| From the very beginning of human history when | | | | honesty and loyalty pays off. The good professional |
| mankind started to speak different languages, | | | | translator knows that being fair to clients, is building |
| individuals needed to communicate with different | | | | his own carrier and his future as translator. These are |
| tribes to survive, avoid wars and progress. There | | | | basic behavior patterns regardless of non disclosure |
| were neither professional translators nor interpreter | | | | or confidentiality agreements. |
| to do this job. Probably someone with more | | | | B) Master the source and target languages to be able |
| imagination than the rest, using body language and a | | | | to convey the message faithfully. And specially the |
| lot of courage was doing this job. It was more a | | | | target language, where the translator has to transmit |
| work of guessing than real understanding. A coding | | | | the small nuance. A good professional translator will |
| and decoding activity was used to get the message | | | | translate to his/her native language or equivalent. |
| across as clearly as possible. The degree of | | | | C) Be familiar with the topic or field being translated. |
| responsibility was also huge. A badly conveyed | | | | The same word could mean something different in |
| message could lead to awful consequences. The | | | | Economics or metallurgy. |
| interpreter was the mediator and had to measure | | | | D) Have some knowledge in computers and modern |
| each word very carefully. His family's fate and his | | | | communication tools. To stay competitive and take |
| own wellbeing would often depend on those words | | | | full advantage of all its benefits. |
| and his capacity to convey the message accurately | | | | E) Have capacity and be ready to learn and adapt to |
| and sensibility. | | | | this fast moving technological world. Never stop |
| The basic activity of the language interpreter and | | | | learning. |
| translator has not changed over time, but the tools, | | | | F) Make all the points clear right from the beginning. |
| means, knowledge and way of working has | | | | Like cost of translation, delivery deadline, translation |
| revolutionized the profession completely. | | | | format, payment conditions, etc. and then feel the |
| Translators and interpreters do not transfer anything | | | | responsibility and HONOR THE AGREEMENT. |
| physical, but information, information that is never | | | | G) The translator should never accept translation |
| measured in Kilograms, but in computer bytes. | | | | work beyond his/her capacity. Accepting impossible |
| Translators can not work as the primitive interpreters | | | | tasks is one of the best ways to loose customers |
| and translators anymore. The professionalism of the | | | | and build a bad reputation. It is hard to build a |
| profession is a must and a necessity. | | | | trustworthy reputation and very easy to loose it. |
| The translator's work is not limited to converting one | | | | Therefore always decline impossible tasks. Better say |
| language into another. The end result has to be | | | | NO than sorry in this case. |
| faithful to the original, nicely presented and | | | | The translator following some of the above advice |
| competitive in price. | | | | will greatly increase the chances to succeed in this |
| In order to achieve this, the professionalism is | | | | borderless profession where competition is fierce. |
| essential, some conditions the translators should meet | | | | Nowadays a translator needs to be more professional |
| are: | | | | that in any other profession. |
| A) Be an upright person to follow a strict professional | | | | A bricklayer or anybody doing physical work will find |
| code of ethics. Translators often come across secret | | | | competitors in his geographical surroundings. But the |
| information; be a new invention, a good business | | | | translator's competitor could be located in the South |
| chance, a company's marketing strategy, etc. The | | | | Pole sending the translated work through the |
| good professional translator would never use this | | | | Internet. That is why professionalism is not a choice |
| information to harm his client. The good professional | | | | but a necessity. |
| translator is intelligent and knows that in the long run, | | | | |