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The Best Perks Of Working As A Freelance Translator

seoMarch 28, 2023 1

In today’s day and age, there are various careers you can choose from when you become a certified translator. Each field has their pros and cons.

Translation is fairly unique. Translation can be a great career choice for a variety of people. If you love language, culture, and the ability to work from anywhere, then translation might be for you.

But in order to make that decision for yourself, let’s look at some of the benefits. Here are the top advantages of being a freelance translator.

Freelance Translation Benefits

Self-direction

One of the most fulfilling parts of any career is being able to choose what you do and how you do it.

The autonomy with freelancing is unrivaled. You can select what kind of clients you work with. You can select what languages you translate. And you can select what kind of field you translate for.

Furthermore, you are largely left alone to do your work in peace. This is one of the biggest advantages of translation as a freelancer.

Flexibility

As a translator, you don’t have to work 9-5 or fixed hours like a lot of other careers. You can choose your hours and even choose the weeks or months that you work.

If you feel like taking a vacation, you can simply do that at will. You control your clients and your calendar.

Flexibility means you can work virtually anywhere that you want and still earn a great living.

Income

The best translators are in very high demand. You can earn $50k, $70k, even $100k a year as a translator. The reality is, as long as people speak languages, translators will be needed.

And it doesn’t look like we’re moving towards a unified world language anytime soon. So if you can speak two languages fluently, you’ll be able to control your income for a long time to come.

Fulfillment

As a translator, you know that you’re helping people solve their problems. Sometimes this might be helping a business translate a speech so the rest of their team members can understand it.

Other times it might be helping translating negotiation documents between two governments that are working out a deal.

Or perhaps you’re helping a message reach to people in areas that typically would never be able to receive it otherwise. You can help people with education, government, business, entertainment, and beyond.

The sky’s the limit. But ultimately, if you love working with language and words, being a translator is an incredibly fulfilling path.

Become A Certified Translator Today

Getting the proper training and taking the right courses is key in becoming a good translator. It’s not enough just to simply be serviceable in both of the languages that you’re translating. You need to have an expert insight into the way that language and culture works.

For that reason, it’s best to contact TranslatorCertification.com if you really want to have a lucrative career in this field. That way, you can set yourself up for an enjoyable occupation for the long term.

Top Tricks: How To Improve Your Translation Skills

seoMarch 21, 2023 0

Translation skills are in great demand today. As the world increasingly becomes more connected, a lot of businesses and organizations need translators.

So if you’re considering becoming better as a translator, here’s what you should know about how to improve your craft, aside from starting with a course for translators.

How To Improve Translation Skills

Listen To Translation Examples

Listening to translation recordings is one of the best things you can do to improve your skills as a translator. Remote simultaneous interpretations, RSI, are when translators speak in real time.

If you want to perform this type of translation, it’s important to listen to recordings in the language you’re trying to translate. This will help you pick up on colloquialisms and other sayings that you may not understand at first.

Look At Translated Documents

If you’re going to perform written translations, look at examples of documents that have already been translated. This will help you understand how to improve translation skills fast.

Localization Study

Localization is another important concept.

This is when you translate a word in the native language to the target language. You want to be able to reproduce the content with the most accurate sentiment possible.

This doesn’t always necessarily mean using the same words. That’s why reviewing examples of great translations is key.

Look At Language Guides

Great translators are always learning their target language as much as possible. Look at guides, grammar books, and examples of the languages you’re going to be translating.

This will help you have a mastery of both languages.

Become Specialized

It’s true. When you specialize your skills, you can earn more and work less. There’s nothing wrong with being a general translator.

However, when you have a specialization in a particular field, whether that’s legal, business, or otherwise, you’re typically able to enjoy higher rates.

Keep it Simple

Unless you’re going into a very highly technical field, focus on words that are more commonly used. The more specific or complex the vocabulary, the less likely it is that people are going to need to translate it.

That’s because most of the world simply doesn’t use this type of vocabulary. If you have a specific project or client coming up, then it’s always okay and recommended to review complex technical terms.

Other than that, try to focus on the 80% of words that are going to be used in most of your translations.

Become The Best Translator Possible

When you’re a translator, you have the freedom to control your time, your income, and the kind of work that you do.

But it’s easier said than done. The best translators are continuing to improve themselves every day.

So if you’re asking “how to improve my translation skills?”, make sure you’re putting yourself in the best position to succeed. That way, you can secure your future as a top-tier translator for years to come.

The Four Main Types Of Translation

seoMarch 14, 2023 0

In truth, there’s no end to the types of translations that you might perform as a professional translator or interpreter after your translation certificate program.

However, like with anything, it’s important to understand what you’ll be dealing with most of the time. Therefore, it’s helpful to categorize the kinds of translations you’ll face.

