I was pleased when our fearless leader Karen Tkaczyk asked me to join the leadership council, because I\u2019ve found a home among my fellow scientific and technical translators. We\u2019ve all heard things like \u201cGoogle Translate may be good enough for technical documents, but it will never replace literary translators\u201d or \u201cSomeone translating into their non-native language might be able to cope with a technical text, but for marketing materials you really need a native speaker\u201d. I was even told at the 2012 ATA Annual Conference that \u201ctechnical translation is easier than marketing translation\u201d! Statements like these light a fire in my belly!<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
I find science fascinating, and I love learning about the science behind the texts I translate. I often spend as much time researching the subject matter as I do actually writing my translations. To some translators who work in other fields, translating fungicide test reports or chemical reactor design documentation may seem uninspiring, but it\u2019s what I live for.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
Let\u2019s look at the word valence<\/b>. In chemistry, valence electrons are those \u201cin the outermost principal quantum level of an atom\u201d; in other words, they are located in the outermost shell of an atom, and can interact with other atoms to form covalent bonds. The number of valence electrons determines an atom\u2019s chemical properties and behavior. In the periodic table, elements in the same group (vertical column) have the same number of valence electrons. But the word valence<\/b>has other meanings as well. In immunology, valence is the number of antigen-binding sites on an antibody molecule. In linguistics, valence is the number of satellite noun phrases with which a verb combines. The etymology of valence is Latin valentia <\/i>(related to the word valiant<\/i>), which means \u201cstrength, capacity,\u201d from valere<\/i>, \u201cto be strong\u201d. According to Stedman\u2019s Medical Dictionary, valence also means \u201cthe attraction or aversion that an individual feels toward a specific object or event.\u201d Another definition is \u201cthe ability to unite, react or interact successfully with another<\/b>\u201d.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
That\u2019s us, in a nutshell. We\u2019re out on the fringes, on the edges, on the forefront, hanging out in the outermost orbitals, grabbing onto other concepts, other ideas, other disciplines, other languages. We\u2019re reactive. We combine. We bond. We\u2019re strong. We\u2019re attracted to science and language. We unite, react, and interact successfully with others.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
We\u2019re technical translators. What do we make? We make connections.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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