| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Poll: Have you have accomplished all your goals as a translator/interpreter? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Have you have accomplished all your goals as a translator/interpreter?".
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| | | | Rosa Grau (X)
Spain
Local time: 13:16
English to Catalan
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Are we supposed to have goals?
| | | | Susanna Martoni 
Italy
Local time: 13:16
Member (2009)
Spanish to Italian
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| All our goals? | Dec 8, 2011 |
Are we supposed to accomplish any supposed goal in our life and in our profession?
Impossible!
And a goal may be essential for me and unuseful for someone else...
| | | | Sarah Brodacz
Local time: 13:16
Member (2010)
English to German
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| Goals or wishes? | Dec 8, 2011 |
I guess, as a translator, one of my professional goals is to deliver translations to the satisfaction of the respective customer. However, this is not a goal I define for myself but rather a goal which should actually not have to be expressly mentioned.
One of my personal goals as a translator is to translate a book. However, if I should never get to translate a book, I would not regard this as a failure, so I would rather call this a wish or dream than a goal.
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Interlangue (X)
Angola
Local time: 13:16
English to French
+ ...
I will be able to answer that question only after I retire... Goals change with time and are an ongoing process, aren't they?
| | | | | I totally agree with Interlangue ! | Dec 8, 2011 |
And, in my opinion, this is true for many other activities !!
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I have given up on one of my goals, which was to be a Danish State Authorized Translator.
The rules go back several hundred years, to ensure that only suitably qualified persons were granted that status, and at present it means taking one of a limited range of MA courses. This excludes large numbers of otherwise well-qualified people who trained in other countries, as well as many Danes.
Otherwise I reckon goals are there to be achieved, and so far I have achieved most... See more I have given up on one of my goals, which was to be a Danish State Authorized Translator.
The rules go back several hundred years, to ensure that only suitably qualified persons were granted that status, and at present it means taking one of a limited range of MA courses. This excludes large numbers of otherwise well-qualified people who trained in other countries, as well as many Danes.
Otherwise I reckon goals are there to be achieved, and so far I have achieved most of them. But like Interlangue, ask me again when I retire! ▲ Collapse
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 13:16
Spanish to English
+ ...
Rosa Grau wrote:
Are we supposed to have goals?
Rosa has saved me the bother of my usual rant. Goals are what I sit back and relax with after a long day translating - or suffer with in the case of Chelsea-Valencia last Tuesday!
"The best laid schemes of mice and men..." (R. Burns)
I developed an aversion to goal-setting during my TEFLA course in the 90s, where we had to set our objectives in detail before doing anything at all. I find this type of (perfectly valid) methodology rather restrictive, since my own usual approach to work and life in general (if left to my own devices) is to just dive in and do the thing, then sort out the mess at the end of the initial phase or draft. It works fine for me but doesn't always fit in with more organised (or sensible) ways of doing things, so I'm not recommending it. Just saying.
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Parrot
Spain
Local time: 13:16
Spanish to English
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I'm sure I'll make up more. It's what keeps me going.
| | | | samah A. fattah
Egypt
Local time: 14:16
Member (2009)
English to Arabic
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Hello
My goal : I want to own my translation agency with my on line translation software with a large team of Translators!
Samah
| | | | | we are not supposed accomplish our goals... | Dec 8, 2011 |
but to push them farther away, when are approaching them!
Parrot wrote:
I'm sure I'll make up more. It's what keeps me going.
This is also my point of view.
Regards from Punta del Este,
Laura
| | | | Patricia Charnet
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:16
Member (2009)
English to French
our goals or wishes always change with time, and due to our nature as translators/interpreters to always seek further self and professional improvement and betterment, I think we'll still be improving and searching for further improvement over time - a bit our Holy Grail translation-wise so I also agree with Interlangue
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| It's been a good year for goals | Dec 8, 2011 |
This year I've been playing a social fitness "game" called Health Month with a large team of people from another site I frequent. Even though a lot of the standard goals are fitness-related (you can set yourself monthly goals to limit calories or sugar, exercise, even just to brush your teeth or take a vitamin every day!), you can also set up custom goals to suit your needs. I've built up a few goals over the 9 months that I've been playing that have made a difference in my translation business,... See more This year I've been playing a social fitness "game" called Health Month with a large team of people from another site I frequent. Even though a lot of the standard goals are fitness-related (you can set yourself monthly goals to limit calories or sugar, exercise, even just to brush your teeth or take a vitamin every day!), you can also set up custom goals to suit your needs. I've built up a few goals over the 9 months that I've been playing that have made a difference in my translation business, such as slowly rolling back the start of my workday, gradually cutting back on "recreational" Internet usage, and setting aside 15 minutes a day to work on billing.
The end result has been a significant improvement in productivity (I've "reclaimed" at least an hour of actual working hours each day by cutting back on recreational Internet use) and better cash flow.
In the coming year, I think I may add some goals to my game that are language-related, such as setting aside a little time each day to work on speaking/listening skills in my languages: my Spanish speaking skills are pretty atrophied, and my Portuguese speaking skills are abysmal! ▲ Collapse
| | | | | My Goal Is An Advanced Degree | Dec 8, 2011 |
My goal at this point, although several of my book translations have already been published, is to earn an advanced degree in literary translation.
The problem is there is no such program anywhere within a reasonable distance from my home, and of such programs available, none of them are online. That doesn't make much sense to me since translation, freelance anyway (which is what I am), is such an online activity.
| | | | Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 07:16
English to Spanish
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| Small goals lead to big goals | Dec 8, 2011 |
Interlangue wrote:
I will be able to answer that question only after I retire... Goals change with time and are an ongoing process, aren't they?
That's a bit of a contradiction in this statement, isn't it? It is important to review and assess our goals because they change with time. So, why wait until we retire?
A goal may be a decision or a plan. The difference lies in the execution. We may carry out a plan (go to a new trade show, for example) or choose not to due to some unforeseen circumstance or change of priority. A decision's advantage is in its executive nature. I may decide to go back to college in 3 years' time and eventually do it. A goal that is actually a decision is a powerful motivator.
However, if we wish to have better clients, or charge a higher rate, or learn a new language, it's just a wish, not a goal, unless we back it up with a plan or actions. Sometimes it takes us a long time to go from wish to goal to execution, but we have to start somewhere.
There is a time for preparation (wishing, planning, deciding) and a time for execution. Where are really we right now?
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