Tips for Translators

Tests

noreply@blogger.com (Ostom) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 16:09:00 +0000

Tests

There is a considerable amount of controversy regarding the validity of testing translators. Many feel that they have been misused and are nothing more than a waste of time. If you are following the guidelines in this text so far, it should be fairly easy to respond to a request by an agency to take a test by offering work references and samples of work you have done.

However, if they insist, you can politely decline; you will not be paid for the translation work that you perform as a “test” and there are many agencies where you can offer your services.

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Translation Agencies and new translators

noreply@blogger.com (Ostom) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 17:09:00 +0000

Translation Agencies

Gaining entry as freelancer into most translation agencies can be difficult; most are extremely cautious when it comes to new freelancers becoming part of their networks. An agency has to consider several points; will the freelancer be able to meet deadlines and perform their translation tasks professionally with a consistent level of quality? Can the freelancer be trusted to consult relevant reference resources and also use the various registers effectively? All of these factors are important to agencies who regularly receive client requests for specialized translations; for commercial, technical, medical, financial industry use.

While there are some translation agencies that assign a seasoned translator to “mentor” a new staff translator, in the case of a freelancer, in addition to only accepting applications from those with at least 1 year full time translator experience, most agencies require at least 1 or 2 years of experience. Some may be considered with a “trial period” where all of the assignments are monitored to reduce the risk of a fiasco and its associated costs.

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8 points to remember when sending your resume

noreply@blogger.com (Ostom) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 17:07:00 +0000

8 points to remember when sending your resume

Although it was stated many a times , it bears worth repeating that the quality résumés, curriculum vitas, letters or applications that you send to an agency should be formatted appropriately.

Proofread Please: Translation skills encompass the ability to compose text correctly. Make sure that all of your sentences begin with a capital letter and are free from typographical errors.
State Your Languages: The language pair that you work with should be mentioned in the subject/ first paragraphs.
Build Credibility: Avoid making unrealistic claims in regards to your translations skills, many of the individuals that work with agencies are translators themselves.
Respect Your Reader: Avoid using all capital letters in your message; this is the written equivalent of shouting at a person verbally.
Respect Yourself: Advertising your translation skills as “cheap labor” demeans the translation profession.
Yen, Dollars or Euros: Quote your rates in the currency format that is appropriate for the language you are using.
Set Realistic Goals: A translator making the claim of completing more than 15,000 words in 24 hours sends the message that quality is unimportant.
Know Who You Are Writing: Make sure that you research the basic facts about who you are writing. You cannot send the same letter to a freelancer as you would a large translator agency.

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Where Do You Find Work?

noreply@blogger.com (Ostom) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 17:06:00 +0000

Where Do You Find Work?

Even with the help of the Internet, it makes sense to come to term with the fact that building a sufficient client base may take some time, perhaps 6 months to 1 year. However, that is no reason to become discouraged, even when you do not receive an immediate response to query letters sent to agencies; remember there are thousands of translators doing exactly the same thing. In addition, a response from an agency doesn’t automatically mean that it is a project that matches your skills.

As you work through the process of securing clients, the best advice is to focus on marketing your services, refining your skills and staying abreast of industry developments that you need to remain competitive!

There are many ways to promote your freelance translator services; weblogs (blogs), yellow page advertising, online translator databases, listings with translator associations, and translator job lists. You need to think “outside of the box” in terms of finding translation assignments, for example, take some time to research websites that could benefit from being translated into your target language.

Organizations that work with a variety of individuals from different countries such as consulates, embassies, or chambers of commerce who usually have a list of companies in your area that are affiliated with a certain country and occasionally need translation services.

Look to your area of specialization for leads; legal or medical organizations are prime candidates for translation services as are the groups that serve the expatriate community. Many of these organizations have community bulletin boards where you can post your business card and/or brochure.

Inquire regarding translation services at the county courthouse for the social service division, contact the law library and send your information to local police stations and law offices. For medical specialization, you can send a mailing to doctors in private practice, insurance companies, hospitals, medical libraries and support groups in your area.

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Translation, Technology and the Internet

noreply@blogger.com (Ostom) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 17:05:00 +0000

Translation, Technology and the Internet

The Internet is a valuable tool for freelance translators and the perfect medium for the underlying message of translation; this is a global marketplace where virtually every language is represented. How can you use the technology and the Internet to gain profit for your translation business?

