Translation curriculum and pedagogy: Views of administrators of translation services

Following an earlier study on professional translators which appears in Target 2000, and another on translation students in Meta 2002, this article reports on an empirical study, based on both quantitative and qualitative data, on how administrators of translation/language services perceive translation training in Hong Kong. It will seek to answer questions such as the usual practice of and major considerations in recruitment of new translators; the major challenges the newly recruited face and methods and strategies they use to cope with them; the difficulties translators have in general as seen through the eyes of administrators, and the methods and strategies they use to cope with them; assistance translation agencies usually provide to help them deal with the challenges and difficulties; changes that need to be made to improve translator training. A comparison is made with my earlier projects on professional translators and translation students and pedagogical implications are also drawn in relation to some of the focal issues in translator training.