First, translation is a profession.
First of all, translation, as a specialized profession, has the same attributes as the general profession, that is, serving others and obtaining benefits. Secondly, the spread of culture, especially extensive cross-cultural communication, makes translation inevitable. Thirdly, the progress of society, especially the progress and development of science and technology, promotes the feasibility of translation as a professional skill alone. Fourthly, the diversification of career development and the specialization of social division of labor have promoted the establishment and development of translation. Fifthly, with the emergence and development of electronics and computers, translation has taken on new forms, its connotation and extension have been expanding, and its functions have become more and more powerful. Sixth, translation has become an important part of cultural education. Therefore, translation is not only a means of communication, but also a skill that needs training to master, and it is also a profession with very practical value. As human society enters the 2 1 century, translation will surely become a modern profession. But as far as the present situation of China is concerned, what is the situation?
Second, China's translation
1. Can translation in China become a modern profession?
As far as China is concerned, the author thinks that translation can't be simply said to be a modern profession in China. Judging from the professional classification and requirements, at present, only a few translators in China have the relevant qualities and qualifications, and the vast majority of translators do not have the qualities of a qualified translator. As a new market economy country, China's international status is improving day by day, which brings infinite space and opportunities to the translation industry and practitioners in China. At present and in the future, specialized translators are needed to solve translation problems in various fields. The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the 20 10 Shanghai World Expo brought great challenges to China's foreign language translation, and also triggered a revolution in the field of translation in China. There are indeed too few qualified translators in China, and they need to be trained urgently. This is one of the important reasons why China independently set up undergraduate translation major in 2005 and master of translation major in 2007 (Western and Hongkong universities began to train undergraduate, master and doctoral students in translation as early as 1970s). Thus, the translation industry in China is an industry with great potential, and it can be asserted that the future translation profession must be a compound professional post with high professional skills and comprehensive quality, and also a modern profession.
From the translator's point of view, most of the current professional translators are part-time or need their own jobs. These people include university teachers, highly educated engineers and technicians who know foreign languages, researchers in research institutes, and technical experts or foreign-related workers who must master foreign languages. They all have their own jobs or professional fields and get paid for their work, rather than relying on translation to develop themselves or support their families. The current reality in our country is that in the social environment where there is no industry standard and everyone can be a translator, a translator may not be able to support himself, let alone pursue his own development and career. Therefore, in this sense, translation is not a professional post or modern occupation with distinctive features, clear standards, strong professionalism and social recognition in China.
However, judging from the development history of translation in the world, China's translation will develop into a profession, with relatively mature trade associations, corresponding industry standards, and standardized translation quality and skills, just like translation in the world. On that day, the translation industry and translators in China will surely make great achievements.
2. What is the status of translation in China?
Translation has the same status as other people in all walks of life. The higher the income, the higher the status and the more popular it is. The translator's social status depends on the degree of attention and economic return of the industry. Investigate its reason, involving many aspects:
(1) China started late in translation. The real development of China's translation only started in the late Qing Dynasty, and most of them are imported translation, that is, foreign translation, rather than output translation, that is, foreign translation. At that time, China's translation was mostly to meet political needs, and the translators were mostly progressive young people and political leaders who hoped to save the country, and paid little attention to economic needs and life needs. Therefore, the deviation of the development direction will inevitably lead to the fact that translation is not a profession, so it is far from its social status and economic return. In modern times, under the background of centering on economic construction, translation serves political, economic and social life and becomes the mainstream. With the development of translation profession, the social and economic status of translators has started to rise.
(2) The level and quality of translators are uneven, which leads to the uneven social status of translators in China. For a master translator, if there is an opportunity, the translation income will definitely be high, which can even change a person's fate. Such people naturally have high social status; For the vast majority of people who do "children's shoes" translation, I'm afraid there is no other way to get higher and higher income through translation except cheating. In modern society, it is difficult for people to spend too much energy to pursue a career with an uncertain future in order to take such a big risk, so many people who were originally engaged in translation have found other careers.
