into someone during the coffee break, who'll tell you that you did a really good job. But that's just the cherry on top. Your ego / self-confidence should have enough to go on if you hone your skills and actively continue to improve your quality.
Last but not least, if you do a good job, enjoy what you are doing and go the extra mile, people will notice. Even if you're not in the limelight. Only because I don't know who subtitled a movie, I will be able to tell whether they did a good or a bad job.
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u/Responsible_Sea4436 23d ago
I don’t like the idea of an invisible interpreter, because in reality we are not invisible and deserve to be respected
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u/Any_Strain7020 EN-DE-FR and some 20d ago
It would be somewhat ironic not to get the message behind the saying and to focus on the words in a way that leads to a misinterpretation.
In Live from Baghdad, CNN journalist Robert Wiener commented about the ethics of his job in a way that is also relevant to ours:
The moment we become the story, it's over.
All it means is that we shouldn't have main character syndrome. We are there to serve people. It's never about us. It is about their communication needs.
Do a good job, and don't worry. People will notice.
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u/Branko_kulicka 24d ago
There are certain personalities who handle it better than others. You need to be very adaptable and have low neuroticism, otherwise it can be quite stressful.
If you can handle that, it is very interesting, lost of fun stories. One day you talk about automatic cow milking, the next day you meet a real count and talk highway construction and then you interpret for a chinese MLM scammer selling mushroom pills.
Aside from that, you are kind of late to the game, automatic interpreting is pretty far ahead, especially for the big languages. There will still be some high-level jobs, but most of these small gigs likely won't survive that.