How Translators Overcome The Intermediate Plateau By Writing

Summary: Translators need to have a high level of proficiency in their languages. To achieve this, we do different writing exercises that help us overcome the intermediate plateau and elevate our expression. For instance, we translate texts into a foreign language, reproducing content we consume or write essays about certain topics.

In order to become a translator, it’s not enough to speak 2 languages. We have to be experts in both of them. Let me explain why:

A text is not just a bunch of words – it’s a piece of work designed to convey a message. And this message is expressed by deliberate stylistic decisions, using nuances, allusions, tone and emotions. As translators, we have to grasp all of that and rewrite it, using the same voice but a different language.

And this requires an incomparably high level of proficiency, both in language and in writing.

So, how do we achieve this high level of proficiency?

While it’s true that some of us grew up bilingually, many of us – me included – didn’t. But growing up bilingually alone doesn’t automatically mean that you’re an expert in both of your mother tongues. Reaching proficiency takes a lot more than that.

Our translators’ training is designed to get us there. During those several years of preparing to become a translator, we apply different tools to activate, improve and refine our language skills. And they all have to do with writing!

Because for translators, language learning and writing are intertwined.

Here are 3 kinds of writing exercises we apply to master a language – and that you can apply, too!

1. Grab A Text In Your Mother Tongue And Translate A Passage Into Your Target Language

This is hard. Translators would never translate into a language that’s not their mother tongue because we just can’t achieve this natural feel for the language.

But it’s an insanely efficient exercise.

What is it about?

See translating into your source language as a form of writing with a very accurate template. Translation is a very meticulous process because it’s about conveying every single part of a sentence.

What does it do?

Translating into a foreign language provides you with new structures and frameworks that help you express your ideas more easily and accurately. Here’s why:

Speaking is a fast process. We go for the first option that comes to our mind because we want to keep the conversation flowing. However, that often makes us go for the patterns we’ve already internalized. We tend to stay in our comfort zone. We might stick to easy sentences and the same subject-object-verb construction.

Translating a text into your source language, however, might require us to use some more complex structures.

It might confront of with the fact that we don’t know how to express certain sentence patterns, such as:

  • The more …the faster
  • As … happens, … changes.
  • This goes beyond…
  • While … does this, the other does …

If we consciously try to use such new sentence patterns, we’re stepping out of our comfort zone, internalizing more complex and accurate structures that will help us:

  • express our ideas more precisely in conversations, sounding more sophisticated
  • improve our comprehension for texts/ audios like the news, articles, books

2) Follow Your Interests And Reproduce That Content In Another Language From Scratch

Translators are not only language and writing experts – we also need some comprehensive background knowledge in certain topics, so we specialize in a certain field of expertise. In my case, that was business.

In our training, we get classes in that field of expertise, both in our native and in our target language. We learn about new topics in our foreign language and then have to talk and write about it.

Read here why it’s important to connect language learning with something you like:

What is it about?

This is completely different to translating texts into the source language. While translation is about accuracy, this is about absorbing input and briefly reproducing it that same language from scratch, as freely and naturally as we can. By being exposed to that content before, we’re automatically using the new vocabulary and structures.

You can, for example, grab a book you’re interested in, read a chapter and write a brief summary of 2-3 sentences, using some words together with those used in that content.

What does it do?

Absorbing and reproducing content is actually the way children learn a language. Consuming foreign content and immediately reproducing it in that same language is a great tool to express yourself naturally on a high level. After taking business classes in Spanish, I sometimes even felt that I could explain some concepts better in Spanish than in my native language.

  • That way, you will acquire new words naturally and not based on an equivalent in your mother tongue
  • Studies have shown that explaining and summarizing things in your own words will boost your chance to retain what you’ve learned, compared to when only reading or writing

3) Write Essays About What Sparks Your Curiosity & Create A Language Database

Essays play an essential role for translators when overcoming the intermediate plateau. They’re also a part of the translators’ state exam: During the last 2 years of the training, we had to learn about the history and current issues about a culture and then write essays about that.

How does this work?

Sitting in front of a blank page about to write our first text can be quite overwhelming. We might not know where to start. That’s why it’s important to “warm up” our brain, feed it with some input and get it into the mood.

So, before writing an actual essay, we need to get some background information and some inspiration about what to write about. In our translators’ training, we did this by reading a lot of related texts about a certain topic.

After absorbing all this information, we can collect

  • the most important cornerstones
  • the commonly used expressions about a topic

and get started!

In the writing process, you will come across elements you might not be able to express yet in your language: Connectors, strong adjectives, transitions words, etc. But no worries, just write as you can, and later, when editing, you can look them up and add them!

What does it do?

Writing longer texts is an insanely effective tool to elevate your expression, expand your vocabulary and improve the way you explain how things relate to each other – which, in the end, will boost your fluency in conversations!

Here’s my pro tip: As your write and edit, create a database, like a word document or an excel table where you collect commonly used words, such as transition words, expressive adjectives, ways to describe trends etc.

By doing that, you’re creating a linguistic toolbox that you can come back to and expand as you’re improving your skills.

Writing is truly a great tool for translators to overcome the intermediate plateau, but don’t worry if you’re still a beginner or intermediate! You don’t have to write 1000-word-essays or talk about economics. Just go for what’s on your mind right now and give it a try!

Read more about language learning here: