How to Treat a Translator

So, you are now going to meet a translator for the first time and don’t know how to proceed? It is understandable that the situation can feel a bit daunting. Have no fear! With this guide, you can treat them correctly and both of you can survive the encounter.

How to prepare?

Read this guide. Take a deep breath. Remember to drink water.

What should I say?

Act normally, as if the translator is just like any human being. What would you say to someone else? Consider saying it also in this situation. Adapt if necessary.

Talk about the weather, if nothing else comes to mind. Although the translator has perhaps spent their time indoors working and doesn’t have any first-hand experience of the phenomenon in question. However, they might have encountered it in a translation project.

What shouldn’t I say?

All professions have probably certain clichés they keep on hearing over and over again. So if I tell people I’m a translator, they tend to start talking about translation errors they’ve seen. Surprise: errors made by one’s profession is hardly an ice-breaker. Similarly, I have probably already heard all profession-related jokes you can come up with. So try to come up with another topic of conversation.

Many people don’t know much about what it means to work as a translator today, and translators understand that. So it is not that dangerous to say something that could be considered stupid. Just don’t expect the translator being able to translate just about any word or phrase, especially without a context.

Do I need to use correct grammar?

No – and yes. Translators are experts in knowing that nobody can excel in everything, and your particular field of expertise might be something else than linguistic correctness. They value all fields of expertise equally, since you can never know what you be useful in a translation job. So, if you’re fumbling with correct word forms, it can be compensated by being fluent in special terminology or by recounting how a particular machine works.

However, if you’re trying to impress a translator – say, asking one out for a date – it can never hurt to learn how to use language correctly. Moreover, using language in an interesting, enticing and imaginative way is the best way to a translator’s heart. More about this in an article Guide to Dating a Translator (TBA).

Anything else?

If you’re trying to co-operate with the translator in a work project, remember to treat them equally as a professional. Not someone inferior who doesn’t need to get paid or valued for the work they do. Appreciate them by giving them good conditions to work – time, money, context. It is the way to a translator’s brain.

Difficult encounters can make the translator avoid other people and only socialize with other translators, which is not good for the person nor the society at large. Therefore, it is recommended to read this guide carefully, to keep it at hand and to consult it if a translator appears nearby.