Beyond the fact that the Internet has made the process of locating a translator much easier than ten years ago is one of the most outstanding. Translators from all over the world can make contact and network; exchanging ideas, news and referrals for assignments.

The Internet opens the door for world wide competition for clients as well. No longer can a translator make claims based on availability, especially with the number of translation agencies growing to cope with the increasing ranks of budding translators.

Translators using the Internet can avoid the impact of those who seek to limit entry into the profession to a small number of “legally qualified” persons; this “closed shop” strategy does little more than increase prices by restraining competition, as was done in medieval times in regards to the various craft guilds.

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Price

noreply@blogger.com (Ostom) — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 17:03:00 +0000

Price

Supply and demand has more real impact on the price of translation assignments despite the fact that many people tend to associate cost with the service. But the difference between price and cost is often called margin. The only way you can make a business profit is where both your margin and volume is high.

Charging “what the market will bear” and reducing working expenses to the absolute minimum in order to maximize margins is what every business person does, including freelance translators. If you are a translator for a language that is very hard to find they cannot make a profit, they will try some other business. That is the way the law of supply and demand works.

Translation is a labor-intensive activity, not a commodity that can regulated at a standard price and that is what many clients do not seem to understand; hence, the almost unrelenting pursuit of the fastest turnaround for the lowest price, usually results in translators being forced to sacrifice quality.

However, there are also many translators who have contributed to some of the confusion when it comes to pricing a translation assignment, by accepting and quoting fees for work without the benefit of having the text in hand, using a word count rate as the sole criterion.

This only reinforces the stereotype image of translators making the task of delivering quality work within a feasible period of time more difficult. Today there are many clients who simply choose a translator based on the price factor alone and unfortunately, offering this type of client a “quality” translation will not alter their perspective, for where does the translator exist that would not claim they will deliver a quality translation.

The danger for the translator in accepting an assignment “sight-unseen” with a short turnaround and low price is that all too often they receive more work than they bargained for, but there is no recourse at this point. In addition, the client who bases their decision these two factors has very little negotiating room if the work is poorly done.

This reality supports the need to constantly stay abreast of the developments the translation profession and promote your skills and abilities on a regular schedule. Although much of the work that translators perform may be highly confidential which prohibits them from being used as examples, there are many ways that a freelance translator can increase the awareness of the value of “quality” translations.

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Quality

noreply@blogger.com (Ostom) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 17:02:00 +0000

Quality

The accelerated pace of communication today have effectively created the illusion in many minds that because an assignment can be sent by email now, the work should require less time to complete. This expectation is the major cause of substandard quality in translation work. It is an unfortunate reality that many people do not value another language as highly as their own.

This is evident when a client places a higher value on a fast turnaround of a job rather than how well the work is done. The attitude held by many who are requested to provide translated documents is that they will not be read so accuracy doesn’t matter. Regardless to what a client may state to justify this attitude, the fact remains that usually these documents ARE read, and then the client will have to deal with the consequences.

Translators are valued for their ability not their inventories which means that clients have no way to judge our service except through recommendations. This method of acquiring assignments via referrals is the bane of new translators who are looking for their first break into the freelance arena, just as every translator has done before them.

With this in mind, if you are new freelance translator and accept an assignment that a more experienced translator has refused and complete it successfully, this can open the door to others.

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Time

noreply@blogger.com (Ostom) — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 15:09:00 +0000

Time

The pressure that many translators face today is the result of the chain of events that lead to a translation assignment. Translators are commonly called in at the end of a project to translate the sum total of the material that has been generated; contract specifications, training manuals or user guides are just a few examples.

The work that is required of the translator is the one that is usually more time restricted which means everyone connected to the project is anxious because there is no margin for error. In many cases, a missed deadline could result in millions of dollars being won or lost.

Although this scenario takes nerves of steel to navigate, the other side of this drama is complicated further by the sheer size of the assignment to be completed within a certain timeframe; expecting a single translator to manage a job of 1 million words in less than 60 days is completely unrealistic to anyone who is knowledgeable about the translation business, but unfortunately many agencies accept these jobs because they fail to accept that translators have limitations.

Translators who decline large assignments with unrealistic time restrictions from clients can be the reason for agencies making choices that favor new comers in the translation business and many times assignments are handled poorly, without the benefit of appropriate equipment.

