Despite all of the hoopla, the beginning of a new decade rarely requires widespread change. However, it is still a good time for translation professionals to look back at the world to see where the big advancements have been and then be inquisitive enough to determine where the new opportunities will exist. Outside of our typical assignments, two promising areas that linguistic specialists should analyze are job opportunities that will result from discoveries and investments made in the Medical Translation and scientific translation fields of research. We know that translation workers with a formal education in science or medicine are in short supply and command the best salaries when they seek employment that utilizes their knowledge. That’s why we’ve devoted this article to exploring emerging opportunities in these areas.
The world is full of people who are skeptical about the future and who believe that there are no more great discoveries that are left to be made. But as translation professionals, we have witnessed a growth in the number of projects that have come from discoveries made in the medical, biotechnology, genomic, and space technology fields that have kept us busy for months and provided attractive salaries. Even with a limited scientific and medical background, it is likely that you have taken on projects that have been related to important discoveries in green technology, computer science, medical products and more. When the concept of The Human Genome Project (HGP) was first introduced, the scientific community and public had high hopes that the investment would produce ground-breaking reports that would explain our world, reveal how our bodies function and provide cures to conditions that range from autism to stroke. In recent times, we have also witnessed the development of the Large Hadron Collider that has been called “one of the great engineering milestones of mankind,” and was built to explore the Big Bang theory.
But science often has a way of not being able to live up to its intentions For instance, if you are one of the hundreds of translation workers around the world who worked on projects related to the Human Genome Project, then you know that information that has been collected thus far has provided less data than scientists had wished Further, most scientists now say that scientists are no closer to uncovering life’s mysteries now than they were at the time the mapping project began. While we will never know if and when the mapping of the human genome will produce any tangible results, it has given the world extremely important insights into Homo sapien life.
If on the other hand, you are one of the hundreds of French and German Translator professionals who play important roles in the translation of research projects related to the LHC, then you know that the project hasn’t lived up to expectations. Consequently, you have probably stayed current about setbacks due to faulty electrical connections with the magnets and its inability to get energies higher than the Tevatron. The fact remains that while the LHC is years away from operating at the power it needs to discover the Higgs Boson Particle, scientists continue to believe that the collider will provide amazing information.
Of all scientific breakthroughs, the one that created the most work for translation workers was research involving global climate change. Throughout the world, research is being conducted and results are being published in virtually every language through the contributions of skilled science translation workers. Most importantly, Language Translators have been able to work in tandem with skilled scientists and have had opportunities to establish themselves while earning substantial salaries and most importantly, job security. Now you can see why Japanese Translation workers find the field of scientific translation as a very honorable and respected way to make a living.