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Chapter1
askedtotranslatetextsfromandintotheirforeignlanguagebecausethey
aresociallyexpectedtobeabletodoitandiftheysaytheyarenotableto
produceatranslationtheyfeeltheirknowledgeoftheforeignlanguageis
undermined.Translationasahumanskillissociallyexpectedofpeople
whohaveaccesstotwolanguages.Inconsequence,thetermtranslator
shouldbeabletoencompassarangeofabilities.Inotherwords,atranslator
isneverastableentitybutheorsheisalwayspositionedatsomepointon
thedevelopmentalcontinuumfrombeinganovicetobeingaprofessional.
Although,asobservedbyShreve(1997)eventhetermprofessionaltransla-
torisproblematic,inhisownwords,
I’dlikeatthispointtodispelthenotionthatprofessionaltranslationis
synonymouswitheithergraduationfromtranslationschoolsorthesell-
ingoftranslationservicesontheopenmarket.Intheliterature,thereis
somesignificantconfusionaboutwhatprofessionaltranslation[and
thusprofessionaltranslatoraddedbyme]means(Shreve1997:125).
AsmentionedaboveTranslationStudieshaveprimarilyfocusedonthepro-
fessionaltranslatorbutmuchmorehasbeensaidaboutwhatthetranslator
shouldbelikethanhowonebecomesaprofessionaltranslator.Snell-
Hornby(1992)inherarticle“Theprofessionaltranslatoroftomorrow:lan-
guagespecialistorall-roundexpert”setupveryhighstandardsclaiming
thatthetranslatorshouldratherresemble“theintellectualpolymath,anda
polyglotaswell”.Toquote,“Ourultimateaimistodeveloplatentlinguistic
(andcultural)talentintotheprofessionalcompetenceofanexpert,who,as
aspecialistinthefieldsoflanguage,cultureandcommunication,canwork
asageneralistinagreatmanyareaswheretranslationisrequired”(Snell-
Hornby1992:22).CarryingonSnell-Hornbysays,“obviouslyouryoung
graduatescanatbestbeseenaspotentialexpertsofthiskind,forallwe
know,intheprofessionallifeofatranslatornothingisasvitalasexperi-
ence”.Indeed,theword“experience”hasbecome,andstillisthemagic
word,inthedebateonwhatconstitutesaprofessionaltranslator.However,
ithasneverbeenspecifiedwhatthevitalingredientsofexperiencearefrom
whichtheprofessionaltranslatoremerges.AsobservedbyShreve(1997:
128)iftheassumptionismadethattranslatorslearnfromtheirexperience,
therelevantquestionsarethese:‘Whataretheylearning?’and‘Howare
theylearningit?’Thesequestionsformulated12yearsagoarestillpending
someplausiblesystematicempiricallybasedanswers.Tokeeptellingthe
aspiringtranslatorsthat‘practicemakesperfect’isclearlynotenough.