Our professional is affected by time more than others; we are more often the last resort to salvage a project where other professionals, such as doctors usually have another means of remedy if they are unavailable, such as a hospital emergency room. Translators face more last-minute calls to perform work and usually the chance of referring another translator to do the work doesn’t exist.

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Domain Names for Indian languages in Indian scripts soon

noreply@blogger.com (Ostom) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 15:24:00 +0000

The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) announced in a seminar in Bhubaneswar the eastern city of India on Monday, in a National Workshop on Internationalised Domain Names (IDN) for Indian languages, its plans to make available .bharat suffixed web addresses in Indian scripts very soon.
Bharath is translation of India in many Indian languages.

Tulika Pandey, Additional Director, E-Infrastructure Division, Department of Information Technology said that right now the facility for IDNs in Indian scripts is available in 7 Indian languages but full efforts are on in to ensure this for the rest of the official languages in India.

She said that while it is going to bring a world of benefits to the internet users in the State of Odisa (formerly called Orissa) who are not very conversant with English language, the abysmally low amount of content available on the net in Odia language is a cause of concern. She urged all the stake holders to ensure rapid progress in content development in Odia languages.

Rajiv Kumar, a system analyst in the National Internet Exchanges of India, made a presentation about the options available for choosing Domain Names at present and added that it is a great opportunity for web developers and Domain Name Registrars.

Director of Odia Bhasa Pratishthan(Odia Language Institute) Dr Harihar Kanungo said that the move will help take Internet closer to the people of the State.

Pune based Associate Director of C-DAC Mahesh Kulkarni said that the facility to have names in Indian scripts opens up a lot of opportunities to organisations and developers but it also presents many technical challenges and security issues. The workshop is a result of the joint efforts of the ICANN and the Government of India.

Source: http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/25664-web-addresses-in-indian-scripts-soon-courtesy-cdac.html

• All rights belong to Ostom. • Use of this post is allowed provided this link is present at the end of the article. http://getdirectclient.blogspot.com
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HANDLING TRANSLATION ASSIGNMENTS: TIME, QUALITY AND PRICE

noreply@blogger.com (Ostom) — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 15:07:00 +0000

HANDLING TRANSLATION ASSIGNMENTS: TIME, QUALITY AND PRICE

It is especially beneficial when a translator can appreciate the position of the agency and vice versa. The understanding of both of these perspectives can be very valuable in terms of handling assignments. Some agencies may have been founded by translators who understand how to judge translation jobs, but in many cases that is not the case and in many cases, this leads to unrealistic expectations of translators in terms of turnaround time, quality of service and cost.

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Building Your Professional Network

noreply@blogger.com (Ostom) — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 15:05:00 +0000

Building Your Professional Network

No professional can operate successfully in a business void. It is just as important for you to network and communicate with other translators and their abilities so that you are in a position to recommend them to the agency when you are unable to accept an assignment. Referrals of good translators are highly valued by agencies, because it saves them time and will add another feather in your professional cap.

This builds goodwill with other translators and many will reciprocate, however if you find that they do not have this perspective, respect that and apply your energies where they are appreciated. Remember one hand washes the other in every business.

Being active and involved in the industry will help you to stay informed about the trends that play a role in your profession; machine translation systems, law and taxation issues are constantly changing and new agencies are opening all the time. All of these factors impact your work and the amount of income you are able to generate for yourself.

Of course, there are many translators that take the position that it is not important to pay attention to these types of activities; that regardless of what you do, it doesn’t make a difference. This pessimistic perspective is one way to determine the fate of your business. However dealing with the realities of business in most cases proves to be the more profitable route, because by and large, agencies prefer to work with translators who are responsible professionals and they judge professionalism by the manner you present yourself.

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Top ten # hashtags translators use

noreply@blogger.com (Ostom) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 06:24:00 +0000

Top ten # hashtags translators use

The # symbol, called a hashtag, is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet. It was created organically by Twitter users as a way to categorize messages.

Hashtags help you find interesting Tweets. People use the hashtag symbol # before relevant keywords in their Tweet to categorize those Tweets to show more

easily in Twitter Search. Clicking on a hashtagged word in any message shows you all other Tweets in that category.Hashtags can occur anywhere in the Tweet.

Hashtagged words that become very popular are often Trending Topics.

If Tweet with a hashtag on a public account, anyone who does a search for that hashtag may find your Tweet.

Best practice recommended by Twitter is to use no more than 3 hashtags per Tweet and use use hashtags only on Tweets relevant to the topic.

