roddy Posted March 21, 2011 at 08:54 AM Report Share Posted March 21, 2011 at 08:54 AM 'Course, that doesn't mean your other career has to be something you hate. If you want to have a sideline as a racing car driver, that's also good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny同志 Posted March 21, 2011 at 09:24 AM Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2011 at 09:24 AM Yeah, you're right, Roddy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studychinese Posted March 21, 2011 at 12:55 PM Report Share Posted March 21, 2011 at 12:55 PM Prove that you can make more money than a teacher doing something else and your father will be forced to approve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian US Posted March 21, 2011 at 01:18 PM Report Share Posted March 21, 2011 at 01:18 PM Prove that you can make more money than a teacher doing something else and your father will be forced to approve. Others have already mentioned teaching or government work is stable and brings a steady paycheck. Some government employees in America get money after they retire. They stop working but the government keeps paying them, something called a pension??? I don't fully understand it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lu Posted March 21, 2011 at 01:56 PM Report Share Posted March 21, 2011 at 01:56 PM You don't know what a pension is? May I suggest a dictionary and perhaps wikipedia? Kennywoo, any chance you can just nod & agree with your father that yes, teaching is a good secure job, but unfortunately you have this really pressing other job you really need to finish first, but after that you'll really look into a good teaching job? Actually other suggestions were much better, nevermind. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted March 21, 2011 at 02:35 PM Report Share Posted March 21, 2011 at 02:35 PM I think the point Brian is trying to make (don't worry Brian, I mess up a lot of my points too) is that his dad doesn't want him to be a teacher because he'll get rich, he wants him to be a teacher because he thinks it's a stable steady job with decent benefits, such as a pension. New idea: "Dad, I've decided you're right, I'll be a teacher. Look, I've found this great opportunity in Gansu, 400Y a month and . . . " 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yonglin Posted March 21, 2011 at 04:41 PM Report Share Posted March 21, 2011 at 04:41 PM It has always been my idea that few non-natives can do CE translation independently and that a translation done by a non-native must be proofread by a native professional before its publication. I will consider such job openings if they have one or more native proofreaders. I think you're right in principle. You're assuming, however, that we're striving for absolute perfection in every single translation task. In real life, this would not be cost effective, and the extent to which this is actually done depends on the intended use and audience of the text. Large-scale advertising campaign? Sure. Literature? Sure. Instructions manual for specialized machine tool? Perhaps. A report for internal use in a company? Probably not. The higher the relative cost of an English proofreader to a Chinese translator, the more likely the proofreading stage will be skipped. In fact, I think this is true when it comes to written documentation in every aspect of life. For example, I'm working/studying at a university in an English-speaking country where the majority of professors are non-native English speakers. In general, lecture slides and rough paper drafts prepared by these scholars have a significant number of grammatical mistakes and spelling errors. However, since the discipline is kind of technical, the language being "absolutely correct" is at most a second order concern -- the main objective is to "get the point across". For actual paper submissions, these individuals will obviously make more of a directed effort at minimizing errors, hire editors, etc. In an ideal world, you could argue that this effort should be exerted for every piece of writing, but this is simply not feasible. This phenomenon is not limited to non-native speakers, either. Many of my students with English as their native language write terribly. Nonetheless, these students still end up getting pretty good jobs that presumably require them to write things occassionally. I see this as pretty good evidence that employers/businesses generally don't strive for perfection in every writing task. I guess my point was that there is no a priori reason to turn down translation jobs for companies which do not hire native proofreaders. It depends on the task. The world is not ideal. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny同志 Posted March 22, 2011 at 06:46 AM Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 at 06:46 AM Thank you everyone. I think I know what to do now. @Yonglin What you said makes a lot of sense, however, I am an irretrievable perfectionist, so I might be focusing on academic translation which demands near-perfect quality. New idea: "Dad, I've decided you're right, I'll be a teacher. Look, I've found this great opportunity in Gansu, 400Y a month and . . . " My Dad would be mad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pancake Posted March 22, 2011 at 08:28 AM Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 at 08:28 AM [...] I am an irretrievable perfectionist [...] I'm not a native speaker myself, but irretrievable can't be used like this as far as I know. Perhaps you were thinking of irredeemable or even consummate. Back on topic: it's your life, and your dad should not get to make a Big Decision like this for you. Man up and tell him no. