Originally from Germany, Diana Linder belongs to the large guild of translators working in Geneva
The proportion of foreigners in the country currently reaches 25% of the total population. Switzerland has become the location of the European headquarters of the UN, a number of global and European non-governmental organizations, various private commercial companies and structures from the art world, and all of them need to find a common language, literally. As we can see, translators are simply indispensable here.
So yes indeed! Switzerland is a country that offers very broad opportunities for professional interpreters and translators. In German, these two professions are even denoted by two different terms: "Dolmetscher" is an interpreter, while "Übersetzer" is someone who does written translation.
But who are these people, what problems do they face, and what does the difficult and often thankless craft of translation in Switzerland give them? The portal Swissinfo.ch introduces us to four translators from Geneva.
"Sworn Translator"
Patrick Lehner, of French origin, began studying English and German at school in Paris. He didn't really like languages as a subject, but he loved English. "In German lessons I was the worst in the class," he recalls. Later, going to Great Britain on a student exchange program, he heard the Rolling Stones hit "Brown Sugar" and has remained a convinced Anglophile ever since.
Patrick came to Switzerland during his service in the French army on an exchange program, and has lived there permanently since 1982. Like many translators in Switzerland, Patrick Lehner is a freelancer working under contract with large firms, corporations, legal and accounting companies, banks, government agencies, and international translation bureaus. He translates from German or English into French. Like almost all his colleagues, he usually translates only into his native language to convey the finest nuances of the text as accurately as possible.
He has a "sworn translator" certificate, meaning his translations are officially accepted in most courts in Switzerland and Europe. In addition, he assists with interpreting for the Geneva police. Patrick Lehner gladly admits that he prefers written translation to interpreting partly because it can be done "in shorts and without shaving. But I like the challenges that the interpreting process throws at a translator. It involves stress and adrenaline, which you eventually get hooked on."
His qualifications allow Patrick Lehner to charge higher fees, although some potential clients think his services are "too high quality for them and too expensive." Our interlocutor admitted this to us in his home office in Geneva. And this has been happening more and more often lately, due to what he called the "Googlization of translations," referring to cheap and accessible online machine translation tools. "We translators are just a commodity and are no longer valued as before."
Man from the Marketing World
Nigel Cave has no official translator certificate, but he does have three passports: British, Swiss, and New Zealander. He was born in Great Britain. His father is English, his mother from New Zealand. He holds a bachelor's and master's degree in modern languages from Oxford University. "I have a good ear, and I was lucky to have excellent French and German teachers who inspired me greatly," he says.
He is fluent in French and German, and knows Spanish at a level of "read and translate with a dictionary." Miraculously, Nigel Cave also understands one variant of Swiss German, partly thanks to his long-term relationship with a girlfriend who helped him understand a language that reminds him of "a funny ear, nose, and throat condition all at once."
Throughout his long career—where he often had to juggle several jobs in marketing, teaching, and translation—he says he has never had problems finding work as a translator. He sometimes even has to subcontract with his colleagues if he is too busy with contract work, or if it interferes with his "passionate love for tennis."
"Occasionally, a client asks if I am officially certified," he says. "But most clients don't care. If you do your job well, people will come back to you again and again." One of his favorite and regular clients is the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia, for which he translates from German and French into English.
He also ironically recalls an "unforgettable" client who once asked him to translate a porn film script—yes, that happens too! But one thing our interlocutor never took on was translating poetry. He has been offered such work many times, but always refused. Why? He suddenly switches to French: "C'est trop difficile" (It's too difficult). At the same time, he utters a practically "blasphemous" phrase: "Shakespeare, by the way, sounds better in German." And there might be something to that!
No less heretical for some might be the fact that this translator advocates for the spread of English in Swiss life. "I think it's very good. It broadens mental horizons, makes people's minds more open." Nevertheless, he admits he loves traditions and is concerned about the possible disappearance of the Romansh language, now spoken by less than 1% of Switzerland's population. "But that's democracy. If people want it, it's up to them to decide!"
Translator and Musicologist
Richard Cole views the expansion of the English language from a different perspective. “There is a chance to achieve a mutually beneficial compromise, but on the other hand, such a situation can lead to cultural and political impoverishment. People will no longer need to bother learning a foreign language, and consequently, they will have no need to try to understand each other’s mentality and life history.”
Richard Cole was born in Chicago. His mother is from the German-speaking part of Switzerland, his father is American. At first, his mother spoke Swiss German at home, but later his father decided that only English should be spoken in the house. However, his maternal grandmother still continued to read fairy tales to him in Swiss German. In high school, he had a choice between French and Spanish, but the beauty of French struck him, as he himself says, “there is something otherworldly about this language.”
At Northern Illinois University, he specialized in French literature, then came to Geneva, where he graduated from the School of Translation and Interpretation (L’École de Traduction d’Interpretation). For 30 years, Richard Cole worked as a translator at the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), translating scripts, brochures, booklets, performer biographies, and other materials from French, German, Italian, and Spanish into English. In addition, he still works as a musicologist for the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and sings professionally in opera.
Incidentally, he insists that translators should always translate from a foreign language into their native language, and not the other way around. Not everyone agrees with this; there are other schools of translation that assert the opposite. But Richard Cole is convinced that “only by translating into one’s native language can a translator provide the deepest and most accurate interpretation of the translated text. And the knowledge of history, popular culture, literature, and art absorbed with mother’s milk will allow him to make the translated text sound and read like an original.”
“Interpreter”
Diana Linder comes from a village near Stuttgart, Germany. She agrees that it is best to work primarily translating into one’s native language, although she adds that “French is now like a native language to me, just like German.” She works mainly as an interpreter – “Dolmetscher.” She learned English at school in Germany, then as an exchange student she studied in the UK and for a year in Denver, Colorado, USA, where she also studied Spanish and French.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in French and German from the University of East Anglia (UK), a certificate in translation and interpretation, and a diploma as an interpreter qualified to work at conferences organized by the University of Geneva. In search of income, she often had to do film subtitling. “It was fun to work, but the pay was low,” she says. Now Diana Linder mainly interprets at international conferences on medical, political, and economic topics.
She believes that every serious translator should have a certificate or some other qualification document. She acknowledges that in Switzerland there are uncertified interpreters and translators with extensive experience and high qualifications who demand much more modest fees for their work. However, our interlocutor says that unqualified translators have their limits, and often they are simply unable to provide truly high-quality services. “Such colleagues are dangerous for our profession, because they can damage our reputation, not to mention price dumping.”
She agrees with Richard Cole that the spread of English in Switzerland is not such a positive trend. When everyone tries to speak English without interpreters, confusion and misunderstandings periodically arise. From her personal professional perspective, when conferences are held without interpreters only in English, “it is very, very bad.”
How much do translators earn?
In the near future, there is no need to fear a crisis in the translation market in Switzerland. Translators still easily find work here. Moreover, “fees in Switzerland are higher than anywhere else,” says Patrick Lehner, former chairman of the Swiss Association of Sworn Translators.
According to him, the standard cost of services for written translators for European clients in Switzerland is about 1 euro or 1.15 Swiss francs per line of text, while the same line costs Swiss clients 3.5 Swiss francs. As Patrick Lehner says, “what annoys me most are clients who tell me that I am too expensive and that their secretary can do this job just as well!”
Bill HARBY.
Translation by Nina Shulyakova, with participation of Igor Petrov.