Ever since I interviewed its founder Dwayne Bailey a few years ago, I’ve been continually amazed by Translate.org.za, a nonprofit project dedicated to translation/localization (or as they say down there, localisation) of free and open source software into the 11 official languages of South Africa. Courtesy of Translate.org.za’s website, they are, in English: Afrikaans, English, […]
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The chicken or the egg
I’ve noticed that for many beginning translators, getting those first few clients is a chicken and egg issue; most agencies, which form the bulk of most beginners’ client bases, aren’t eager to work with translators who are very inexperienced. But if clients won’t work with you, how do you ever get enough experience to make […]
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Although I already have a business website, I decided to set up this blog as a less formal place to talk about translation, the translation industry and becoming a translator. Some of my translator friends and I have noticed that while our spouses’ eyes glaze over at the first mention of any topic related to […]
Continue ReadingHow to succeed as a freelance translator
I get a lot of e-mails from people who want to become translators. A typical contact is from someone who is bilingual and either doesn’t enjoy his/her current job or because of necessity (i.e. a spouse whose job is repeatedly transferred) wants to find a profitable work-from-home job. Based on my own experience, the experience […]
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