Poll: Do you reside in the country of your/any of your target language/s? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you reside in the country of your/any of your target language/s?".
This poll was originally submitted by Jeppe Fischer. View the poll results »
| | | | Alex Lichanow
Germany
Local time: 22:42
Member (2020)
English to German
+ ...
I live in Germany, and as much as I would love to leave the country for various reasons, I absolutely see the relevance of the target country principle applied in addition to the native language principle in the realm of translation.
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I’m Portuguese, I live in Portugal and I translate exclusively into Portuguese. I moved back to my home country in 2016 after 30 years in the francophone part of Belgium (French is one of my source languages).
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On average, those living in the target country will have a worse grasp of the source language, and those living in the source country will have a worse grasp of the target language, and both groups will now vehemently disagree with this in their particular case.
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Dan Lucas 
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:42
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
| Let battle commence! | Mar 31 |
Christopher Schröder wrote:
both groups will now vehemently disagree with this in their particular case.
Dan
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No battle here! When you live abroad for many years source language interference is extremely easy when both languages have the same origin, like French and Portuguese. In my particular case, even though I worked in a Portuguese environment (a Portuguese Translation Division at an EU Institution), I found myself speaking with a French accent and worse borrowing French words from time to time…
| | | | | I have to agree... | Mar 31 |
Christopher Schröder wrote:
On average, those living in the target country will have a worse grasp of the source language, and those living in the source country will have a worse grasp of the target language, and both groups will now vehemently disagree with this in their particular case.
I've not lived in my home country for nearly 20 years. Sometimes I have to check things - I remember getting steal and steel mixed up once, oh là là... But of course, I am a fabulous, faultless translator who only produces tip-top work 100% of the time.
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Christopher Schröder wrote:
On average, those living in the target country will have a worse grasp of the source language, and those living in the source country will have a worse grasp of the target language, and both groups will now vehemently disagree with this in their particular case.
No disagreements from me.
I feel that people living in their source language country have an advantage from a marketing point of view though. Almost nobody in the UK is going to need translations into English, so I'm unlikely to meet customers at birthday parties or while out walking the dog in the park.
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I live in Spain, after 11 years I am only able to translate small texts from Spanish, BUT... I spend several month in Italy (less than 5), so I do not forget Italian.
[Edited at 2024-03-31 12:47 GMT]
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Christopher Schröder wrote:
On average, those living in the target country will have a worse grasp of the source language, and those living in the source country will have a worse grasp of the target language, and both groups will now vehemently disagree with this in their particular case.
How about me then? I live in Spain, neither target nor source (exept for some short texts from Sp into Ita)
[Edited at 2024-03-31 16:27 GMT]
| | | | P.L.F. Persio
Netherlands
Local time: 22:42
Member (2010)
English to Italian
+ ...
I live in the country of one of my source languages, although it wasn't a source language yet when we migrated to the Netherlands.
I would have waited another couple of years before attempting to translate from Dutch but 10 months after my arrival, my very first Proz client asked me – after a week of exchanging files, firstly translated into English – whether I'd feel comfortable enough to "go Dutch." An experienced editor would have checked my translations, so I agreed with trepidatio... See more I live in the country of one of my source languages, although it wasn't a source language yet when we migrated to the Netherlands.
I would have waited another couple of years before attempting to translate from Dutch but 10 months after my arrival, my very first Proz client asked me – after a week of exchanging files, firstly translated into English – whether I'd feel comfortable enough to "go Dutch." An experienced editor would have checked my translations, so I agreed with trepidation. The editor was happy with my job, and the rest is history.
I'm not going to vehemently disagree with the opposing camp, there's truth in both statements mentioned by Chris. Have I been losing touch with my mothertongue in these almost 20 years, though? Possibly. I remember reading a thread on the Italian forum in the first weeks of the COVID lockdown in 2020, and an idiomatic expression struck me for being completely new and alien to me – teniamo botta – meaning "let's hang in there/let's stay steady", which I inferred from the context. Without context, I wouldn't have had a clue.
Another case, a couple of years ago, a colleague e-mailed me another cryptic message – sei sempre sul pezzo – or "you never skip a beat", I guessed it from her admiring tone. Or maybe her tone was sarcastic, but I'm pretty sure that that was what she meant.
Nevertheless, I'm still confident in my ability to write proper Italian. I mostly localise fashion content for a handful of international brands with quite different TOVs, and I work closely with my editors, who would tell me in no uncertain terms, should my translations be not up to scratch.
I may be not familiar with the latest slang and catchphrases, but I've built my professional experience on the solid foundation of an obsessive reading habit since my childhood, and the hammering of grammar and spelling rules by various excellent teachers. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Michele Fauble
United States
Local time: 13:42
Member (2006)
Norwegian to English
+ ...
| English an exception | Mar 31 |
Christopher Schröder wrote:
On average, those living in the target country will have a worse grasp of the source language, and those living in the source country will have a worse grasp of the target language, and both groups will now vehemently disagree with this in their particular case.
I don’t think this is true of English, especially in Scandinavia/Northern Europe.
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