A reader asks: It seems like when I talk to experienced translators and ask how they started out, nearly all of them started by working with agencies that gave a lot of feedback or at least let them see the edited versions of their translations. Then after some amount of time, they started working with […]
Continue ReadingGetting started as a translator
Free webinar Wednesday: Three ways to find your first translation clients
This Wednesday (April 12), I’ll be giving a free webinar through SDL’s professional development series, on Three ways to find your first translation clients. Inspired by my blog post on the same topic, I’ll describe how to: work the local market apply to translation agencies that base their hiring only on their own tests cultivate […]
Continue ReadingReader asks: “Is this whole freelance thing worth it?”
“Is this whole freelance thing worth it?” It’s a somewhat pessimistic question, but one that I hear with some frequency from readers and students. Corollaries include “I worry about machine translation putting us out of business.” “I’m 57 and only plan on working for another 8-10 years.” “I’m working too hard for the amount of […]
Continue ReadingSix things every beginning translator needs to know
Last week’s ATA conference reminded me how very intimidating and scary one’s first few years as a freelancer can be. What’s stressful? Basically everything. Everything you write or say to a client or a potential client; every translation you proofread and re-proof and re-proof, worrying that there’s a horrific error hiding in there somewhere; every […]
Continue ReadingIf you can't out-think the competition, out-work the competition
A brief thought here, before Thoughts on Translation goes on hiatus for Spring Break! It’s a crossover thought from another area of my life, playing the lute (my mid-life crisis obsession!). I don’t have a ton of musical talent; actually way, way less than a ton. I can carry a tune and clap to the […]
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