In general, there are about four kinds of translations typically. Let’s look at what each one of these is. That way you can be prepared for them and focus on a type of career you want to have in this field.

The Four Categories Of Translation

Some people say there are 3 types of translation, or 8 types of translation, or more. We’ve found it’s helpful to put them into 4 primary categories:

Literary Translation

This type of translation is what it sounds like. You’d be translating fictional works like stories, poems, and novels.

With this type of translation, you have several challenges. First, you need to capture the tone of the original author.

Secondly, you need to make sure that the words used sound appropriate for the localization. Whatever language you’re translating to them, it might have different words or phrases for saying the same meaning.

It can take some time to get this just right. The best way to improve with this type of translation is to read as much as possible.

Professional Translation

This type of translation is used for professional industries like medical or legal. The goal here is to accurately translate the information as closely to the original text as possible.

You want to avoid interjecting your own personal creativity or wordplay. With this type of translation, the key is accuracy.

There’s a specific term that has only one correct version in the target language. You should only ever use that version. It can take some time to get used to.

Technical Translation

With technical types of translations, you may be translating documents that describe technical details, software, technology, or other concepts involving systems and math.

Examples include user guides, instruction manuals, or engineering mock-ups. Not only do you have to understand both of the languages well to do this correctly, you also need to understand the topic at hand.

You should be an expert in the field that you’re translating for. Keep in mind that beyond just translating the words, you also have to use the right formatting.

Every industry typically has their formatting preferences. Furthermore, the formatting that you use for one language may be different to another language.

So make sure to do your research before beginning this type of translation.

Administrative Translation

Businesses of all sizes need translation for their documents. They may need to communicate with regional partners or international locations.

So when doing administrative translation, you’re often communicating something that a manager said to a worker in another country.

Corporations commonly use these types of translators for their international organizations.

There are several categories of translations you can get into. The four categories above only scratch the surface. However, they do tend to be some of the most common.

When it comes to translating, keep your options open. Understand that if you specialize in a type of translation that’s already in high demand, you increase your chances of getting more work.

Learning Translation

Translation is no easy feat. You have to have a good grasp of language, culture, grammar, and human relations.

However, with the right skill sets under your belt, you can become the best translator possible. That way you can earn a lucrative income and oftentimes you can work from anywhere.

Plus, you can work on exciting projects. So, continue your translation training today. Set yourself up for the career that you deserve.

The Biggest Translation Challenges Right Now

seoMarch 7, 2023 2

Certified translation can be a lucrative career, but it also has several challenges faced by translators. Becoming a great translator means you need to balance the challenges in translation and benefits. That way, you can avoid pitfalls before they happen.

So in this article, let’s discuss some top challenges you may face as a translator or interpreter. That way, you can overcome them with ease and enjoy a profitable and lengthy journey as a professional translator.

Problems Faced By Translators During Translation

Without further ado here are some common translation challenges faced by translators:

Culture

Every culture has its unique ways of wording things. There are specific colloquialisms to keep in mind. Additionally, what may be proper to say in one culture could be offensive in another culture.

Understanding these cultural differences is one of the main challenges of a translator. Remember, you should always keep up to date on what cultures consider acceptable and proper in terms of language.

The Structure Of A Language

Each language has a different structure. Some languages start with a subject, then verb, then object. Other languages use a subject, then object, then verb. Knowing the difference between these two can help you translate it quickly.

You need to have a good grasp of grammar in order to be an excellent translator. Sometimes words are combined. These are compound words. For instance, a couple of nouns or adjectives together can create entirely new words.

In English, examples of this are words like notebook, firefly, or childlike. Sometimes the words can have spacing between them.

Understanding these compound words is more challenging than simply looking at a dictionary. You need to know which ones are most popular in the languages that you’re translating.

That way you can be prepared to hear them or read them and translate them in real time.

Missing Terms

Words that exist in some languages don’t exist in others. For instance, one language may use a couple of different words and adjectives to describe something that is simply communicated with one word in another language. Understanding these missing terms and filling in the blanks will be one of the biggest challenges of being a great translator.

Words That Have Various Meanings

There are several examples of words that have more than one meaning to them. Some words even have the same spelling but an entirely different meaning. As a translator, you’ll be tasked with understanding the context of the translation you’re performing. That way you can use the correct words and identify the true meaning in that specific context.

Becoming A Great Translator

There’s more to being a translator than simply changing words from one language to another. It is a multifaceted career requiring certified translation. However, due to its challenges, it’s also very rewarding.

If you’re one of the select few who can overcome the difficulties of being a great translator, there are several awards waiting for you at the end of the journey. So continue to improve your skills, and you’ll be able to stay in high demand even as challenges get in your way.

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