How to improve your translation skills....?

Hello everybody,

Actually, I was setting on my sofa, thinking about some ideas that can make difference in my career as a translator, or make me more specialized, they are all about how to improve my skills of translation, how to automatic translate the speech while it's being said, and I came out with some points that I really want to share with you.

First of all, you need to have a notebook for new words, phrases, and expressions.

Tips to improve your translation skills:-

Tip #1- Save any new word you meet by a search or even by accident to your notebook.

 Even if you have all the world dictionaries, trust me, you will need this.

Tip #2- Watch TV series, movies, and shows in the source language, with subtitles in the target language

In this pair try to watch and listen carefully to English movies or TV series with Arabic subtitles, save all new expressions you find in your notebook, this is useful in two things, first you will learn how the translator got to the meaning of a word, phrase, or an expression you really didn't recognize, second you will learn the behavior and some traditions of those people that can make you easily understand what a customer meant to say in some words or phrases in his requested job.

Tip #3- Reading, and reading, and more reading 

To read books, novels, daily news, technical or non-technical articles, all written in the target language of your pair, (i.e. Arabic in this pair). I think this will help to enhance your language, and to find the suitable expressions as sometimes we know the meaning in English but we maybe unable to say it in Arabic. Also will enhance your knowledge about the topics you are reading.

I may have missed some tips, this is not all, and I promise to find out more and more soon.

All I hope is that you find this helpful, and if you have got some advice or tips, please share it with us.

Thank you.