Douglas Robinson is Chair Professor of English at Hong Kong Baptist University. He has been a freelance translator of technical and literary texts from Finnish to English since 1975. He is also one of the world's leading translation scholars, the author of The Dao of Translation (2015), Translation and Empire (2016), Critical Translation Studies (2017), and Translationality (2017), and editor of Western Translation Theory From Herodotus to Nietzsche (2015) and The Pushing Hands of Translation and its Theory (2016) (all published by Routledge).

List of figures

List of tables

Acknowledgments

Preface to the fourth edition

Introduction

1 External knowledge: the user's view

2 Internal knowledge: the translator's view

3 The process of translation

4 Drawing on experience: how being a translator is more than just being good at languages

5 Starting with people: social interaction as the first key focus of translators' experience of the world

6 Working with people: the workplace as the interactive setting for specialized terminologies

7 Translation as an operation performed in and on languages

8 Translation as an operation performed in and on multimedia

9 Working and understanding through social networks

10 The impact on translation of culture(s)

11 When habit fails

References

Index

Fusing theory with advice and information about the practicalities of translating, Becoming a Translator is the essential resource for novice and practicing translators. The book explains how the market works, helps translators learn how to translate faster and more accurately, as well as providing invaluable advice and tips about how to deal with potential problems, such as stress.
The fourth edition has been revised and updated throughout, offering:
a whole new chapter on multimedia translation, with a discussion of the move from "intersemiotic translation" to "audiovisual translation," "media access" and "accessibility studies"
new sections on cognitive translation studies, translation technology, online translator communities, crowd-sourced translation, and online ethnography
"tweetstorms" capturing the best advice from top industry professionals on Twitter
student voices, especially from Greater China
Including suggestions for discussion, activities, and hints for the teaching of translation, and drawing on detailed advice from top translation professionals, the fourth edition of Becoming a Translator remains invaluable for students and teachers of Translation Studies, as well as those working in the field of translation.