These are the ten hashtags very frequently used by translators

#xl8

#xl8n

#xl8marketing

#L10n

#g11n

#languages

#t9n

#tm

#translation

#glossary

Source Twitter.com

• All rights belong to Ostom. • Use of this post is allowed provided this link is present at the end of the article. http://getdirectclient.blogspot.com • Hire me for translation into Bengali and Hindi www.indianscripts.com/ • Visit my Blog on Indian languages http://motso.wordpress.com

How to Successfully Influence Agencies

noreply@blogger.com (Ostom) — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 15:04:00 +0000

How to Successfully Influence Agencies

How can you improve the odds of receiving sufficient assignments to generate a consistent income? Beyond adopting best business practices that have been outlined so far in this text, there are other tasks that will gain you influence when you are working with a translation agency.

First and foremost, take your business seriously. Keep in mind that the translation business is as competitive as any other, it is your primary duty to “mind your business” to help agencies keep your business in their minds. Organize a regular promotion schedule; postal and email letters to remind them of your abilities and activities in the industry.

You should send updates when you achieve a new level of accreditation or add an innovation to your service that responds to a need in the market. Think of your business in public relation terms as well; there may be an opportunity for you to work with an agency that advances not only your prestige, but also that of the translation profession via your relationship with the agency.

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test

noreply@blogger.com (Ostom) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 14:20:00 +0000

This is a test whether my posts are getting published. Thanks for your visit.
+Ostom
--------------------------------
• All rights belong to Ostom. • Use of this post is allowed provided this link is present at the end of the article. http://getdirectclient.blogspot.com • Hire me for translation into Bengali and Hindi http://www.indianscripts.com/
• Visit my Blog on Indian languages http://motso.wordpress.com

Payment Arrangements

noreply@blogger.com (Ostom) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 15:02:00 +0000

Payment Arrangements

Now that the assignment has been completed, you know you will be paid for your work, but the question is WHEN? Some agency contracts state payment will made in 30 days, for other agencies you may have to wait 45 to 60 days. It is rare to find an agency that issues payment in less than 30 days with the average being closer to 40 days.

In the event that the payment fails to appear after 45 days, a calm telephone call to the agency is in order to first find out where the problem exists and if there is any action required from you to resolve it, i.e., the invoice has been misplaced and you need to send another.

In addition, if you are working with an individual client, this does not exclude the possibility of late payment, work agreement or fee contracts notwithstanding. Both agencies and individual clients are human beings, subject to the same frailties, memory lapses and bad business practices. It is worth remembering that in many cases of corporate business transactions, bills are not settled before 90 days. However, if an agency has stated in writing that you will be paid in 15 days, you are well within your rights to expect them to keep their word and if they fail to do this, seek a remedy.

If the waiting period for payment elapses and payment is not received, there is no reason to expect the worst, it is important for you to keep your wits about you, remember you are a professional translator, not a starving artist. First investigate the method of payment delivery. If it was being sent by regular land postal service, it may simply be delayed in transit.

This is particularly true of international mail. A letter being sent from Norway to New York has to pass through a variety of countries with different postal systems and this may not be a simple pass through operation. Allow a few days beyond the due date for this as well as the fact that although a check is processed on a certain date, does not guarantee that it will be mailed immediately.

When three to four days beyond this time period has passed, it is now time to take action. As stated earlier, you can also call the agency directly and speak with the accounting department or the person responsible for freelancer payments. Or you can write a letter that politely reminds them of their past due invoice.

Enclose a copy of the original invoice and keep a copy of all of your correspondence. Allow a few days for them to receive the letter. This is usually sufficient to receive a response from the agency or individual explaining the reason for the delay and assuring you that your payment will be sent directly.

However if your letter does not receive a reply within a reasonable period of time, a call to the office becomes mandatory. Retain your composure, be polite but at the same time, request confirmation of your payment. If you receive a response that is less than enthusiastic or unconvincing, be sure to make a note of the person’s name and their department.

Unfortunately there are times when people fail to keep their word even after receiving a reminder in writing and a phone call, which requires you to write a second letter, with emphasis on the facts of the matter. Your language in the second letter needs to be direct, firm with a demand for information, followed by a fax and/or a phone call to the agency, specifically the person responsible for payments.

Enquire of this person the status of your payment and then make your position clear: if you do not receive payment within 10 days you will begin the process of reporting them to the proper authorities in business and the translator organizations, as well as the community of freelance translators in addition to beginning legal action.

