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Home > Joan: ref, Translations

Joan: ref, Translations

April 17th, 2008 at 07:23 pm

First, let me say that translating is a lot like teaching, in that just because you are proficient in a language (or more) that doesn’t necessarily mean you can teach others how to do it / translate to or from it. Teaching requires an additional set of skills, as does translating, it requires an understanding of the language (you may be fluent in a language and know when you have to use “I, me, my or mine”, but you may not be able to tell WHY – in the case of teaching. Or, you may not really know when to use a certain word instead of another – in the case of translation, otherwise, you’ll end up with the type of translation you get from those translation softwares….with things like: "The ghost is willing, but the meat is weak!")

ES is a very small country and, traditionally, not many people speak a second language- this is reserved mostly to the elite; the few fortunate ones to either have attended a bilingual school (misleading name, since there are a couple ones that are actually tri-lingual!) or that have lived in foreign-language speaking countries and have learned abroad.

If you take those 2 things into consideration, you’ll have: 1) a group of people who don’t speak a second language and 2) a smaller group of people that do speak a second language fluently but that don’t feel proficient enough to translate to/from it.

"Standard operational procedure" if you belong to groups 1 or 2 is: call someone who is considered to be fluent and ask if they are willing to do it. Since I know many people who are fluent, I just let them know that I DO translate, give them my fees ($0.05/word) and my phone number….so, if anybody asks, they refer them to me!

ES is a very small country, so Word of mouth goes a long way!

Another option is to sign up with one of the (very few) translation agencies in the country. They generally have a pool of translators that they use when the owners can’t do the job themselves (due time constrains or just because the topic of the document is not their area of expertise).

A few freelance translators publish small ads in the classifieds, but people generally prefer to go to someone they know or that is referred by someone they know (they figure it’ll be cheaper and, since they are being referred, they feel they have assurance of the quality of the work – as a friend wouldn’t recommend someone whose work they don’t know!)

I am starting to get a reputation now; a very good one. Generally, the saying is: fast, accurate, cheap: pick any 2!....My prices are market prices (average is $0.05/word or $10-$15/page…), I’m GOOD (I take pride in that and, I double and triple-check unfamiliar words/expressions to make sure they are what’s used by the specific industry or area related to the document) and, I’m fast! (I translate at night, after Ale has gone to bed, and, generally average 5-7 pages per night….and I’ve been known to translate up to 80 pages in just one weekend!-again, with good quality!)

I have done consecutive interpretation (“oral” translation is called interpretation), in which the speaker will make a pause so I can interpret what s/he said in the target language….I have never done simultaneous interpretation, though (where you interpret right as the person is speaking- I’m not sure I could do that, though I’m told is just a matter of training and, giving that I CAN type a letter while listening to a conversation without having one intrude into the other one, it’s fair to presume that I could do learn it quickly)….Interpretation is the BIG money maker, since you can make anywhere from $200- $300/day

Some day, I hope, I’ll be able to do this full time (after I pay off all my debt, and have a small fund set aside, since, as you can see, payments can be a little unreliable) I’m not going to lie to you, it IS a scary thought! – but it is also exciting!

2 Responses to “Joan: ref, Translations”

  1. Amber Says:
    1208457765

    Seems like you really enjoy it, I say go for it. And since people like you and your rep is good, I think this will be a great time. Also, practice tranlasting while someone is speaking, I think in no time you will have it mastered

  2. merch Says:
    1208465448

    Your blogs are better written then mine and I only know english.

    I agree with you. Start small and grow the side business. At some point in the future, you will find that you don't have enough time to work full time and do your business. Until then, get financially stable so that you can weather the storms, especially if the income is going to be sporadic.

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