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny同志 Posted March 22, 2011 at 09:11 AM Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 at 09:11 AM Thank you for pointing that out, Pancake. I appreciate it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lu Posted March 22, 2011 at 01:12 PM Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 at 01:12 PM New idea:"Dad, I've decided you're right, I'll be a teacher. Look, I've found this great opportunity in Gansu, 400Y a month and . . . " My Dad would be mad. I think that's the idea :-) This is another version of the laowai girlfriend. After your dad has fumed over this a bit, you can introduce another job, not teaching unfortunately and you know how much dad wants you to be a teacher, but look this editing job actually pays a lot better... maybe you should consider it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylee Posted March 22, 2011 at 02:02 PM Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 at 02:02 PM Does your father insist that you become a teacher, or that you don't become a translator? What if you decide to be a businessman and make some good money? Would he object to this? The world is so big and there are so many different types of work. Must it be a teaching job? PS - Do you need to have some qualifications (like an education degree or a post-graduate certifcate in education) to be able to have a teaching job? If you don't have such qualifications / fail in those examinations, then you can't be a teacher, etc? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny同志 Posted March 24, 2011 at 09:37 AM Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2011 at 09:37 AM Thank you, Lu and Skylee. I was working on a translation project, so sorry for my delayed reply. It seems that my Dad has been more concerned about job security over pay. The reason he doesn’t approve my idea of becoming a translator is that the profession promises no stable income (and perhaps a pension after retirement, as he once mentioned). When there’s no assignment, I will have to turn to my savings or to starve. It’s not that other kinds of jobs are not possible, but as I said in my earlier posts, I want to do what I enjoying doing. Being a teacher in a public school is unimaginable to me because then in order to get a higher 职称, I will have to grind out useless papers, 送礼 to my superiors, and take countless absurd meaningless tests/exams that aim to promote the examinees’ “思想” or to serve other ridiculous purposes, all of these I detest most. While it’s my obligation to support my parents when they get older, I should be given the right to pursue things I love. If my Dad continues to insist on my being a teacher (of a public school) or 公务员 or that kind of thing, I will have no other options but to disobey him. But of course, I’ll fulfill my obligation to him and my mother. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbradfor Posted March 24, 2011 at 03:18 PM Report Share Posted March 24, 2011 at 03:18 PM Are there any translator jobs that provide more job security? e.g. rather than being a freelance translator, is there full-time work at a company? It might not be exactly what you want, but it may make your father happier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny同志 Posted March 25, 2011 at 02:37 AM Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2011 at 02:37 AM Thank you, Jbradfor. I will consider being a full-time translator if the pay's reasonable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anonymoose Posted April 28, 2012 at 06:03 AM Report Share Posted April 28, 2012 at 06:03 AM So how did you handle this situation? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny同志 Posted April 28, 2012 at 06:18 AM Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2012 at 06:18 AM I didn't really handle it. I just told my parents I wanted to do something else. They would still like me to be a teacher, but I am just doing translating and editing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lu Posted April 30, 2012 at 12:40 PM Report Share Posted April 30, 2012 at 12:40 PM Perhaps you can look into ways to make your freelancing more stable? I have no idea how this works in China (and only very faint ideas on how this works back home), but perhaps you can save into a pension fund? start a company and give yourself a steady salary to improve your reliability to the bank? stuff like that? Could be your parents are also worried about what happens to them if you can't take care of them in their old age... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny同志 Posted May 1, 2012 at 01:18 AM Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2012 at 01:18 AM Many thanks for your suggestions and reminders, Lu. I have the concerns mentioned in your post. I am thinking about looking for an on-site job and freelancing only on the side. Working in an isolated environment isn’t good for a man of my age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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