---
title: Why you should never say these ten things to a translator (Part 2 of 2)
description: Last week, I explained why translators hate hearing the first five of these ten statements.  If you didn’t read that post, click here. ...
---

[aiaTranslations: The Language of Life Sciences Blog ](https://aiatranslations.com/blog)

# [Why you should never say these ten things to a translator (Part 2 of 2)](https://aiatranslations.com/blog/post/why-you-should-never-say-these-ten-things-to-a-translator-part-2-of-2)

 Written by [aiaTranslations](https://aiatranslations.com/blog/author/aiatranslations) | Aug 24, 2015 4:00:00 AM

Last week, I explained why translators hate hearing the first five of [these ten statements](https://www.facebook.com/aiaTranslations/photos/a.10150115158118851.292883.82420128850/10153090667033851/?type=1&theater).  If you didn’t read that post, [click here](https://aiaconnect.wordpress.com/2015/08/17/why-you-should-never-say-these-ten-things-to-a-translator-part-1-of-2/).  Otherwise, read on for the rest of the list:

**“You only know three languages?”** When you think about how deeply a translator has to study and understand a language and culture, three is actually pretty good! It’s better to have someone with an extensive knowledge of one or two languages, than a polyglot who may really have only a basic comprehension of many.

**“Why don’t (or didn’t) you study *insert language name here*?”** There are so many reasons why a translator chooses the language(s) they specialize in. But obviously, their choice was pretty well thought-out, since they were able to master the language(s) and get so familiar with its/their culture(s).  Still, to be honest, this question bothers me much less than the other ones on the list, because it’s a pretty reasonable one.  There *are* some languages it could be advantageous to learn.  I’ve even experienced this situation in real life: When I was in high school, one of my uncles urged me to learn Mandarin.  But I just didn’t feel a particular draw to it, and chose to study Spanish as my third language, instead.  The heart wants what the heart wants.

**“So you do translations from home? Is that a job?”** As a freelance writer and translator who works from home, yes, it is a job.  *Where* you work is not nearly as important as *how much* and *how well *you work. And if someone is turning in excellent translations to you, they’ve been working hard.  Even if they’ve been doing that work in pajamas.

**“So you’re a translator…you do simultaneous translation, right?”** For me, this is a “how you say it” kind of thing. There are a lot of specialized areas of translation, and for various reasons, not all translators do every one of them.  Never assume a translator is going to cover every aspect of their field. It would be like saying “So you’re a lawyer…you do environmental law, right?” You can ask – just ask politely, and don’t act shocked or judgmental if the translator says they don’t.

**“What does *insert word without context here* mean? You’re a translator, you should know it!”** I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard this one, or something similar…and ended up feeling unfairly ashamed. Language is a subtle thing that depends on so many factors.  If I ask you, “What does ‘cats’ mean?”, you’d tell me cats that cats are a kind of animal.  But maybe I didn’t realize it was important to mention that these words were part of the phrase “It’s raining cats and dogs”.  Now, the word takes on a different nuance.  This isn’t just the case with idiomatic expressions.  So please don’t hate on a translator who can’t respond to this question, or who ends up giving you “the wrong answer”.

Hopefully these explanations have helped you better understand what a professional translator really does, and what kind of work you should expect from us.  The next time you’re talking to a translator, please keep this list in mind.  And if you’re looking for a translator who’s probably heard all of these statements before and is still cheerful and professional, aiaTranslations has you covered.  Click [here](https://www.aiatranslations.com/#!translations/c7ms) to find the perfect one for you.

by [Alysa Salzberg](http://www.alysasalzberg.com/)

[#aiatranslations](https://www.aiatranslations.com/blog/hashtags/aiatranslations) [#foreignlanguage](https://www.aiatranslations.com/blog/hashtags/foreignlanguage) [#humantranslators](https://www.aiatranslations.com/blog/hashtags/humantranslators) [#translations](https://www.aiatranslations.com/blog/hashtags/translations)

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