Please share your experience in professional English translation.
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Now that the domestic market is further opening up, there are more and more opportunities to get involved in foreign projects. Please share your experience in professional English translation, especially the process from entry to proficiency. Of course, you need to explain your major.
I am actually very afraid of professional English! I once had the experience of translating information. At that time, a new compressor was installed on the installation, and all the information was in English. It happened that I had just been transferred to that workshop, and the leader thought that my English was not bad, so he asked me to translate it and compile a Chinese operating procedure. As a result, I borrowed many professional dictionaries and consulted many experts, and it took me more than a month to come up with a decent first draft. Now that I think about it, it feels really uncomfortable to be “rushed to the shelves”! :L
There was an electrochemical instrument (200,000 yuan) in the laboratory where I was born in polymer chemistry. My colleagues flipped through it and it was almost unreadable. I was asked to translate the instructions again, so I had to go back to the professional textbooks and use Google Translate and cterm technology dictionary. It took a long time to get it done. The key is still to have a good foundation in English + read professional books to understand the framework and professional vocabulary.
Professional translation is essentially technical communication. When I first started working, my boss gave me an English diesel engine manual for translation. I was not a mechanical major, so I had to translate it. Occasionally I read Dudu this year, and when I looked at the things I translated many years ago, I felt that they were a pile of waste paper. But if I were asked to translate again now, I think I would refuse, because translation without a professional foundation is destined to be very bad.
The most important thing for a professional translator is to understand the profession. I am a mechanical manufacturing major, but I have been engaged in pressure vessel design and manufacturing. After translating and reading articles on this topic, I feel that there is no big problem.
I majored in polymer materials and worked in chemical engineering. Fortunately, I have always liked English and have a good foundation. Combined with relevant professional knowledge, I feel that there is no big problem. Translating mechanical information is more difficult. So professional foundation is the key. Of course, my advantage in English also gave me the opportunity to accumulate work experience in an engineering company in the United States.