전문 통역 40년의 현주소

매체명 : 한겨레신문 / 보도일자 : 19-07-10

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[왜냐면] 전문 통역 40년의 현주소 / 곽중철

등록 :2019-07-10 17:01수정 :2019-07-10 20:04

곽중철

한국외대 통번역대학원 명예교수

우리나라에 전문 통번역대학원이 생긴 지 올해 꼭 40년이 된다. 아시아에서는 중국보다 먼저 1979년 9월 한국외대에 동시통역대학원이 생긴 것은 학교 당국의 ‘선견지명’이었다고 봐야 한다. 한국에서 사상 최초의 올림픽 유치 준비를 하면서 우리말을 올림픽 공식언어인 영어와 프랑스어로 옮길 수 있는 인재를 양성해야 한다는 자각이 있었기 때문이다.

학교 관계자들은 선진 통번역학교를 찾아다니며 ‘세계평화와 인류공영을 위해’ 일단 ‘무료’로 한국의 유학생을 받아달라고 호소했고, 1980년 국내에서 1년 수학한 학생들을 유럽으로, 미국으로 보내 전문 교육을 받게 할 수 있었다. 필자도 파리3대학 통번역학교에서 3년이나 무료로 훈련을 받고 돌아올 수 있었다.

통번역이란 의사나 변호사와 달리 ‘보호받지 못하는’ 직종이다. 의사는 의대를 나와 자격증을 따야 의사 노릇을 할 수 있고 변호사도 과거에는 사법시험, 지금은 변호사 시험을 봐야 자격이 생긴다. 하지만 통역사는 통번역대학원을 졸업해야만 통번역을 할 수 있는 게 아니다. 외국어만 할 줄 알면 누구나 통번역을 할 수 있다고 생각하기 때문에 무자격 통번역사가 넘쳐나는 것이다.

이후 이화여대 등에서 후발 통번역대학원이 생겨났고, 여러 대학의 학부에서도 유행처럼 통번역 전공과정이 설립되어 ‘도토리 키 재기’를 하고 있다. 어느 대륙이나 국가를 막론하고 외국어와 통번역에 대한 일반인들의 안목이나 인식은 높지 않고 단기간에 높아지지도 않는다.

그러다가 통번역사를 포함한 모든 이의 눈을 번쩍 뜨이게 한 사건이 일어났으니 바로 2016년 3월 이세돌 9단과 인공지능(AI) 바둑기계 알파고의 대결에서 알파고가 4 대 1로 압승한 것이었다. 이 세기의 대결이 하필이면 한국에서 벌어져, 우리 언론과 인공지능 업계는 호떡집에 불난 것처럼 호들갑을 떨었다. “바벨탑의 언어장벽”도 곧 허물어지고 그 어렵고 성가신 외국어 공부를 할 필요가 없어질 것이라는 말까지 돌았다.

이 광풍은 지난해까지 이어지다 올해 들어 좀 조용해진 느낌이다. 되돌아보면 놀랍게도 통번역계나 시장은 크게 변한 것이 없다. 상품 소개나 사용매뉴얼 등을 번역하는 회사들을 제외하고는 다 옛날처럼 인간이 번역을 하고 있고, 호텔의 국제회의장에서도 전문 인간 통역사들이 같은 통역료를 받고 통역을 하고 있다. 통번역대학원도 지원자가 좀 줄기는 했지만 아직 외국어 좀 한다는 인재들이 몰려들어 ‘전문 통번역사’의 꿈을 불태우고 있다. 최근에도 통역사는 구직난이 아니라 구인난을 겪고 있다. 중국에서는 수백 개의 학교에서 통번역 석사과정을 설치하고 있다. 크게 달라진 게 없어 오히려 이상하다.

그렇다. 결국 통번역은 인간이 마지막 손질을 해야 한다. 아무리 첨단의 엑스레이 촬영기가 나와도 최종 판독은 영상의학과 의사가 내리고, 아무리 정교한 수술기계가 나와도 그 기계로 직접 수술하는 것은 외과 의사이듯이 통번역도 결국은 전문 인력의 손을 거쳐야 끝난다. 그래서 지난 5일 한국외대가 주최하는 아태통번역포럼의 주제발표 중 하나의 제목이 ‘인간 번역사가 최종 퇴근자가 되어야 할 이유’였다. 우리에게 더 시급한 것은 인공지능 통번역이 아니라 청와대부터 지방자치단체까지의 통번역을 국가 차원에서 설계하고 운영할 ‘국가 통번역원’의 설립이다.

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작성일 19-10-06 15:30

[The reason] 40 years of professional interpreting/ Kwak, Joong chol 2019-07-10 17:01

Professor Emeritus/ Hankuk University of Foreign Studies
Council Member/ FIT

It has been 40 years since the first graduate school of interpreting (GSIT) was established in Korea. In September 1979, , it was set up as the first of its kind in Asia thanks to the future-oriented vision of the leadership of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS), its umbrella institution. A historical background also played a part because Korea was preparing to host the Olympics for the first time in history. The leadership of HUFS acknowledged the importance of fostering talents who can fluently translate Korean into English and French, the two official Olympic languages.

The GSIT founders visited several renowned T & I schools abroad, pleading for support and asked them to enroll Korean students “without tuition” in the spirit of global fraternity. As a result, they managed to send dozens of students to Europe and the U.S. so that they could get professional training. Thanks to their efforts, the writer also could study in ESIT, Paris for 3 years without any tuition.

