I want a good summary of translation teaching studies, a reference that summarise all previous studies

Hello everyone, I'm currently in highschool and grew up knowing over 5 languages. I recently decided to put my knowledge to use to earn my own money by hopefully translating but unfortunately can't find any. I wanted to ask if anyone has recommendations for where to find jobs? Thank youu (Also I'm not sure if this counts as directly seeking work)

So I did my bachelor in translation studies and graduated last year. Just got one in house job and that didn’t pay much either. I work with english and french. I am fluent in Turkish but never worked. I have been seeing a lot of people saying don’t get into translation studies. Is a masters worth it and can change things? Or I should switch careers? What else can I get into? FYI I am south asian but will be moving to Europe for masters.

Hi there, I'm going into a English-to-Spanish translation class at my university, and have already taken one on Spanish-to-English translation. Looking through our textbook (En otras palabras by Lunn and Lunsford) and having our class for a few weeks, it looks like a lot of what we're going through so far is just rehashing grammar concepts that a lot of us have already learned.

The textbook for my last class (Thinking Spanish Translation by Haywood/Thompson/Hervey) is basically the golden standard for me; there are chapters about compensation, genre, exoticism, tone/register, basically every grammar concept in Spanish compared to its English equivalent, all of that stuff. It really is a phenomenal textbook.

I'm not complaining about the class's lacking depth, but I'd at least like to know if there are books out there that can give me what I'm looking for. Are there any really good technical translation books out there?

Out of interest, has anyone tried freelancing via SmartCat?
What sort of rates do people charge on there?
I am not interested in signing up as freelance translation in my language pairs is a wasteland, I am just curious. I have heard that the rates are rock bottom on there and wondered if it is also contributing to decline in the industry.

Hey everyone,

I'm a Japanese to English translator and I have been working with two amazing clients for years now who regularly provide me with about $5K a month of work at great rates. I've been in this situation forever and have just been kind of cruising along in this situation, working maybe 15 hours a week and living a strange "bohemian" lifestyle. I didn't apply to these companies; they both recruited me from LinkedIn years ago. I am very fortunate.

I turned 45 recently and due to various life circumstances (parents getting old, my own medical expenses, inflation, etc.) my cost of living is way up. Therefore, I would like to expand my business and take on more work. However, I've been with these two clients for so long that I have no idea what the market is like now.

So what is the Japanese to English translation job market like now? I'm worried that with the expansion of AI etc. there might not be much more in the way of jobs for me to try to get? Is there much of a demand for translators among companies or is everything being automated? My two clients are things that probably won't be automated fully due to pecularities that I won't get into here (one client is all MTPE but I usually have to completely rewrite everything), but anyway my specializations are legal (especially contracts, but I do pretty much everything except patents and immigration-related stuff) and medical (especially medical devices, I love that stuff).

How has AI-driven MT affected the Japanese to English market? I use AI a lot in my own work (have paid subscriptions to DeepL and ChatGPT, which I use for different things) and have for example successfully automated a routine task that was complex and difficult but kind of rote (took about a month of prompt engineering to create a template and I had to verbally abuse ChatGPT a lot but I pulled it off). I've never seen anything so far though that would suggest AI can actually output English translations that do not at least require post-editing.

Any advice for getting new clients in this area? I was thinking of reaching out to Japanese companies but I live in America so the weak yen is an issue. Are there companies in the USA and Europe that handle lots of J2E stuff?

I have 17 years experience, BA in Japanese, passed N1 before it was N1 (I did say I was getting older, lol).

(Edit: This is a question for Japanese to English translators working in the present-day market who actually know what's going on; if you're not a J2E translator don't bother replying or commenting.)

In my job I have to proofread a 200 pages long nonfiction book that has been previously translated by another person from English into German. While proofreading the German text I compared it the original English text and quickly realized how badly translated it actually was – sometimes leaving out important information, sometimes making no sense and sometimes just being completely wrong.

At first I tried to correct all the mistakes until I realized that I’d have to translate the entire thing myself which would make me the translator. That isn’t my job, I don‘t have the time and I also don‘t get paid for that. However, I also don‘t feel comfortable proofreading a text that is wrong and having my name mentioned as the proofreader in a book that I cannot stand behind.

I talked with my boss about it and he acknowledged that our translator isn’t qualified enough but sort of just shrugged it off. I don‘t think he realizes that my reputation as a proofreader suffers as well. I then just continued proofreading as if I wouldn‘t know the original text but it feels so wrong especially because it‘s a nonfiction book based on important research that people should be able to rely on.

What should I do?

The foreign office here requests that the Chinese letters are translated into pinyin as well. I'm wondering if ISO17100:2015 certified automatically means that the letters are also in pinyin.

The foreign office here requires the pinyin text of a Chinese birth certificate to German. so far, I cannot find any online resources that performs this service.

I just turned 18, and I don't have any professional background.

I do need the money and have enough time to enter on freelancing.

I've taken recent test on both of my current languagues: Spanish (C2) and English (C1).

Hi folks, I'm learning a couple of languages right now and am wondering how translation uh, works, as opposed to just knowing a language or just being bilingual.

