Translation training 2010 : forward thinking, work ready

Responding to technological change, translation education needs to give graduates not only the ability to use the technology, but also the frame through which to understand such change. From the vantage point of research at the overlap of technologies with the profession, this article focuses on two themes every program should consider as translation faces the next decade: First, training in computer-aided translation is a must; the demand for translation is growing, but mostly within the localization slice of the language market. Second, outsourcing and offshoring trends, web-based and user-driven processes, and advances in machine translation are pushing the price per word down and deskilling the profession, and trainees need to be aware of this; building up a successful career in translation now involves either finding a niche or finding a hub, meaning expanding the skills beyond linguistic transfer and gaining expertise in adjacent fields such as source text authoring, quality assurance, or globalization consultancy (the forward-thinking theme).