Interview

一篇关于翻译员的采访

Interview 1

Irene is 3 years older than me. She is now studying sociology in Tianjin City, China. She was on her way to be an interpreter. 

Question 1
Me: How did you become interested in being an interpreter?
Irene: Interpreting requires a person to handle both languages very well to do accomplish a task. It’s very challenging for me. Every time I think I can be a bridge between people who can’t understand each other, I will feel very proud that I choose this as my goal.

Question 2
Me: What essential abilities are needed to do your job well?
Irene: Of course you must be good at both Chinese and English. And also you have to understand what the clients are really thinking of. Fluency and accuracy are two fundamental elements for the job and you should find a balance between them. And your voice be stable when you interpret, too.

Question 3
Me: Do you feel hard to compete with many other students who are learning interpreting as their major?
Irene: Indeed it is more challenging for me to spend much time to practice interpreting than those who just choose it as their major, because all they have to do is practicing. But I love sociology, I want to learn more. The knowledge of sociology I’ve learned can make me more competitive when applying for a real job.

Question 4
Me: Describe the typical steps you have to prepare once you have a client.
Irene: First of all you should google the background and knowledge needed to be known for the conference or the speech. Memorizing the key words or technical or professional words and terms before the work begins. Have a good sleep, a proper suit and confident smile when the day comes.

Question 5  
Me: what’s the difference between a translator and an interpreter?
Irene: Translators must pursue accuracy other than oral fluency. They can look up to dictionaries when they are working, while interpreters should respond quickly just after the speaker finishes his words. And by the way, my teacher told me that interpreters are in fact a kind of physical labor. Haha.
Me: Thank you for having this conversation with me! Hope you will succeed in the exam this May.

Interview 2
Jad is a graphic designer. He has been a designer for about five years.

Question 1
Me: How much time do you spend at work?
Jad: It depends. If your client is absolutely satisfied with your work, ok, the whole process will be soon and perfect. But if you can’t get what the client is demanding, it will take a long time to brainstorm and revise again and again until your boss and the client both feel ok.

Question 2
Me: What courses in school or college were especially helpful to you in preparing for this occupation?
Jad: Skills to use softwares like Photoshop or Illustration are important. Besides, I will recommend psychology courses for a student who wants to be a designer. Design is more about seize the emotion of the audience than handling the skills. 

Question 3
Me: What characteristics should a person look for a graphic designer have?
Jad: As I mentioned in the last question. You should be able to look inside, for example, if you are assigned to design a poster of a movie, you should first of all figure out those who will see the poster, what do they want to see, what feeling they are looking for the first glance of the poster. Colors or composition or fonts are after that and if you figure out the first question, they will follow.

Question 4
Me: What is your favourite piece of work?
Jad: It’s hard to say because for every piece of work I dedicated my passion into it. I may find some of them absurd and naïve long time after I finished them, but by the time I completed them I thought they were perfect. Designers need to make progress all along, so I can put it this way that the favourite piece of work is always the one you are design.

Question 5
 Me: What changes do you think are coming for this occupation?
Jad: There are a lot. People nowadays are used to view pictures on cell phones or tablets. The way they look and take in information is not as same as before any more. We designers have to think it over to maximize the effect a picture can post on the audience.

Me: Thank you for sharing you experience and thoughts with me!
Summary
Irene and Jad are my good friends. They are pursuing their own lifestyles via their occupation. From the interview I’ve learned a lot of things.
First of all, you must choose a job based on your own interests. Irene was my junior high school classmate. She was good at both Chinese and English at that time and she continued to excel in these two subjects all the way to the university. She tried to study economics for her bachelor’s degree but that made her miserable. She chose interpreting as her career goal and regained her confidence and passion. Jad is more centered on his great dream to be a outstanding designer. So interest or passion is the first thing you must consider when selecting jobs.
Secondly, occupations often need more knowledge than you’ve learned in class. Before this interview I thought designers would have nothing to do with psychology, or language levels are the only standard of being an interpreter. After asking them questions, I realized that every job needs another angle to see things. Apart from the basic skills, wider sights would also help.
Thirdly, don’t give up learning even after you graduate. For a designer, every year there are difference preferences and trends. If you don’t learn the expression of new styles, your works will gain no applause. Interpreters are memorizing new words for all their lives. But fortunately there’s no specific way to learn something. Reading is one of the methods and you can experience more other ways.
Fourthly, as a freshman in the workplace, respect the seniors but do not follow blindly. Jad told me this is extremely important for those who intend to do innovational jobs. He has experienced several times that his “immature” ideas are proved more striking than the seniors’ “safe choices”. Say your ideas out loud even it would be criticized or laughed at. Every time you express a new idea is a progress.
To conclude, working is hard, but if we work hard it will pay off. To start with enthusiasm, to fight with diligence, to progress with every step forward, you’ll find your life is richened without notice. If I feel confused next time, I think I will interview more of my friends and listen to their story, then I will know different fields have different problems, you can only overcome them by your own efforts.