| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4 5] > | UK MA in Translation Studies Thread poster: Mark Sam
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Lingua 5B 
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 07:16
Member (2009)
Inggris menyang Kroasia
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| Gerard Barry
Germany
Local time: 07:16
Jerman menyang Inggris
Baran Keki wrote:
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
Lol!!! I had no idea Kanaks were competing with your lot (AfD) to take power in the German elections???
Well, at least in that extremely unlikely event you have your green Ireland to go back to 
Germans citizens of Middle Eastern origin tend to vote for the left-wing parties here (Die Linke, SPD, Grüne) and then vote for hard-right, nationalistic, Islamist political parties in their home countries. It's hilarious when you think about it! But as long they don't criticise indigenous Europeans for voting right-wing in their own countries (which would obviously be hypocritical), it doesn't bother me too much.
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Gerard Barry wrote:
Rachel Waddington wrote:
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.
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).
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.
Gerard Barry wrote:
"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.) … you won't find me wanting preferential treatment. Maybe it's time educated, middle-class women also gave up their victim mentality.
I don’t think you understand what diversity officers do or how it all works. There is no preferential treatment. It’s about equal opportunities and unconscious bias. Some aspects of some policies may be questionable, of course, but that goes for everything ever. The idea of a hostile environment for the poor straight white male is an invention of the dog-whistle media.
I too would advise the OP not to bother with an MA, whatever his take on the sorry plight of the beleaguered majority. Not only is the industry clearly in a downward spiral, but these courses are of limited value anyway (I did one, taught on one and hired four translators from one, way back). All you need to get started as a translator with your background is to do some translations and pay a translator to critique what you come up with. Much cheaper and quicker than funding an MA.
But still, I really wouldn’t come into this business for the money, not any more.
| | | | Gerard Barry
Germany
Local time: 07:16
Jerman menyang Inggris
I don’t think you understand what diversity officers do or how it all works. There is no preferential treatment. It’s about equal opportunities and unconscious bias. Some aspects of some policies may be questionable, of course, but that goes for everything ever. The idea of a hostile environment for the poor straight white male is an invention of the dog-whistle media.
Having worked in companies that had diversity officers, equality officers and the like, I understand full well how it all works. DEI (to use the American acronym) is a political ideology. It's about promoting certain groups (women, Blacks, "LGBTQI+", etc.) at the expense of others. And like I said before, there are laws in place to prevent unfair discrimination in hiring and promotion, making such roles completely superfluous.
As for "unconscious bias", I don't think it's any employer's place to "reeducate" their employees about social issues. Furthermore, studies have been done suggesting that unconscious bias training doesn't work and can even have the opposite effect to that which was intended, presumably because people feel resentful at their employer telling them what to think. One reason companies have unconscious bias training is to cover their asses in case someone takes them to court for unfair treatment on the basis of their gender, skin colour, sexual orientation or whatever. The company can then claim that, because everyone at the company has done their unconscious bias training, there can then be no discrimination at the company. It's all laughably cynical and stupid but that's how it is. My second-last employer kind of pushed us to do such a course online. I simply e-mailed in sick that day as I had no intention of participating in any such brainwashing session. It's great to see Trump doing away with wasteful DEI in the public sector in the US. I can think of better ways of spending taxpayers' dollars!
Worthy of mention in this context, too, is how, a couple of years ago, many of these "woke" companies had no problem treating their unvaxxed employees like dirt, including firing us, just because we refused an experimental vaccine that we felt we didn't need. So much for "my body, my choice"!
As for the "poor straight white male", I think you might want to look at statistics on educational attainment among men and boys before being so dismissive in this regard. I remember reading not that long ago that the most underperforming group of pupils in the British education system was white, working-class boys. It never ceases to amaze me how some well-to-do white people think that, because they're doing fine, all other white people must be too. That's a very selfish attitude to have.
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Gerard Barry wrote:
Having worked in companies that had diversity officers ...
What on earth has this got to do with Mark's question about MAs at Portsmouth University? Stop it please.
