| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | why are court-certified translators so hard to work with? Thread poster: mike316
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Ania Heasley 
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:22
English to Polish
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| Not here, please | Aug 21, 2012 |
Susanna Garcia wrote:
I say currently as with everything that's going on at the moment with the Ministry of Justice FWA
Hard as it might be to believe, I really was NOT referring to the 'current situation'.
I studied translation and interpreting at the English Philology department in Lodz, Poland, for 5 years before coming to the UK. This trend was already present among the budding/unqualified would be translators and interpreters. We, 'the English' had an opinion among other students, as arrogant, full of ourselves, 'better' than anybody else, etc, etc.
And what do you know, I come to the UK, I spend several years working among various professions, in IT, catering, education to name a few, and when years later I decide to go back to interpreting and translating; what do you know? I recognise the same arrogant attitude among interpreters and translators that I remembered from my student days. Regardless of nationality.
My staunchly monolingal husband always has a good laugh when he meets my colleagues, how very 'special' we all feel, in our own eyes.
| | | | Ty Kendall
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:22
Hebrew to English
| If you want to witness true arrogance and superiority.... | Aug 21, 2012 |
Ania Heasley wrote: Susanna Garcia wrote:
I say currently as with everything that's going on at the moment with the Ministry of Justice FWA Hard as it might be to believe, I really was NOT referring to the 'current situation'. I studied translation and interpreting at the English Philology department in Lodz, Poland, for 5 years before coming to the UK. This trend was already present among the budding/unqualified would be translators and interpreters. We, 'the English' had an opinion among other students, as arrogant, full of ourselves, 'better' than anybody else, etc, etc. And what do you know, I come to the UK, I spend several years working among various professions, in IT, catering, education to name a few, and when years later I decide to go back to interpreting and translating; what do you know? I recognise the same arrogant attitude among interpreters and translators that I remembered from my student days. Regardless of nationality. My staunchly monolingal husband always has a good laugh when he meets my colleagues, how very 'special' we all feel, in our own eyes.
....hang out with lawyers (and/or doctors). When I was at university the language students most certainly did not have any airs or graces, nor did they in the neighbouring universities in nearby cities...why would they?...there's no room for arrongance or superiority when studying languages/translation when you're in a country where monolingualism is worshipped as a virtue and the study of languages is considered quite "quaint" (read: pointless); a worthy endeavour for posh kids who might need it on their gap-decade.
If you wanted to experience true arrogance and superiority, all you had to do is walk past the School of Law. I had the "pleasure" of living with a couple of law students too - never before have I met people with such an inflated opinion of their own superiority and the superiority of their discipline.
It was truly breathtaking to behold. (The Medical students weren't really as bad, if only that they wouldn't even deem you worthy of discourse with which to offend you).
If there are similar traits in translators/interpreters it's most likely only borne out of a lifetime of defending their studies and their career choice.
Unlike translators/interpreters, lawyers and doctors probably never got the response "why do you want to THAT for?" a zillion times. It's only defensive arrogance and superiority, not the genuine variety that oozes out of every pore of most lawyers. (and/or doctors).
[Edited at 2012-08-21 18:16 GMT]
| | | | Kay Denney
France
Local time: 19:22
French to English
| This might be a bit off-topic | Aug 21, 2012 |
Ty Kendall wrote:
If you wanted to experience true arrogance and superiority, all you had to do is walk past the School of Law. I had the "pleasure" of living with a couple of law students too - never before have I met people with such an inflated opinion of their own superiority and the superiority of their discipline.
It was truly breathtaking to behold. (The Medical students weren't really as bad, if only that they wouldn't even deem you worthy of discourse with which to offend you).
If there are similar traits in translators/interpreters it's most likely only borne out of a lifetime of defending their studies and their career choice.
Unlike translators/interpreters, lawyers and doctors probably never got the response "why do you want to THAT for?" a zillion times. It's only defensive arrogance and superiority, not the genuine variety that oozes out of every pore of most lawyers. (and/or doctors).
[Edited at 2012-08-21 18:16 GMT]
but I think this might raise a chuckle:
What's the difference between a medical student and God
God doesn't think he's a medical student.
