What is Translator Competence

Translator training has undergone major changes over the last two decades. One of those changes is a transition from training courses organized around a series of translation difficulties to a conception of training organized around a set of skills and competencies that have emerged as the product of interdisciplinary research on translation and educational science. Helping students to take better control of their own learning is an aspect that can be influenced by knowledge produced in educational research. Metacognition as knowledge produced in educational science can contribute to this transition. This chapter highlights the metacognitive dimension of translation and shows that metacognition can help translation students to become responsible for their own learning. Finally, the author presents the results of a study that allowed him to identify and define metacognitive factors that help learners succeed in their transition from university to the labor market. Some crucial aspects of training are overlooked when it focuses exclusively on disciplinary knowledge.