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How to reinforce the translation sector
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obviously the amount of their remuneration, which forces them to combine several activities. As regards their complementary activities, literary translators in France are divided between teachers and lecturers (31%); authors, employees and self-employed in the book, culture, communication and press sectors (30%); technical, audiovisual, specialised translators and interpreters (45%); and others (4%).(6) This situation should definitely be taken into account when training new translators:
one potential way for them to engage more fully in the job of translator only is to have a combination of several languages (e.g., one ‘big’ and one or several ‘lesser used’) in order to secure a more stable flow of commissions in this sector, in which skills should be constantly polished through regular, not occasional, work. In order to attract talent to the field of literary translation in the future, it is necessary to invest in early-stage education in order to develop vocational passion for the profession, and to build intrinsically valuable skills.
01.1 | Primary and secondary education – building cultural and linguistic awareness CHILDREN SHOULD BE EXPOSED TO OTHER LANGUAGES AT AN EARLY STAGE Translation as a profession (and particularly literary translation in the creative sector) is, by definition, based on an enthusiasm for languages and other cultures, and an acute awareness of their diversity and differences. Such ‘linguistic and cultural awareness’, as it could be described, can be acquired progressively from a very young age and can encourage the emergence of future linguistic vocations. This awareness also promotes tolerance between cultural groups, contributes to the development of social cohesion on the basis of mutual understanding and respect, and facilitates the effective integration of populations of foreign origin in both public and private spheres. Until a child is exposed to languages other than their mother tongue, they do not know that they are speaking ‘a language’; they are simply speaking. As philosopher Barbara Cassin said,
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‘one must speak more than one language to know that one already speaks one’. The importance of exposing children to the diversity of languages, as many successful educational programmes do, cannot be exaggerated, and this exposure can extend to learning the rudiments of one or more other languages. Many reports have shown that the most appropriate starting point for a multilingual education policy with lasting and profound effects is pre-school education, when children are most open to assimilating new information, skills and abilities. The Council of the European Union’s 2019 recommendation (7) on a comprehensive approach to the teaching and learning of languages sets the ambitious goal of ensuring that, by the time young people leave upper secondary education, they can speak at least three languages. This is why one of the main recommendations made by the experts of this OMC group is to encourage the education systems of EU Member States to promote, through appropriate educational policies, the emergence of ‘linguistic and cultural awareness’.
The survey totals more than 100% because certain respondents declared more than one extra activity. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?toc=OJ%3AC%3A2019%3A189%3ATOC&uri=uriserv%3AOJ.C_.2019.189.01.0015.01.ENG