Unlike physicians or lawyers, interpreters and translators are “not protected” by law. Physicians must graduate from a medical school and get a certificate to become medical doctors. The same is true for lawyers, as they had to pass the bar exam in the past, and now they have to pass a similar test after graduating a law school. However, foreign-language speakers who have not finished a professional T & I school nor got special training can work as interpreters. The notion that anyone who speaks one or more foreign languages can interpret or translate is the main culprit behind so many unqualified interpreters & translators in the market.

After GSIT was established, many other schools followed suit including Ehwa Woman’s University. Not only that, undergraduate T & I courses also popped up, creating meaningless competition. Unfortunately, the public awareness of foreign languages or T & I is not high in any country in the world, and hardly improved in a short term.

However, an eye-opening event shook Korea and the world in March of 2016, when AI Go program, AlphaGo defeated Korean legendary professional Go player, Sedol Lee 4-1. As this historic match was held in Korea, the Korean media and AI industry churned out so many reactions and comments, stoking the public’s curiosity citing that “the tower of Babel” will collapse soon, and we will no longer have to study hard and boring foreign languages.

This fad lasted for more than 2 years until last year, and it seems to die down recently. In retrospect, there has been no great change in the T & I industry or market. Except for several companies that translate simple product introductions or manuals, human translators are still doing their job just like in the past, while professional human interpreters are still dominating international conferences, receiving the same interpreting fees.

Although the number of applicants for GSIT and others fell slightly, still many talents are studying so hard to become “professional interpreters”. Ironically, companies are still desperately searching for good interpreters, unlike the media’s forecasts. Today in China, hundreds of schools are opening graduate T & I courses. It seems nothing has changed.

There is one thing that will never change. It is always humans who should give a final touch on interpreting and translation. Just like no matter how sophisticated X-ray machines become, it must be human doctors who read the picture and make a final diagnosis. No matter how cutting-edge operation machines come out, it still requires human doctors to manipulate such machines. That is why one of the keynote speeches of APTIF9, held early last July by HUFS was “Why translators are going to be the ones to turn off the lights in the offices after everyone else has long gone home”.

In this context, what we urgently need is not AI interpreting or translation, but we need to establish a “national T & I agency” that can plan and manage relevant language services for all government bodies, ranging from the Blue House to local governments on a national level. (END)

[The reason] 40 years of professional interpreting/ Kwak, Joong chol               2019-07-10 17:01

Professor Emeritus/ Hankuk University of Foreign Studies
Council Member/ FIT

It has been 40 years since the first graduate school of interpreting (GSIT) was established in Korea. In September 1979, , it was set up as the first of its kind in Asia thanks to the future-oriented vision of the leadership of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS), its umbrella institution. A historical background also played a part because Korea was preparing to host the Olympics for the first time in history. The leadership of HUFS acknowledged the importance of fostering talents who can fluently translate Korean into English and French, the two official Olympic languages.

The GSIT founders visited several renowned T & I schools abroad, pleading for support and asked them to enroll Korean students “without tuition” in the spirit of global fraternity. As a result, they managed to send dozens of students to Europe and the U.S. so that they could get professional training. Thanks to their efforts, the writer also could study in ESIT, Paris for 3 years without any tuition.

Unlike physicians or lawyers, interpreters and translators are “not protected” by law. Physicians must graduate from a medical school and get a certificate to become medical doctors. The same is true for lawyers, as they had to pass the bar exam in the past, and now they have to pass a similar test after graduating a law school. However, foreign-language speakers who have not finished a professional T & I school nor got special training can work as interpreters. The notion that anyone who speaks one or more foreign languages can interpret or translate is the main culprit behind so many unqualified interpreters & translators in the market. 
     
After GSIT was established, many other schools followed suit including Ehwa Woman’s University. Not only that, undergraduate T & I courses also popped up, creating meaningless competition. Unfortunately, the public awareness of foreign languages or T & I is not high in any country in the world, and hardly improved in a short term. 
   
However, an eye-opening event shook Korea and the world in March of 2016, when AI Go program, AlphaGo defeated Korean legendary professional Go player, Sedol Lee 4-1. As this historic match was held in Korea, the Korean media and AI industry churned out so many reactions and comments, stoking the public’s curiosity citing that “the tower of Babel” will collapse soon, and we will no longer have to study hard and boring foreign languages.

This fad lasted for more than 2 years until last year, and it seems to die down recently. In retrospect, there has been no great change in the T & I industry or market. Except for several companies that translate simple product introductions or manuals, human translators are still doing their job just like in the past, while professional human interpreters are still dominating international conferences, receiving the same interpreting fees.

Although the number of applicants for GSIT and others fell slightly, still many talents are studying so hard to become “professional interpreters”. Ironically, companies are still desperately searching for good interpreters, unlike the media’s forecasts. Today in China, hundreds of schools are opening graduate T & I courses. It seems nothing has changed.
 
There is one thing that will never change. It is always humans who should give a final touch on interpreting and translation. Just like no matter how sophisticated X-ray machines become, it must be human doctors who read the picture and make a final diagnosis. No matter how cutting-edge operation machines come out, it still requires human doctors to manipulate such machines. That is why one of the keynote speeches of APTIF9, held early last July by HUFS was “Why translators are going to be the ones to turn off the lights in the offices after everyone else has long gone home”.

In this context, what we urgently need is not AI interpreting or translation, but we need to establish a “national T & I agency” that can plan and manage relevant language services for all government bodies, ranging from the Blue House to local governments on a national level.  (END)

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