How (Not) to Fail as a Multimedia Translator

• Authors: Attila Imre
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The article is trying to highlight the major skills of a present-day translator, without which failure is assured. Although we start with general (classical) requirements, particular ones will be discussed, such as the gradual shift from PRAT (paper-and-rubber-assisted translation) to CAT (computer-assisted translation). We argue that professional translators in the 21st century must make use of personal computers and specific software designed to support translation: translation memories (TM), term bases (TB) and translation environments (TE), which already have built-in machine translation (MT) possibility as well. This shift also entails that translators have to deal with further impediments as well: the so-called "text"-to-be-translated has changed to "whatever"-to-be-translated. We argue that would-be translators are hardly ever prepared for this new type of multimedia challenge (e.g. surtitles), thus leaving room for technical experts to discover their skills in translating multimedia. It is our belief that managing translations is directly linked with managing translators, and there are more traps for translators in the 21st century than a layman would think. Consequently, we would like to offer some tips how to build and acquire translation databases in order to catch up with the 21st century rush hour in the field of translation.

Keywords

EN

multimedia; translator's skills; CAT-tools; memoQ

• Publisher: Sciendo
• Journal: Acta Universitatis Sapientiae, Philologica
• Year: 2014
• Volume: 6
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 249-259

Dates

online

2015-03-01

Contributors

author

Attila Imre

• Department of Applied Linguistics Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania (Târgu Mureş, Romania)

References

• Albert, Sándor. 2011. “A fövényre épített ház”. [“The House Built on Sand.”] Budapest: Áron Kiadó.
• Bowker, Lynne. 2002. Computer-Aided Translation Technology: A PracticalIntroduction. University of Ottawa Press.
• Fodor, Laszló. 2013. Gondolatok a nevelésről. [Thoughts about Education.] Magiszter 11(1): 5-11.
• Gouadec, Daniel. 2007. Translation as a Profession. Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing.
• Hutchins, John. 2003. ALPAC: The (In)Famous Report. In: Readings in MachineTranslation. Nirenburg, Sergei et al. (eds.), 131-136. Cambridge, MA; London, England: The MIT Press.
• Imre, Attila. 2013. Traps of Translation. Braşov: Editura Universitătii “Transilvania.”
• Kis, Balázs, & Anna Mohácsi-Gorove. 2008. A fordító számítógépe [TheTranslator's Computer]. Bicske: Szak Kiadó.
• Lambert, José. 2006a. Literatures, Translation and (de)colonization (1995). In: Functional Approaches to Culture and Translation, 87–104. Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
• Lambert, José. 2006b. Problems and Challenges of Translation in an Age of New Media and Competing Models (1997). In: Functional Approaches to Cultureand Translation, 131-146. Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
• McKay, Corinne. 2006. How to Succeed As a Freelance Translator. Two Rat Press.
• Newmark, Peter. 1969. Some Notes on Translation and Translators. In: Incorporated Linguist 8(4): 79-85.
• Samuelsson-Brown, Geoffrey. 2010. A Practical Guide for Translators. Multilingual Matters.
• Simigné Fenyö, Sarolta. 2006. A fordítás mint közvetítés. [Translation asMediation.] Miskolc: STÚDIUM Rendezvények és Nyelvtanfolyamok.
• Snell-Hornby, Mary. 2006. The Turns of Translation Studies: New Paradigms orShifting Viewpoints? Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing.
• Somers, Harold. 2003. Translation Technologies and Minority Languages. In: Somers, Harold L. (ed.), Computers and Translation: A Translator's Guide, 87-103. Benjamins Translation Library, 35. Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.[Crossref]
• Trumble, William R., & Angus Stevenson (eds.). 2002. The Shorter Oxford EnglishDictionary, vol. I-II. 5th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/translation/workwithus/staff/profile/index_en.htm, 15. 06. 2014.
• http://people.inf.elte.hu/szlavi/CEOl2012/NL0/NL0_Tata_vl2.pdf, 15.06.2014.
• http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0011/001140/114038E.pdf, 09.03.2013.
• http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/multimedia, 15. 06. 2014.
• http://www.techterms.com/definition/multimedia, 15. 06. 2014.
• http://www.thefreedictionary.com/competence, 15. 06. 2014.[PubMed]
• http://www.thefreedictionary.com/multimedia, 15. 06. 2014.
• http://www.thefreedictionary.com/skill, 15. 06. 2014.

Identifiers

DOI

10.1515/ausp-2015-0017