Guest guest Posted July 9, 2005 Report Share Posted July 9, 2005 Hello - I'm a student in my 3rd year, and I've just returned from a month of study in Hangzhou. My experience there shifted everything for me and I'm considering a move to Shanghai or Hangzhou next year for the Doctoral program. My question is this: How in depth an endeavor is it to learn to translate Chinese well enough for English publication, and could I expect to earn a good wage for those translations? It seems to me that there is so much research being done in China and we're only getting a fraction of it in English. Just wondering what people's thoughts are on this subject... Thanks, Sean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 14, 2005 Report Share Posted July 14, 2005 , " sean_michael_hall " <sean_michael_hall> wrote: > Hello - > > I'm a student in my 3rd year, and I've just returned from a month of study in Hangzhou. > My experience there shifted everything for me and I'm considering a move to Shanghai or > Hangzhou next year for the Doctoral program. My question is this: > How in depth an endeavor is it to learn to translate Chinese well enough for English > publication, and could I expect to earn a good wage for those translations? It seems to me > that there is so much research being done in China and we're only getting a fraction of it > in English. Just wondering what people's thoughts are on this subject... Writers generally earn very little money but generally find satisfaction in their work. Translation of Chinese medicine is much easier if one is well versed in professional English terminology for Chinese medicine. If one is familiar with works that consistently use traceable terminology in English, one can more easily master the range of words seen in most modern Chinese medical literature. It will all appear familiar and the concepts will be consistent. Basically, all it takes to translate is a solid foundation in Chinese medicine and time to acquire the language. Chinese takes several years to learn well, but it is a fun process and the Chinese are very friendly. Immersion and intensive study at first are key. If you want to write publishable work, your work will be much more well-received academically if it is based on a defensible translation methodology. Academic submissions such as journal articles that you write are rarely paid. Nobody really gets paid hourly to translate a big book. People make very little money translating professional-level CM books because the books have a small market. But if your Chinese is good then you can often get paid to do various other things. For example, Chinese doctors will pay you hourly to translate their journal articles, etc. Nobody writes for the money. People write because they like to be in constant contact with learning new things. Chinese is easy to learn if you like learning new things all the time. It greatly expands one's horizons in the world of Chinese medicine. Eric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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