Let's face it people are tired of outdated translations for example of core Chinese texts translated by James Legge from the 1800s, or Boethius: The Consolation of Philosophy, which doesn't seem to have a good translation from English at all. As I build fluency, I realize how bad these translations even are.

And those are languages with millions of bilinguals (50% of UK students take Latin right?). These books have touched billions of lives over history and now they are lost for English speaking youths.

Are there any books for people who are interested in learning how to translate. I can't even seem to find any. Please Advise.

I am building fluency in the languages that I'm learning and want to know what the next step is in terms of translating books that I love to make them available to people who weren't raised bilingual or who don't have the time or energy to learn a language.

A couple months ago, I was listening to a translators podcast and they were talking about AI taking over the translation world. They mentioned that if you focused on a field of specialization and were good at it, you wouldn't have to worry about AI taking your job.

I've been working exclusively on audiovisual translation projects for more than a year now, but the same problem keeps arising with different agencies: they start using MT and I only receive MTPE offers, which is impacting my economy negatively.

I used to specialize in IT translation, but I haven't gotten translation jobs recently (and I don't seem to embrace the idea of being 24/7 present on LinkedIn building my brand, am I missing very big opportunities?) Do you think IT is a safe field "against" AI takeover? Which fields do you think are/will be impacted by AI? (For example, I've seen on Twitter that literary translation has been hugely affected by AI nowadays.) Which fields do you think are "safe" against AI takeover?

Also, how did you specialize in the field(s) you work the most?

is it worth it to send resume to agencies from countries different than the one you live in?

A silly question really, but I have no idea what native-English professionals around the world say when they're officially accepting a job. I have recently started working with an English-only agency and have been overthinking this (admittedly unimportant) issue.

"Consider confirmed"?

"Confirmed"?

"Acceptance confirmed"?

"Accepted"?

I've been hovering around this subreddit for a while out of curiosity, as (although I'm not a qualified translator) I'm passionate about languages and interested in translation.

I have read numerous times that certain language pairs are more affected by AI than others. Would anyone care to expand on that: which are some of the best and worst pairs right now to be working with?

A little about me before the actual question: my language pair is EN>PT/BR. I am currently working as a nanny and getting my certificate in translation through University of Toronto in April. I’ve had A grades in every assignment and test so far but I haven’t had any professional experience.

With that being said, I have fixed a resume and my LinkedIn profile to attempt finding a job in translation. I am trying not to be picky right now since I feel like I need some experience before leaving my full-time job. In the future, however, I would love to work with literary translation.

I’ve received a message from a person who asked if I’d be interested in the following: “The job is about evaluating, writing prompt and editing and proofreading machine-generated translations to deliver the best AI outcome

The company's name is Scale AI, which provides you complimentary platform (Outlier) and training,

There are multiple projects, but the main goal is shaping AI to deliver the best result the customer aims at.”

So my questions are:

1. Could this be a scam or is it possible it’s legit? (Again, I don’t have any experience so I’m definitely a bit skeptical)

2. What are your thoughts on working in these projects?

I want to start working as a freelance translator (text and subtitles) English <-> Dutch. Although I have a strong background and qualifications, I don’t hold any official translation certificates. I’ve already created accounts on platforms like Proz and Upwork, and I’ve managed to secure some transcription assignments, but no translation projects yet. That’s why I plan to reach out to agencies and adopt a broader approach. I would love to hear your advice on how to tackle this effectively and to learn about your own experiences if they align or are relevant.

Here are my qualifications and my current action plan:

Qualifications:

• Language proficiency and expression: Language is truly in my DNA. I express myself strongly and with nuance, and English sometimes feels even richer in possibilities than Dutch.
• Academic background:
  • Studied at UC Berkeley (English-taught, paper-based), graduated with highest honors.
  • Master’s in Art Sciences, Ghent University (graduated with great distinction), including many English-taught courses and papers.
• Work experience in English:
  • Held two high-level positions in the art world where English was the primary language.
  • Founded my own marketing agency with clients in 7 countries across 3 continents, where English is the working language.
• Art as a reflection of English mastery: I can express myself at the highest level within the art world—a niche that demands exceptional language proficiency. This goes beyond simple A-to-B translations.
• Extensive general knowledge: While my focus is on art, design, architecture, fashion, and marketing, I also possess broad linguistic knowledge thanks to personal interests, a diverse social circle, and a love of literature. My expertise extends to fields like psychology, sociology, philosophy, business, and investing. The only areas I exclude are legal, medical, and IT.

Action Plan:

• My plan is to contact as many translation agencies as possible. I will propose taking a language test and specify the fields I can translate in.

Questions:

• What else can I do to increase my chances?
• How did you achieve this yourself?
• Are there other ways to find translation opportunities outside of agencies and platforms like Proz, that are not exploitative like some translation apps and websites?

All tips and advice are welcome. Thanks in advance!

I am a third year translation student who is graduating soon and i am fluent in 3 languages arabic english and french and learning the basics korean for 3 years. Initially i wanted to pursue audiovisual translation and games localization because I'm very passionate about it but my country (Lebanon) doesn't have that much positions or opportunities. Should i continue my masters in applied economic and legal translation (the only available option) or apply for remote work overseas? and do some of you know places that teaches that or accept students like me?