(3) Most translators in China have full-time jobs, while translators are only part-time. Many teachers, colleagues and classmates I know are amateur translators, and people often ask me to help them translate something. In their view, an English learner can definitely engage in translation. In fact, we all know whether we can engage in translation. I just want to see if I can do it, or I want to lose face, or I want to earn some pocket money at all. As we all know, a person without special translation training can't do translation at all. If you insist on saying yes, you must be dreaming. If you persist in doing it, you will "create garbage" and endanger society and people. I'm afraid how such a translation can improve its social status will only get lower and lower, so that more people will look down on the profession of translation. Of course, in the social environment where there is no industry standard in China and everyone can be a translator, a translator may not be able to support himself, let alone pursue his own development and career.
(4) Most translators in China are engaged in literary translation rather than practical translation. According to statistics, real literary translation only accounts for 10% of the whole translation field, while the remaining 90% belongs to non-literary translation, that is, applied translation. The standards of literary translation and non-literary translation are completely different. Most of the existing college translation courses in China are literary translation, and there are few practical translation courses, which directly leads to the inability of the trained talents to meet the actual needs of society. The trained translators can't do real practical translation, the translated text can't play a role in real life or work, and the users of the target language can't understand, communicate and work. Practical translation needs professional rigor, accuracy and correctness, which literary translators cannot do.
(5) Slow translation. It takes years of training and tempering to become a qualified translator and complete the translation task better. Translation requires not only good writing skills in mother tongue and target language, but also good literary and stylistic skills; There are also solid professional knowledge and professional translation skills and skills; More importantly, we should have rich translation experience and the spirit of constantly learning all kinds of knowledge. To have these skills and qualities, it can be said that "Rome was not built in a day".
(6) Translation should be market-oriented. Any profession should consider the changes in the market. To some extent, the carrier of translation is the market. Without market translation, it is impossible to bring benefits, and it is impossible for someone to engage in translation, which fundamentally denies the value of translation. Translators can't talk about their social status. However, as far as China's translation market is concerned, there is no industry standard, which leads to extremely chaotic translation market, which is unfavorable to translators in all aspects, and even leads to an embarrassing situation in which translators' lives are unsustainable.
(7) China's translation can be divided into inner circle and outer circle, and translators outside the circle rarely have the opportunity to enter the inner circle for translation. It is understood that in a certain region or city, no matter translation or interpretation, only one circle of people are engaged in or monopolize the interpretation and translation work in that region or city. Whether people in this circle can engage in translation or not, in this circle, their interpreters or translators can introduce each other's business or take care of each other. * * * Maintain the existence and interests of this circle. Besides, even in this circle, not everyone is qualified to be a translator. Outside the circle, people with translation qualities and qualifications often cannot enter the so-called circle. Of course, there are still many people who are constantly seeking and trying to enter the translation field and circle. For them, the future is uncertain and the price is too high. In this case, most people do not enjoy the aristocratic status and high economic income of translation.
3. Reflections on the current situation of translation profession in China.
First, China's translation must be combined with social production practice to serve the society and the public. Secondly, the quality and level of translators in China need to be improved urgently, so it is necessary to carry out special translation training and treat translation as a foreign language course. Third, selectively train specialized translators, that is, train practical translators to engage in specialized translation work. Fourth, strive to improve the status and treatment of translators. Only those who have received special training and reached industry standards can engage in professional translation. Fifth, the setting of translation courses and the content of translation must be market-oriented and serve the market. Sixth, establish industry associations, formulate industry norms, avoid unfair competition, and manage and promote industry development.
To sum up, translation has become a modern profession in the world, and it will also become a modern profession in China. However, there is still a long way to go to achieve this goal and make translators in China become professionals with certain social and economic status. We need to work hard in many aspects, such as understanding, system, mechanism, education, industry, market and society. As Professor Yao Jinqing said, the translation field in China is undergoing a quiet change, but he also quoted a famous saying of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, "The revolution has not been successful, and comrades still need to work hard". This is true of translation in China, and so is translation education in China.
(Author: Zhejiang Commercial Technician College)