Promised Land No More: Dynamic Shifts in Slovene Translation Market and Translator Education

Abstract

The article outlines the changes of the translation market, the development of Higher Education (HE) translator training and of the profession of translator in Slovenia. First, three HE translator-training programmes in Slovenia are briefly described. Second, through an analysis of the public database containing information on all business entities in Slovenia, a description of the translation market in 2014 is made and the findings are compared to those of a similar study carried out in 2007. Then two surveys of translation graduates of University of Ljubljana are presented, focusing in particular on graduate employment statistics and average earnings of junior translators. The results show that despite the fact that the Slovene translation market is thriving, this growth is not reflected in the average earnings of individual translators. Finally, in view of the fact that translation rates are constantly falling, it is argued that the role of professional associations becomes vital.