Poll: Which of these most distinguishes you from others working in your language pair?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
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May 4, 2018

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Which of these most distinguishes you from others working in your language pair?".

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Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 17:44
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Years of experience May 4, 2018

I have no way of knowing the expertise and quality of the work performed by my colleagues. Some are better than me, some are worse. Probably what distinguish me from them is my years of experience: 10 years part-time as a freelancer + 20 years in-house + 12 years full-time as a freelancer.

 
Angus Stewart
Angus Stewart  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:44
Member (2011)
French to English
+ ...
My expertise May 4, 2018

Prior to establishing myself as a translator, I had already gained over 5 years experience working in the profession that now forms the basis of my subject specialism.

 
Gianluca Marras
Gianluca Marras  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 18:44
English to Italian
Other May 4, 2018

I do not how how my colleagues work, some are better than me for sure, others are not.

I can offer 15 years of work in the same field with a relevant experience.

And also in this case, I am sure some can offer more than that....


 
Roisin Ni Cheallaigh (X)
Roisin Ni Cheallaigh (X)
Ireland
English to Irish
+ ...
Which of these most distinguishes you May 4, 2018

Experience is important too.

 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 18:44
Spanish to English
+ ...
Other May 4, 2018

Probably my years of experience and expertise.
"Quality" is a rather wispy and subjective term, used all too often and lightly nowadays, but if pushed, I'd have to say I think I provide good quality at very reasonable rates.


 
Bora Taşdemir
Bora Taşdemir  Identity Verified
Local time: 20:44
Member (2012)
English to Turkish
+ ...
Translation was my hobby! May 4, 2018

Translation was my hobby before - I loved translating lyrics and news etc. before I started with my professional career as a translator. Exactly this, distinguishes me from others in my lang pair. I provide the best translations possible in games/apps branch and won't stop until I become the best

 
Kay Denney
Kay Denney  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 18:44
French to English
My creative flair May 4, 2018

I'm not one to boast, but I did spend years working as a translator and proofreader at an agency and could see that I could always make a good translation even better, and that I had a knack for finding puns, alliterations and slick slogans.

My finest moment was when I had to translate some blurb about a night-club with an African theme. There was a bit about sensual music to put you right in the mood, and I just naturally came up with "Afrodisiac".
My colleague had to proo
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I'm not one to boast, but I did spend years working as a translator and proofreader at an agency and could see that I could always make a good translation even better, and that I had a knack for finding puns, alliterations and slick slogans.

My finest moment was when I had to translate some blurb about a night-club with an African theme. There was a bit about sensual music to put you right in the mood, and I just naturally came up with "Afrodisiac".
My colleague had to proofread it. She quibbled the pun, saying that I shouldn't be using a pun when there wasn't one in the source text. I said that it was fine given the night club context. She insisted, and since I shortly would have to rush to pick my kids up from school, I caved.
As I was preparing to send the file, I suddenly had a fit of rebellion and went to put my pun back in, behind my colleague's back. And I didn't realise I sent the file from the general email address that everyone received, rather than my private work address.

Back came an email from the client: "Thank you for your speedy delivery, and thank you also for your fertile imagination. I love "Afrodisiac" so much, I've put it in the French version too".
Collapse


 
Thayenga
Thayenga  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 18:44
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
A combination... May 4, 2018

of my years of experience, my quality and, above all, my creativity. Especially the latter is crucial in my field of expertise.

 
Tina Vonhof (X)
Tina Vonhof (X)
Canada
Local time: 11:44
Dutch to English
+ ...
Research May 4, 2018

I have years of experience and expertise but I'm sure there are others who have the same. If anything sets me apart I would say it is probably my interest and perseverance in researching the topic.

 
The Misha
The Misha
Local time: 13:44
Russian to English
+ ...
My pretty eyes, of course May 4, 2018

I was actually about to say it's because I am special, but I think this particular claim has already been made, so I had to come up with something else.

Seriously, folks, I think we should all lighten up a bit when it comes to publicly assessing our own professional worth. Questions like this don't help.


 
Julian Holmes
Julian Holmes  Identity Verified
Japan
Local time: 02:44
Member (2011)
Japanese to English
A combination of the above May 5, 2018

Thayenga wrote:

of my years of experience, my quality and, above all, my creativity. Especially the latter is crucial in my field of expertise.


Like, Thayenga says, a combination of the above.

I'd also like to add "specialization and not marketing myself as an 'I can handle everything' kind of translator."
And, I'm always questioning my own abilities and trying to make up for any quality-related deficiencies such as lack of knowledge in the latest developments in my areas of expertise.

Added last line

[Edited at 2018-05-05 06:06 GMT]


 
Mario Freitas
Mario Freitas  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 14:44
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
A combination May 5, 2018

But this kind of question should not exist in the polls. There is really no need to stimulate egos here. It happens naturally and way above the normal levels without any stimulation.

[Edited at 2018-05-05 20:57 GMT]


 
Muriel Vasconcellos
Muriel Vasconcellos  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 10:44
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
+ ...
Years of experience and quality (IMVHO) May 6, 2018

Recently I've been working on a large number of documents for an upcoming meeting (14 docs so far). The next one on the horizon is 50 pages. On Friday I suggested that they might get things moving faster if they sent me several shorter ones and farmed out the long one to someone else. In reply, they said (literal quote): "This is a very important document so we really want to you to do it." That kind of affirmation of my work means everything to me.

 


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Poll: Which of these most distinguishes you from others working in your language pair?






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