by Matthew Prisco

Matthew is a senior at Wayne State University majoring in both German and Italian. He has been to many European countries and has a passion for language learning

For the past three months now, I have had the opportunity to do translation work for a regional Italian film commission. Me and a group of three other students were tasked with translating articles and locations from the area (the region of Abruzzo) on their website from Italian to English in a way that any English speaker would be able to read and understand. Through this experience, I found joy translating from a language that I have been studying for almost 4 years of my life now, but it was not without its downsides as well. Here I will be listing a few pros and cons from my experience translating so that you can gauge if it is the type of work for you.

Pros

1. Very satisfying

As someone who has been studying languages for a long time, I found it very satisfying to know that the stuff I have been learning for all these years is worth something. Like anyone when they first try something new, you are not very good at it. This was no exception for me when I started learning Italian. I would hear videos of people communicating in Italian very fast and thought to myself that I will never be like that, but during my three months of translating, not only have I learned new words, I have surprised even myself at how far I have actually come since I started. One word that I learned thanks to seeing it all the time is “scogliera” or “scogliere”, which means “cliff” or “cliffs”. I’ve also come to realize that Italians like to use run-on sentences, so unless you find a point to put a period yourself, the sentence will never end.

2. You can do it on your own time

I can’t speak for all translation projects when I say this, but I was able to work on whatever I wanted whenever I wanted (as long as I finished everything in a timely manner). That allowed me to do other things with my day and not be stressed out over having several deadlines. As long as you set a consistent schedule for yourself and stick to it, everything will work out fine

3. Being able to learn about something you don’t know too much about

The film website I was translating consisted of in-depth descriptions of the locations in the Abruzzo area and news articles for casting and information about upcoming events. In other words, not only did I learn some things about film production itself, but also about the region of Abruzzo. There are a lot of places that tourists probably never go to because they do not know they exist. Now I have more knowledge about the area and a list of places that I would like to check out for myself. One place in particular would be Castello di Roccascalegna which was used as a set in the Matteo Garrone directed film, the Tale of Tales.

Cons

1. Can be a little time consuming

Occasionally, I would come across something that needed to be translated thinking it would only take me about 30 – 45 minutes and the next thing I knew, 2 hours had passed by. Keeping track of time is important. You can be sitting in front of a computer working and not realize how long you have been there. If in this situation, taking breaks and/or leaving stuff for another time is best

2. You are by yourself

I am someone who likes being by myself most of the time, but even I at times felt a bit anxious. Since you are at your work space by yourself, there is no one to talk to. All that’s in front of you is a screen full of words. If you live by yourself, it will be even worse since there will be no background noises either, only silence. So during your break or after you have completed your task, talking to someone or even just exposure to some type of noise would be helpful

3. Repetitive at times

This can probably be said for most forms of work, but it can feel very repetitive at times. Since you have to do this everyday and follow the schedule that you made, and on top of that see the same words and structures everyday, it can feel a little tedious if you don’t switch it up. Possibly changing the time you work or if needed, taking a day off could help combat this, but this downside is hardest to overcome.

The bottom line

Overall, I really enjoyed my time translating and if you are interested in language learning and can overcome some of the cons, I would recommend giving it a try. It is something that I would for sure like to try again sometime in the future.