Thank you for reading and I would love to know your experiences and advice

I got an e-mail from Lumina Library (luminalibrary.org), and the offer sounded good, but I can't find much about them, and the website is very young. Do any of you have any experience with them?

Context: I am about to start my last year of my double degree of science and global studies where I have majored in ecology and conservation biology and cultural competence with basically a minor in french.

I have always thought that I would do a masters relating land management or conservation (more science related). However I have studied French since highschool bc I love it and just wanted to continue it.

Last semester my French teacher forwarded my information on to the coordinator of the masters of translation and interpretation and she reached out to me saying that I had been "identified as a high achieving student" and would basically be a good fit for the translation masters. This was really awesome to hear and kind of sparked my interest bc I had never considered it before! Anyway now I'm not really sure what I want to do but I'm kind of leaning towards the translation route atm bc I think it could lead to a really cool combination of all of my studying lol. Also the masters program sounds really cool with 1 year at my home uni and then a year in Lyon graduating with 2 masters after 2 years 🤯

My questions: Basically I'm curious what the industry is like for translators. What kind of work any of you do that have studied translation? Is there a niche for translators that have a science background aswell? Basically any advice you have about going into the field of translation for someone who has no idea about it haha

Thanks ❤️

I do CN/JP>EN mobile game translations for an agency based in Hong Kong. For the past few years I've been charging $0.08 usd per word and I was wondering if this is considered high or low. Does anyone know what the normal rates in HK are? I don't really have anyone to ask. Some projects from the agency are asking for even lower rates too with the rise of AI...

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for a bit of honest advice, since I don’t really know anyone personally with the relevant experience.

I recently completed an MA in Translation Studies on a 100% theoretical pathway, without having studied any related subject previously (I applied on the basis of my professional experience in the field, plus a bit of non-academic published writing). I got a good grade overall for my degree and a high distinction (78, UK pg grading system) for my dissertation itself, and my supervisor made it clear I could pursue the same theme at PhD level if I wanted to, since it’s in line with recent developments in the field and brings together ideas from different related areas.

The thing is, while I do want to pursue a PhD eventually, I don’t really want to do it on this theme, which was partly chosen and adapted to meet the requirements of my master’s and the research interests of the tutors. At the same time, I think it does represent a potential contribution to the discourse, since it addresses a very specific issue that’s been hinted at but seemingly overlooked within the literature until now.

I’ve found an OA journal that I think might be suitable for publishing it, but since making a submission would require me to write an entirely new text based on my dissertation (at around a third of the length), I thought I’d look for honest opinions on whether this is realistic. I don’t really have any academic cv beyond my master’s (although I do also work as an academic translator), so I’m worried they might just reject my text out of hand based on my lack of previous academic activities. Then again, I suppose I could always make that text available online in the case they didn’t accept it. I should add that this a small but legit double-blind peer reviewed journal, without any financial aspect on either side.

I’d appreciate any honest, good-faith advice from those with any related experience. Many thanks in advance for any responses!

So, as in the title, I'm currently working on a novel and since I've always used CAT tools, I thought that I'd do that with this too, but I feel like it's not working for me as it should. I'm doing it old school with 2 windows side by side, but I figured I'd ask, maybe someone has an insight and knows a better way or maybe I'm doing something wrong?

My partner is in his first year of a PhD program in translation studies, and looking for work for the summer. Any suggestions on where to look for paid internships, etc?

I’m a 22 college senior who’s about to graduate. I recently decided to start being a freelance translator since I know how to speak, read and write fluently in 3 languages, but I haven’t done many assignments so far. I’m currently on an interview process with a translating company and they’re asking me my rates for VRI or OPI, and since I’ve only done in person assignments so far for interpreting Im not sure what to answer.

I do have the talent, I just don’t have the experience. I know companies are requiring 3-5+ years of experience for entry level and while I don’t want to make it seem like I can’t do the job, I also don’t want to not know what the hell to do lol.

I want to include domestication and foreignization of certain book in my master thesis yet somehow I can’t catch the difference in between those two terms.

Hi, everyone. I am translating some work for a professor from German to English, but I am not formally trained in translating academic texts. Can you steer me towards some guidelines for translating texts to ensure I am sticking to a proper format? Thank you so much in advance for your help!

I want to register for the level 7 dipTrans but how am I supposed to already have a candidate number?

Hello!

This is more of an invitation.

Let me elaborate. I am a PM, interpreter, and translator in Mexico and, for a little bit, I was also a teacher at a small university. Due to scheduling conflicts, I had to quit, but the willingness to support my students is still there. They're in their 7th, 4th and 2nd semester and are already eager to explore what the career holds ahead for them.

So, I'd like to invite any interpreters and translators that would like to talk about their career, their passion, their experience, and their specialization decisions to broaden their perspective and encourage them to pursue whatever makes them happy.

It'd obviously be a virtual meeting, we can try and adjust schedules to make it work!

Thank you in advance (: