Poll: Which of these would you say you have most of?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
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Sep 10, 2019

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Which of these would you say you have most of?".

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Rama Raju Buddharaju
 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 15:38
Spanish to English
+ ...
Other Sep 10, 2019

Six of one and half a dozen of the other

Nikolay Novitskiy
Kay Denney
B D Finch
Philip Lees
 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 14:38
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Other Sep 10, 2019

I hope I have a good mix of skill and talent...

Tina Vonhof (X)
Francesca Demoro
Rama Raju Buddharaju
Muriel Vasconcellos
 
Nikolay Novitskiy
Nikolay Novitskiy  Identity Verified
Russian Federation
Local time: 19:38
Member (2018)
English to Russian
Why should one have it? Sep 10, 2019

Just a large team of cheap subcontractors, relentlessly translating crappy source texts to something even more crappier...

Just kidding. I think a mix of both. One is never enough in our profession.


Rama Raju Buddharaju
 
Kay Denney
Kay Denney  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 15:38
French to English
. Sep 10, 2019

I would say I have a happy mix that caters serendipitily to the type of translation I do!

Iwona Budzynska MCIL
 
Henry Schroeder
Henry Schroeder  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 10:38
Member (2002)
German to English
+ ...
Other: Interest, desire to improve, etc. Sep 10, 2019

Definitely not talent or skill - at least when I started...

Francesca Demoro
 
Yetta Jensen Bogarde
Yetta Jensen Bogarde  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 15:38
Member (2012)
English to Danish
+ ...
Skills Sep 10, 2019

but like others mentioned, there are so many other factors involved like interest, determination and much more....

diala al-ali
Tina Vonhof (X)
Francesca Demoro
Rama Raju Buddharaju
 
DZiW (X)
DZiW (X)
Ukraine
English to Russian
+ ...
Talent is not enough Sep 10, 2019

Besides decent skills and attitude, there's a good luck too--an almost* random event requiring much preparation.

writeaway
Francesca Demoro
Jean Dimitriadis
Rama Raju Buddharaju
Nikolay Novitskiy
 
Iwona Budzynska MCIL
Iwona Budzynska MCIL
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:38
English to Polish
+ ...
Passion and desire to be successful Sep 10, 2019

Skills, talent... but above all... PASSION for the translation industry and DESIRE to be successful.

Tina Vonhof (X)
Helena Chavarria
Francesca Demoro
samah A. fattah
Rama Raju Buddharaju
 
writeaway
writeaway  Identity Verified
French to English
+ ...
Luck - plus very polished networking skills Sep 10, 2019

DZiW wrote:

Besides decent skills and attitude, there's a good luck too--an almost* random event requiring much preparation.


I agree that a certain amount of luck is involved, but people I know who are currently doing well are highly skilled networkers with all the right friends in the right places.
So luck combined with much preparation - I couldn't agree more.


Rama Raju Buddharaju
 
Elizabeth Tamblin
Elizabeth Tamblin  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:38
French to English
I don't know Sep 10, 2019

So many variable factors, it's difficult to know how to attribute my mediocre success.

Rama Raju Buddharaju
 
DZiW (X)
DZiW (X)
Ukraine
English to Russian
+ ...
B2B vs mere hustling online: a worthy proven investment Sep 11, 2019

Although rather many freelancers naively believe the biz skills are not necessary, preferring to focus on 'translation' and marketing only, the real value is a localized troubleshooting product (1) making their clients more money and/or (2) decreasing their costs.

Shortly, real clients just want to increase their profit margin--using the translation as an investment.

 However, most freelancers don't know how to deal as bus
... See more
Although rather many freelancers naively believe the biz skills are not necessary, preferring to focus on 'translation' and marketing only, the real value is a localized troubleshooting product (1) making their clients more money and/or (2) decreasing their costs.

Shortly, real clients just want to increase their profit margin--using the translation as an investment.

 However, most freelancers don't know how to deal as business-to-business. Little wonder so few "pure" translators have got decent biz and presentation skills, let alone winning good terms.
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Mario Freitas
Mario Freitas  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 11:38
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Skills Sep 11, 2019

Talent is great if you translate literature, poetry...
I translate technical documents. Talent is useful in some aspects, but skills are essential.


Rama Raju Buddharaju
 
Rama Raju Buddharaju
Rama Raju Buddharaju
India
Local time: 20:08
Telugu to English
+ ...
Talent and skill are essential but skill takes precedence Sep 11, 2019

What is needed in the field of translation and interpretation is a thorough knowledge in both the languages as well as a constant upgradation of skills.

 
Muriel Vasconcellos
Muriel Vasconcellos  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 07:38
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
+ ...
Other - perseverance Sep 11, 2019

I do a ton of research. I track down every abbreviation until I find out what it stands for. I check dictionaries to make sure I fully capture the particular contextual meaning of source words that are well known to me. I may read entire articles on the subject of my translation. I often consult English (my target language) dictionaries to make sure I'm using words correctly. I'm always looking for the "mot juste", which leads me to check the thesaurus, Linguee, and multiple dictionaries before... See more
I do a ton of research. I track down every abbreviation until I find out what it stands for. I check dictionaries to make sure I fully capture the particular contextual meaning of source words that are well known to me. I may read entire articles on the subject of my translation. I often consult English (my target language) dictionaries to make sure I'm using words correctly. I'm always looking for the "mot juste", which leads me to check the thesaurus, Linguee, and multiple dictionaries before I decide on the perfectly nuanced translation.Collapse


 


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Poll: Which of these would you say you have most of?






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