(I got the joke from a medical student BTW in case anyone starts protesting in defence of medical students)
| | | | | Illegal practice of Law | Aug 21, 2012 |
Texte Style wrote:
What's the difference between a medical student and God
God doesn't think he's a medical student.
(I got the joke from a medical student BTW in case anyone starts protesting in defence of medical students)
But, Texte, I am sure He is a lawyer, otherwise He would not have dare giving those tablets to Moses. He knew, or should have known, that we, lawyers, would have otherwise reported Him to the applicable Bar Association for illegal practice of Law.
Greetings,
Luis
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| physics joke - off topic | Aug 21, 2012 |
What's the difference between God and the Higgs-Boson?
The Higgs Boson probably exists.
(With thanks to my physicist son)
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A blind rabbit and a blind snake met late one morning in the Arizona desert.
Said the rabbit to the snake "What are you?"
Said the snake to the rabbit "I don't know. What are you?"
Said the rabbit to the snake "I don't know either. Why don't we feel eachother all over and find out?"
"OK" said the snake, "I'll go first".
The snake slithered all over the rabbit and said "Well, you're small and furry with whiskers, a cute little fluffy tail and long ears".
The ra... See more A blind rabbit and a blind snake met late one morning in the Arizona desert.
Said the rabbit to the snake "What are you?"
Said the snake to the rabbit "I don't know. What are you?"
Said the rabbit to the snake "I don't know either. Why don't we feel eachother all over and find out?"
"OK" said the snake, "I'll go first".
The snake slithered all over the rabbit and said "Well, you're small and furry with whiskers, a cute little fluffy tail and long ears".
The rabbit leapt for joy and said "Hey! I'm a rabbit! I'm a rabbit!"
The rabbit then felt the snake all over and said "Well, you're long and scaly and slimy and wriggly and you've got no balls".
The snake leapt for joy and said "Hooray! I'm a lawyer! I'm a lawyer!"
The snake then swallowed the rabbit whole and had a good, long post-prandial nap. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Robert Forstag
United States
Local time: 13:22
Spanish to English
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| Freelancers as a group would be in better shape if there were more such problems... | Aug 23, 2012 |
Being able to demand high fees and insist on surcharges for special arrangements are the hallmarks of professional service providers. I wish more translators and interpreters behaved in the way that Mike complains of, rather than like market vendors competing with one another over who can sell their apples and oranges more cheaply.
[Edited at 2012-08-23 17:04 GMT]
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Ty Kendall wrote:
If you wanted to experience true arrogance and superiority, all you had to do is walk past the School of Law. I had the "pleasure" of living with a couple of law students too - never before have I met people with such an inflated opinion of their own superiority and the superiority of their discipline.
...
Unlike translators/interpreters, lawyers and doctors probably never got the response "why do you want to THAT for?" a zillion times. It's only defensive arrogance and superiority, not the genuine variety that oozes out of every pore of most lawyers. (and/or doctors).
[Edited at 2012-08-21 18:16 GMT]
Ty, what a gross generalisation! (*sigh*)
Having studied and worked in both fields, I can only say that I have met arrogant and snooty lawyers and I have met equally arrogant and snooty translators and interpreters. However, the same goes for inspiring, kind and/or helpful characters in both groups.
Labelling people purely because of their profession is seldom useful or accurate.
[Edited at 2012-08-24 18:11 GMT]
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Ty Kendall
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:22
Hebrew to English
| I think it was quite clear...... | Aug 24, 2012 |
....I was only talking about my personal experience. (It was, after all, an anecdote about my time at uni and my interactions with law students there). Generalisations exist because usually (at least in part) they are true. And this particular generalisation was most definitely true in my experience.
You'll also notice that nowhere in my post did I discount the possibility that translators and interpreters can also be arrogant and superior. In fact, I know they can, but for very dif... See more ....I was only talking about my personal experience. (It was, after all, an anecdote about my time at uni and my interactions with law students there). Generalisations exist because usually (at least in part) they are true. And this particular generalisation was most definitely true in my experience.
You'll also notice that nowhere in my post did I discount the possibility that translators and interpreters can also be arrogant and superior. In fact, I know they can, but for very different reasons than most lawyers I know.
