UK MA in Translation Studies

Lieven Malaise wrote:



I am not exactly thrilled by the documents I'm asked to translate (user manuals, government policies, contracts, laws, public contract specifications etcetera), but I enjoy every minute translating them. It's quite remarkable to choose translation if you think it's a boring job.

Also, opportunities for promotion and even the pay were never considerations when I chose to become a translator (just like I never planned to become a freelancer). I chose something that I enjoyed doing and found interesting, and that's exactly what I recommend my children to do, without even thinking about economical opportunities. Begin with doing what you would like to do, and if it doesn't work out: adapt and do something else.

My oldest son dreams of becoming a truck driver, for several years now. He's now studying supply chain management because I told him it would be ashame not to capitalize on his 6 years of Greek and Latin to get a college degree. But after that I will fully support him, despite the fact that the pay won't be great. Doing something that makes you happy is more important than a high paycheck or career opportunities.

Gerard Barry wrote:
Obviously being happy in your work is important too but let's not deny the reality that we all need money either.

Gerard Barry wrote:
But are truck drivers as badly paid as you're saying?

Lieven Malaise wrote:
My oldest son dreams of becoming a truck driver, for several years now.
The wage of a truck driver or an inhouse translator is more or less pre-determined.

Baran Keki wrote:
I knew that Euro Truck Simulator was a massively popular game in the last decade, but I've known very few people who have taken the game to heart to the extent of making a real career out of it...

Baran Keki wrote:

In the meantime you can take up plumbing. A part time German plumber translator here makes big bucks (or so I've heard).

Lieven Malaise wrote:



Sure, that's why I said that you can always do something else if it doesn't work out. But you shouldn't expect that it won't work out, imo.



I didn't say "bad". In Belgium it would be just over the minimum wage (unless you drive internationally, which is better paid). To be clear: you can live from the minimum wage, it's just "not great". Indeed, like inhouse translators: okay, but not great.

As far as freelancers are concerned: you can't really put them into the equation. The wage of a truck driver or an inhouse translator is more or less pre-determined. Freelancers that continue to work for an income that's basically too low, "choose" to do so. Personally, I wouldn't hesitate to quit the industry if I can't make the money any more that I need to make.

Gerard Barry wrote:
In any case, I always find it disappointing how some jobs with such limited benefit for society (let's take "diversity officers" in companies or government bodies as just one extreme example) are often better paid than jobs that provide real practical value to society.

Rachel Waddington wrote:



I can see that they may not have many benefits for you personally. If you belonged to a group that gets discriminated against, you might feel differently.

This is taking us a long way off the original topic though (actually, nearly all of the posts are off topic in relation to the original question).

Gerard Barry wrote:



And tell us, Rachel, which groups get discriminated against? It's rhetorical question, of course. I know the answer will be "women, non-white people, gays, etc." Quite apart from the fact that this isn't the case (at least not on a large scale), most countries (well, Western countries at any rate, non-Western countries don't do "wokeness") have laws in place preventing discrimination, which means anyone who feels they unfairly missed out on a job or a promotion can go to court, which means that "diversity officers" and the like are completely superfluous, and a waste of taxpayers' money in the case of government bodies. If anything, they do harm by a) potentially hiring or promoting underqualified staff on the basis of gender, skin colour, etc. rather than merit and b) creating a hostile working environment for "straight, white men" who are almost second-class employees in some companies nowadays. Such identity politics has no place in the workplace and often just annoys people. (It's also an American import.) Furthermore, many companies who push this DEI nonsense don't even practice what they preach. My second-last employer was a case in point. Although they loved to proclaim how much they valued "diversity", there were precious few black employees in the company (even in their British and American offices). In other words, it was all show. I sometimes felt like telling some of the white, male lawyers that if they really valued "diversity" (which apparently they did), why not vacate their position and give it to a woman, a black person or whatever. Fat chance of that ever happening!

PS: I happen to be gay myself and thus belong to one of the groups that are apparently so hard done by, yet you won't find me wanting preferential treatment. Maybe it's time educated, middle-class women also gave up their victim mentality.

Rachel Waddington wrote:



Forum rule 4: Replies should not stray from the posted topic.
When responding to a topic, stick to the topic as introduced. To change the discussion, it is necessary to post a new topic.

Gerard Barry wrote:
I felt irritated by this statement and wanted to respond.

Baran Keki wrote:


When the Queerdenkers come to power in Germany, all those unnecessary posts will be abolished. Kanaks and women will be let go.

Dan Lucas wrote:

Well, that escalated quickly

Gerard Barry wrote:
When the "Kanaks" (your choice of words, not mine) come to power in Germany, women and gays (like me) won't know what struck them