全球化促使翻译员人数激增

Globalization Drives Translator Boom

在华盛顿—-翻译是一个高风险，交付期限短，客人要求多，充满危险的行业。任何一些交谈中的错误都可能会造成一次极大的财务损失甚至是亏空。这行中的一些人在战乱地区工作，而另一些人则在舒适的家中或者办公室中工作。

WASHINGTON — it is a high-stakes,multibillion-dollar industry with tight deadlines, demanding clients and lives at risk. Any miscommunication could cause a deep financial loss or death, and some in the industry work in war zones while others have cozy home offices.

“这行风险很大”55岁的Lillian Clementi 说，“压力也很大。”

“The stakes can be huge,” said Lillian Clementi, 55. “There’s tons of time pressure.”

这种生意就是语言服务。它在快速增长。

The business is language. And it’s booming.

在过去十年中，笔译与口译的人数翻了一番。然而，无论是在金融危机之前还是之后，他们的薪资都一直在稳步上升。根据劳动部介绍，在2012年到2022年的这十年中，语言类的工作岗位将增加46%，这使得它成为了全国发展最快的职业之一。

The number of jobs for translators and interpreters doubled in the past 10 years while their wages steadily grew before, during and after the recession. Jobs are expected to grow 46 percent between 2012 and 2022 according to the Labor Department, making it one of the nation’s fastest growing occupations.

在整个劳动市场的工资都比较低的时期，拥有五万个岗位的语言服务行业是整个劳动市场的亮点。

During a period of stagnating wages across the labor market, the language-service industry with its 50,000 jobs is a bright spot in the jobs outlook.

Clementi 是一位在她弗吉尼亚州阿灵顿家中工作的，商务通信领域的法语翻译员。Clementi 的交稿期限一般都很紧迫。

Clementi is a French translator who works in corporate communications from her home in Arlington, Va. Clementi is routinely on tight deadlines to submit translated material.

Clementi 之前的一个客户是一家法国公司。 他们一般是在法国那边快要下班的时候（这时东海岸大概是中午）才把需要翻译的法律文件交给她。Clementi 把那些文件翻译出来并通过邮件传给在澳大利亚的另一位译员去校对。然后，在那家公司第二天在巴黎开门前，由澳大利亚的翻译人员把校对好的文件发回法国。

One of Clementi’s former clients, a French company, routinely sent her legal documents to translate at the end of France’s workday – about midday on the East Coast. Clementi translated the material and emailed it to another translator in Australia to double-check it. Then the Australian translator sent the translated documents back to France before the company’s offices opened the next day in Paris.

“这才是真正的全球化。”把法语翻译成英语的Clementi 说“这种现象在这个行业一直存在。”

“It had literally gone around the globe,” said Clementi, who translates French into English. “This has been going on forever in this industry.”

在一些情况下，准确的笔译和口译是至关重要的。如果一种医疗设备的用户使用指南翻译地不好，在紧急的时候，它可能会使人陷入混乱。在冲突地区的士兵需要通过优秀的口译人员来与当地人进行交流。任何语气或者背景的改变都可能使士兵处于危险之中。

In some cases, a proper translation or interpretation is vital. If a user’s manual for medical equipment is not translated well, it could lead to confusion during an emergency. Soldiers inconflict areas require excellent interpreters to speak with community members.Any change of tone or context could put lives at risk.

专家说，在越来越全球化的经济环境中，笔译和口译对国家经济衰退的免疫力使得对能说多种语言的人的需求激增。

Translators’ and interpreters’ relative immunity to the nation’s economic down turn also highlights the growing demand for multilingual speakers in an increasingly globalized economy, experts said.

“如果某一领域的好的翻译员在该领域表现出色，那么他就能拿到六位数的年薪。”美国翻译协会的发言人 Jiri Stejskal 说。“专业的笔译与口译人员现在应该很开心。因为现在经济形势一片大好，工作需求大。”

“Good translators who specialize in aparticular subject and become really good at it can really make six-digitfigures annually,” said Jiri Stejskal, spokesman for the AmericanTranslators Association. “The professional translators and interpreters… they are pretty happy right now because the economy is good and the jobs are there.”

据波士顿的一家市场调查公司 Common Sense Advisory 调查，全世界语言服务行业，包括技术语言服务，今年的估值预计达到372亿美元。这比2013年增长了6.2%。 Common Sense Advisory 预计这个行业的估值在2018年将达到470亿美元。

The estimated value of the language-service industry worldwide, including technology language services, this year will be about $37.2 billion, according to Common Sense Advisory, a market research firmin Boston. That’s a 6.2 percent increase from 2013. Common Sense Advisory predicts the industry will be worth $47 billion by 2018.

跨国公司，美国人口的变化以及网络经济使得我们对翻译信息以及本地化信息的需求增加。公司越来越想自己的东西能够被翻译成某个国家的语言，甚至是某个地区的方言。比如，伦敦的“trousers”一词和迈阿密的“pants”一词的意义相同。当然，像“pop”，“soda”这类词，在不同的环境和地区中，有着不同的意义。

Multinational corporations, U.S.demographic changes and the Internet economy raise the need for translated and localized information. Companies increasingly want their content tailored to the tongue of the town, even between dialects of the same language. For instance, trousers in London are pants in Miami. And of course, words like pop and soda can vary by the neighborhood or region.

“越来越多的人加入经济全球化使得贸易量增加。这使得我们对语言服务的需求也在增加。”国家委员会语言与国际研究中心在华盛顿地区的常务理事Bill Rivers 这样说道。

“As more people have access to the worldwide economy, that’s going to drive more commerce, and that’s going to drive more language services,” said Bill Rivers, executive director of the National Council for Language and International Studies in the Washington region.

据劳动部的分支机构，职业就业统计中心介绍，从事笔译和口译的人数将会从2004年的25000增加到2012年的50000。职业就业统计中心表示这还没包括那些自由职业者。

The number of translator and interpreter jobs went from about 25,000 to 50,000 between 2004 and 2012, according to Occupational Employment Statistics, a Labor Department subsidiary. The OES figures do not include self-employed workers.

但是另一个劳动部的调查，就业计划统计了这个行业自由职业者的数量。总而言之，去年十二月的就业计划显示，2012年全国总共有63000名口笔译人员。

But another Labor Department survey,Employment Projections, counts self-employed workers. Altogether, there were over 63,000 translators and interpreters in 2012, Employment Projections reported last December.

十五年前，刚从事自由翻译这个职位的时候，Ted Wozniak 想获得一个中下层阶级的薪资。57岁的Wozniak 负责把用德语写的财务文件（比如，阿迪达斯的收益报表）翻译成英文。他说，在过去十年中，他的年薪一直保持在100000美元左右。

Ted Wozniak expected to earn a lower-middle-class wage when he started as a freelance translator 15 years ago.Wozniak, 57, translates German financial documents, such as Adidas’ earnings report, into English. For the past 10 years his salary has hovered around $100,000,he said.

“我希望有一个不好不坏，中等水平的生活”住在德州哈林根地区的翻译协会的出纳Wozniak说，“我知道一些翻译者的薪资达到了六位数。”

“I expected to make a mediocre, mediumliving,” said Wozniak, the translators association treasurer who lives in Harlingen, Texas. “I know several translators that are in the six figures.”

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