[Edited at 2025-03-18 12:07 GMT]
| | | | Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 07:16
Member (2020)
Prancis menyang Walanda
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If freelance trolling was a professional niche, you would be rich. I think you must have covered all the chapters in The Great White Supremacist Conspiracy Wacko Far Right Trolling Book by now. And that even with no-one asking you to do that. Impressive!
[Bijgewerkt op 2025-03-18 14:25 GMT]
| | | | Daryo
United Kingdom
Local time: 06:16
Serbia menyang Inggris
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As a general rule, what really helps most is living some time in another country, being immersed in the second language. Preferably while studying.
Next, a good general education, including a university degree in anything but 'Translation Studies'.
Practical experience is few different fields - having some ideas about what's happening 'outside', far away from your computer screen, does make a significant difference.
Could make a longish list of real-... See more As a general rule, what really helps most is living some time in another country, being immersed in the second language. Preferably while studying.
Next, a good general education, including a university degree in anything but 'Translation Studies'.
Practical experience is few different fields - having some ideas about what's happening 'outside', far away from your computer screen, does make a significant difference.
Could make a longish list of real-life cases proving my points again and again, but let's keep it short. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Gerard Barry
Germany
Local time: 07:16
Jerman menyang Inggris
Lieven Malaise wrote:
If freelance trolling was a professional niche, you would be rich. I think you must have covered all the chapters in The Great White Supremacist Conspiracy Wacko Far Right Trolling Book by now. And that even with no-one asking you to do that. Impressive!
[Bijgewerkt op 2025-03-18 14:25 GMT]
It's funny how people like you get upset when people point out the truth about DEI and the like. All you can do then is insult the other person. More and more people are beginning to see through bullshit terms such as "white supremacy", "conspiracy theorist" and "far right". Maybe as a Belgian you suffer from white guilt because of what your ancestors did in the Congo, but being Irish I don't have any complexes in that regard.
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Mark Sam
United Kingdom
Local time: 06:16
Spanyol menyang Inggris
TOPIC STARTER
I appreciate all your constructive replies to my query and the different view points are useful and give me food for thought.
Please keep my thread free of off-topic thoughts and side conversations - start your own threads for those discussions.
Thanks:)
| | | | expressisverbis
Portugal
Local time: 06:16
Member (2015)
Inggris menyang Portugis
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| Exploring translation: my journey and advice | Mar 18 |
As a translator who doesn’t know that specific MA program but does have a BA in Translation (or just as someone who values meaningful communication), it’s disheartening to see language used to provoke rather than to connect. Sorry, I couldn’t help but say this.
That said, I have a BA in Translation (poor me, right? 😊), and from my experience, translation can open doors to many different paths.
That’s why I’m planning to specialize in a combination of Linguistics and Law... See more As a translator who doesn’t know that specific MA program but does have a BA in Translation (or just as someone who values meaningful communication), it’s disheartening to see language used to provoke rather than to connect. Sorry, I couldn’t help but say this.
That said, I have a BA in Translation (poor me, right? 😊), and from my experience, translation can open doors to many different paths.
That’s why I’m planning to specialize in a combination of Linguistics and Law and go back to my 'sweet' university!
If you're passionate about languages and intercultural communication, go for it!
The industry is a bit ill at the moment, but... good things happen because bad things don't last forever 😊 ▲ Collapse
| | | | Daryo
United Kingdom
Local time: 06:16
Serbia menyang Inggris
+ ...
expressisverbis wrote:
As a translator who doesn’t know that specific MA program but does have a BA in Translation (or just as someone who values meaningful communication), it’s disheartening to see language used to provoke rather than to connect. Sorry, I couldn’t help but say this.
That said, I have a BA in Translation (poor me, right? 😊), and from my experience, translation can open doors to many different paths.
That’s why I’m planning to specialize in a combination of Linguistics and Law and go back to my 'sweet' university!
If you're passionate about languages and intercultural communication, go for it!
The industry is a bit ill at the moment, but... good things happen because bad things don't last forever 😊
I have a BA in Translation (poor me, right? 😊) - I wouldn't put it that way. I have university degrees that I practically never had much direct use for, I still loved my time as student.
