ABSTRACT
68In this chapter: While it is true that “experience” is the best teacher, experience comes in many shapes and sizes, including wild or educated guesses when faced with an apparently insoluble problem, exposure to a variety of cases over a long period of time, which is what we generally call “practical experience,” and theoretical teaching or training based on laws or general principles.
Intuitive leaps: most translation decisions are in the end based on intuitive leaps (a given word or phrase feels right); it is important to remember, though, that these intuitive leaps are only trustworthy when they are heavily grounded in experience, especially in the attentive sort of experiential exposure to thousands of cases that we’re calling “pattern-building.”
Pattern-building: a professional translator pays attention to experience. S/he doesn’t just live; s/he is constantly studying what happens around him or her, other people (Chapter 5), people doing jobs (Chapter 6), what people say and write (Chapter 7), what people do when transforming nonverbal texts (Chapter 8), participating in social networks (Chapter 9), and negotiating cultural habits (Chapter 10).
Rules and theories: ideally, rules and theories arise out of pattern-building experience, and are constantly being tested in and by that experience. When a rule or a theory is not grounded in practical experience, it is practically useless (and is often identified as a “bad theory”). While teaching rules and theories seems like a time-saver in class, therefore, it’s best to remember that students will learn best by being guided from intuitive leaps through pattern-building experience to (the formulation of their own) rules and theories.