Conversely, I did not discount the possibility that lawyers can be respectful, deferent souls.
In addition, I also believe it's equally clear that I wasn't advocating the demonisation of every single lawyer out there. *There's good and bad in everything* and I have no doubt there are many, many pleasant, modest and humble lawyers out there, with a healthy respect for other professions, I just haven't met them.
Again, I don't deny drawing on a generalisation - albeit based on my own experience not just wild speculation or prejudice, but this shouldn't be so surprising on a thread which is based on a generalisation (why are court-certified translators so hard to work with?). ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Well, I like lawyers, not that I don't like other people | Aug 24, 2012 |
Jenny Forbes wrote:
A blind rabbit and a blind snake met late one morning in the Arizona desert.
Said the rabbit to the snake "What are you?"
Said the snake to the rabbit "I don't know. What are you?"
Said the rabbit to the snake "I don't know either. Why don't we feel eachother all over and find out?"
"OK" said the snake, "I'll go first".
The snake slithered all over the rabbit and said "Well, you're small and furry with whiskers, a cute little fluffy tail and long ears".
The rabbit leapt for joy and said "Hey! I'm a rabbit! I'm a rabbit!"
The rabbit then felt the snake all over and said "Well, you're long and scaly and slimy and wriggly and you've got no balls".
The snake leapt for joy and said "Hooray! I'm a lawyer! I'm a lawyer!"
The snake then swallowed the rabbit whole and had a good, long post-prandial nap.
I find many lawyers to be very intelligent, educated people, nice to talk to. I'd probably be a lawyer myself, if not my love for languages, or if I wanted to spend another two years in law school, although who knows.
[Edited at 2012-08-24 19:17 GMT]
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LilianBoland wrote: Jenny Forbes wrote:
A blind rabbit and a blind snake met late one morning in the Arizona desert.
Said the rabbit to the snake "What are you?"
Said the snake to the rabbit "I don't know. What are you?"
Said the rabbit to the snake "I don't know either. Why don't we feel eachother all over and find out?"
"OK" said the snake, "I'll go first".
The snake slithered all over the rabbit and said "Well, you're small and furry with whiskers, a cute little fluffy tail and long ears".
The rabbit leapt for joy and said "Hey! I'm a rabbit! I'm a rabbit!"
The rabbit then felt the snake all over and said "Well, you're long and scaly and slimy and wriggly and you've got no balls".
The snake leapt for joy and said "Hooray! I'm a lawyer! I'm a lawyer!"
The snake then swallowed the rabbit whole and had a good, long post-prandial nap.
I find many lawyers to be very intelligent, educated people, nice to talk to. I'd probably be a lawyer myself, if not my love for languages, or if I wanted to spend another two years in law school, although who knows. [Edited at 2012-08-24 19:17 GMT]
It was just a joke, Lilian.
| | | | Coqueiro
Local time: 19:22
English to German
+ ...
Jenny Forbes wrote:
It was just a joke, Lilian.
An engineer dies and reports to the pearly gates. St. Peter checks his dossier and says, "Ah, you're an engineer. You are in the wrong place."
So, the engineer reports to the gates of hell and is let in. Pretty soon, the engineer gets dissatisfied with the level of comfort in hell, and starts designing and building improvements. After a while, they've got air conditioning and flush toilets and escalators, and the engineer is a pretty popular guy.
One day, God calls Satan up on the telephone and says with a sneer, "So, how's it going down there in hell?"
Satan replies, "Hey, things are going great. We've got air conditioning and flush toilets and escalators, and there's no telling what this engineer is going to come up with next."
God replies, "What? You've got an engineer? That's a mistake. He should never have gotten down there; send him up here."
Satan says, "No way." I like having an engineer on the staff, and I'm keeping him."
God says, "Send him back up here or I'll sue."
Satan laughs uproariously and answers, "Yeah, right. And just where are you going to get a lawyer?"
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mike316 wrote:
I often have to work with court-certified interpreters and I find most of them extremely difficult to work with. Like they think they are god or something.
(...)
Or yesterday I was hiring another interpreter. It was for a Saturday medical appointment (...) and I figured she was not doing anything on a Saturday so so she would do it for less than her usual rate.
I cannot believe my eyes.
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