I'm a translator myself and I know quite a few people who know more than one language. Some of them even ask me to contact them to the companies I work for, because they want to have a translation job as well. However, the greater part of them cannot even make a decent translation test, and some people give up without even finishing it.

It happens because there are many, far too many people who believe in the biggest myth about translations: knowing a foreign language automatically makes you a translator. It is not like that, not even close. I will make a comparison to make myself clear.

Imagine a medieval warrior, sort of a knight. He has a suit of armour and a weapon, and he is ready to fight. If, however, this warrior is weak and lacks stamina, if he doesn't know how to use his weapon, he will hardly succeed in the battle, no matter how sharp is his weapon and how tough and fitting is his armour. Apart from his equipment a warrior needs to be strong and know some fighting techniques: there will be little use of him if he grows tired of wearing his own armour and just waves his weapon clumsily.

So, speaking of translations: a foreign language is your armour and weapon. The better they are, the more chances you have to succeed. But your muscles, stamina and fighting skills - that's your native language. If you don't know it well, if you cannot express your thoughts in it, if you unable to produce a good, clear, interesting text in it, then you will never become a good translator, no matter how perfectly you might know a foreign language.

Knowing a foreign language, ability to talk, read and watch movies in it, even the ability to teach it - nothing of this guarantees that you will translate just as well. All those skills are very helpful, but certainly not enough.

I don't mean to discourage anyone here: if you know a foreign language and want to become a translator, you should definitely try. I just want you to remember that you should pay the same amount of attention to your native language; you should develop a skill of finding the right words, synonyms and expressions is it, of expressing your thoughts correctly. Also, you need to learn to write in your own language, so the texts you produce are literate, easy to read and match the original. No knowledge of foreign language will help you, if your own grammar is poor and texts are filled with heavy constructions. In the first case the translation will be plain unpleasant to read; in the second one the main idea of the text will slip away, thus making all your work meaningless.

Like I said, I don't mean to discourage anyone and I'm not trying to say that translation is a work for some 'chosen' people only. But it is most certainly not an easy gig that can be picked by anyone who knows a foreign language well enough to watch movies and read websites in it. Translation needs its own unique set of skills, they can be learnt, developed and perfected, but they are not given as a free bonus to everyone who studies another language. Knowing your own language is just as important for this work, and it's the first thing that every potential translator should question.

Natalia Veselova: freelance article writer and a professional translator. http://nataliaveselova.weebly.com/