I have a question that I’ve been wondering for quite awhile, involving translating between two languages, or teaching a second language.
Basically, if I was translating from say, Spanish to Chinese (completely arbitrary languages, could be anything), and there were two equally qualified translators available, which would be more effective? One that learned Spanish as a first language, and Chinese later as a second language (assume fluency on all counts). Or one that learned Chinese as a first language, and then Spanish as a second language?
Also, which second language teachers tend to be preferred? One that speaks the language they are teaching as a first language, or one that speakes the language they are teaching in as a first language, all other things being equal?
Thank you!
For the first question, the answer is clear. My wife is a professional translator and she and nearly all other translators translate INTO their native language only. The reason is clear. To translate you must first understand it and then put it into the best English (in her case) she can and although she can write acceptable French, it will inevitably not be the best or the most elegant. One of her problems is that her clients all too often speak English fairly well and sometimes doubt that what she writes is good English. The exceptions are almost always people who learned a second language very young and very well. My wife had a colleague who moved from French Switzerland to Vancouver as an early teenager, finished HS and college there and then moved to Montreal. He prefers to translate French to English, although I have no doubt he can do both directions if he has to.
As for the second question, all the above is still valid and there is one more thing; generally only a native speaker can be a good model. When I was in Japan, I ran repeatedly into people who had studied English for years (usually 6-8) and could neither speak comprehensibly nor understand my English. The reason was essentially that they had no good models of spoken English.