How to choose a sample to translate Thread poster: Susanna Locati
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Hi all, I'd like to apply for a translation job for a small publishing house.
The application form asks me to submit a brief translated sample of original English (from a novel I guess, since it also asks to define its genre and subgenre). Now, where should I take the sample from? One of the novels published by this company? Any novel I know? Legally I don't have the copyright to translate either, and I never translated fiction for work.
Any suggestion is welcome! Than... See more Hi all, I'd like to apply for a translation job for a small publishing house.
The application form asks me to submit a brief translated sample of original English (from a novel I guess, since it also asks to define its genre and subgenre). Now, where should I take the sample from? One of the novels published by this company? Any novel I know? Legally I don't have the copyright to translate either, and I never translated fiction for work.
Any suggestion is welcome! Thanks ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Pick one to show your skills | Apr 19, 2022 |
I'd say pick the genre that appeals to you and that you are confident you can translate well. Among authors, pick the name that actually defines this particular genre in the given language.
Alternatively, choose an author who masterfully creates a mood with just a few words - like, for example, James Thurber, George Orwell or Ernest Hemingway (all of them erstwhile journalists, by the way) - and try to recreate that in your native language.
[Edited at 2022-04-19 10:47 GMT]
| | | | | Pick something that's fun | Apr 27, 2022 |
That way, people will want to read it. A lot of the samples on my website are about sex or chocolate.
Don't worry about copyright - you're not directly using someone else's work for your own commercial gain, and they don't know or care anyway. If you were publishing an unauthorised translation of a Harry Potter novel, that would be a whole different story.
[Edited at 2022-04-27 11:44 GMT]
| | | | Kay Denney 
France
Local time: 13:27
French to English
Don't worry about copyright. Just showing a potential employer what you're capable of is not infringement. Even if you were to publish your translation on a blog, it probably wouldn't matter because you are allowed to publish short excerpts without breaching copyright (not sure how short, but you're not going to publish it anyway).
So as the others have said, I would recommend choosing an excerpt that will show your talents off best. I would choose a passage from an early Salman Ru... See more Don't worry about copyright. Just showing a potential employer what you're capable of is not infringement. Even if you were to publish your translation on a blog, it probably wouldn't matter because you are allowed to publish short excerpts without breaching copyright (not sure how short, but you're not going to publish it anyway).
So as the others have said, I would recommend choosing an excerpt that will show your talents off best. I would choose a passage from an early Salman Rushdie novel: there are paragraphs that read like he swallowed a thesaurus whole and is spitting it out a page at a time, I've always wondered what translators would make of such text. And I love the novels in question, so I'm pretty sure my enthusiasm would shine right through.
If you enjoy literature in a similar vein to what the publisher has already published, yes it would be an excellent idea to translate something like that, the publisher will be able to relate to it very well, and will know whether you hit the sweet spot or not.
Good luck!
[Edited at 2022-04-27 13:32 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Mr. Satan (X)
English to Indonesian
| Re: How to choose a sample to translate | Apr 27, 2022 |
I still would suggest OP to be cautious and take excerpts from books in the public domain or creative commons license instead. Off the top of my head, Project Gutenberg and Internet Archive are some good places to obtain such books.
Although I agree with the others about picking the ones which you can ... See more I still would suggest OP to be cautious and take excerpts from books in the public domain or creative commons license instead. Off the top of my head, Project Gutenberg and Internet Archive are some good places to obtain such books.
Although I agree with the others about picking the ones which you can use to demonstrate your particular translation skill(s). ▲ Collapse
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