All I'm saying, you can do without / it's not a make-or-break requirement.
| | | | Gerard Barry
Germany
Local time: 07:16
Jerman menyang Inggris
expressisverbis wrote:
As a translator who doesn’t know that specific MA program but does have a BA in Translation (or just as someone who values meaningful communication), it’s disheartening to see language used to provoke rather than to connect. Sorry, I couldn’t help but say this.
That said, I have a BA in Translation (poor me, right? 😊), and from my experience, translation can open doors to many different paths.
That’s why I’m planning to specialize in a combination of Linguistics and Law and go back to my 'sweet' university!
If you're passionate about languages and intercultural communication, go for it!
The industry is a bit ill at the moment, but... good things happen because bad things don't last forever 😊
Sometimes it's good to provoke people into thinking critically rather than just accepting mainstream propaganda on every single issue. No one has to agree with me. Or do you think that we should only ever say things that others want to hear? That's a bit too "Brave New World" for me.
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Daryo wrote:
expressisverbis wrote:
As a translator who doesn’t know that specific MA program but does have a BA in Translation (or just as someone who values meaningful communication), it’s disheartening to see language used to provoke rather than to connect. Sorry, I couldn’t help but say this.
That said, I have a BA in Translation (poor me, right? 😊), and from my experience, translation can open doors to many different paths.
That’s why I’m planning to specialize in a combination of Linguistics and Law and go back to my 'sweet' university!
If you're passionate about languages and intercultural communication, go for it!
The industry is a bit ill at the moment, but... good things happen because bad things don't last forever 😊
I have a BA in Translation (poor me, right? 😊) - I wouldn't put it that way. I have university degrees that I practically never had much direct use for, I still loved my time as student.
All I'm saying, you can do without / it's not a make-or-break requirement.
IMO, it's always a good thing to study something, to keep your head occupied with absorbing knowledge rather than social media's brain rot or hate speech. Then, as long as you are interested and dedicated to that intellectual grow, the specific subject(s) really might not make a big difference.
Plus, we as translators with a degree (poor us, huh? 😊) are the kind of people that usually keep improving our knowledge and skills continuously. Proz named it Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Continuing Professional Development (CPD) refers to the ongoing activities professionals engage in to develop and enhance their abilities which could include studying.
I think any course is a time invested into improving yourself, so if you have the time, the will (and the money if needed) go for it!
| | | | Baran Keki
Türkiye
Local time: 08:16
Member
Inggris menyang Turki
Gerard Barry wrote:
No one has to agree with me.
Why should people you consider boring agree with you? (well, apart from a couple of like-minded persons perhaps)
And more to the point, having already quit translation and never liked it in the first place, why are you still here?
Don't the AfD have forums of their own where diversity-bashing, right wing toxic white homosexuals like you spew their bullshit?
PS: Apologies to the OP, that's my last post on this thread.
| | | | expressisverbis
Portugal
Local time: 06:16
Member (2015)
Inggris menyang Portugis
+ ...
| My apologies to the OP. | Mar 18 |
Gerard Barry wrote:
expressisverbis wrote:
As a translator who doesn’t know that specific MA program but does have a BA in Translation (or just as someone who values meaningful communication), it’s disheartening to see language used to provoke rather than to connect. Sorry, I couldn’t help but say this.
That said, I have a BA in Translation (poor me, right? 😊), and from my experience, translation can open doors to many different paths.
That’s why I’m planning to specialize in a combination of Linguistics and Law and go back to my 'sweet' university!
If you're passionate about languages and intercultural communication, go for it!
The industry is a bit ill at the moment, but... good things happen because bad things don't last forever 😊
Sometimes it's good to provoke people into thinking critically rather than just accepting mainstream propaganda on every single issue. No one has to agree with me. Or do you think that we should only ever say things that others want to hear? That's a bit too "Brave New World" for me.
Critical thinking is valuable, and no one is saying people shouldn't express their views. But there's a difference between encouraging thoughtful discussion and derailing a conversation with inflammatory remarks.
This thread is about an MA in Translation Studies, and I would rather keep it focused on that.
If you want to debate broader political topics or something alike, this isn't the right place for it.
My apologies to the OP.
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