In most cases, contacting the Better Business Bureau can be the most helpful in resolving situations where agencies fail to honor their payment agreements. In addition, many professional organizations respond quickly to complaints of this nature, to prevent damage to the integrity of the profession.

The reciprocal relationship that exists between agencies, professional organizations and translators creates an urgency to handle such disputes tactfully and hopefully avoid costly legal action. The US-based members of the American Translators Association have the benefits of being able to use the collection services of Dun & Bradstreet at a good rate.

There are certain practices that apply to all professions, and keeping a detailed record of your freelance translator assignments is one of the best to allow you to operate your business confidently and profitably.

This practice will give you the ability to proceed through situations of all types, even the unpleasant ones with persistence and patience, until the matter is resolved. The primary point here is that good business ethics and procedure must always be supported with application of common sense and organization.

However an agency failing to pay on schedule is not the only issue that should keep you on your toes. As translation is a business of being paid for words, the word count of your assignment is subject to cause a problem, due to the approximate 10% variance in the way different word processors perform the word count. While many agencies will accept the word count of the translator, there are some who will use their in-house word processors to arrive at the word count that they will use to issue your payment.

If you are working with an agency consistently, it is in your best interests to investigate which method they use and if they perform their own word count, which word processor they are using. Some agencies may use a word processor with the lowest word count as a means to reduce costs.

When you find yourself in this situation, discuss the issue with the agency without being accusatory or disrespectful, and you should find that the agency is willing to split the difference between the two word processors, as well as come to terms with how future word counts would be calculated. You can be polite and reasonable, but insist that the verifiable facts determine the issue.

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Delivery

noreply@blogger.com (Ostom) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 15:01:00 +0000

Delivery

You have completed your translation assignment and now it is ready to be delivered. If you are fortunate enough to have clients within your area, you could deliver the assignment personally. But outside of this scenario, you need to clarify with the client how they want their work delivered. The terms of delivery can change due to external factors, i.e., a labor strike, technology failure or natural disaster or as a result of a request by client.

If you are sending a file via the Internet to a client, ask them to specify a distinctive file name to ensure that the document is recognized immediately and make sure that you use the proper document file extension, such as “.doc” or “.txt.” This is very important now that many email clients have filters that may delete a file that is named too generically.

You should include your invoice along with the assignment. Many agencies have a standard invoice form, but if they do not, ask them for the required information to create your own. Be sure your full name, the date of the invoice, address, telephone number, fax number and your company name if applicable.

A full description of the assignment, along with the details of the amount invoiced should also be included, i.e. the exact word count, word rate or project fee. It is a good idea to get a signed receipt for the delivery of the assignment and invoice to the company and keep a copy for your records as well.

Taking extra care to delivery your assignments on time or even better ahead of schedule is guaranteed to make an excellent impression on an individual client or an agency because translators are notoriously late. A good rule of thumb is to schedule the job delivery a day earlier to allow for the inevitable last-minute problems that arise.

When you have organized yourself to make the delivery, notify the client or agency that the file is on its way. Remember to thank them for the work, verbally and in writing when you send the file and include any vital information they may need in regard to the translation. These few extra steps can make the difference; it reduces anxiety and increases the possibility of being chosen for a future assignment.

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Got a lucrative job offer? Check for 6 warning signals!

noreply@blogger.com (Ostom) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 04:46:00 +0000

Got a lucrative job offer? Check for 6 warning signals!

1. Do you see your mail id in bcc?

2.Is the mail sent to a group?

3. Is the mail not addressed to you by name?

4.Is the mail from a complete stranger, just a name, no title, address, website, phone number ect.?

5.Is it from a free mail id like yahoo, hotmail, gmail etc?

6. Unrealistic time frame?

Just be on guard if some or any of these signals are there!All rights belong to ostom, Use of this post is allowed provided this link is present at the end of the article http://getdirectclient.blogspot.com

ENTERING THE WORLD OF FREELANCE TRANSLATION BUSINESS

noreply@blogger.com (Ostom) — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 14:59:00 +0000

ENTERING THE WORLD OF FREELANCE TRANSLATION BUSINESS

As we stated earlier, translation is a one-dimensional process in the minds of the majority of people: translators simply translate documents. However, there are business matters which translators must manage as well. Understanding the process of managing a translation job will help you navigate it successfully and hopefully avoid some of the problems you can encounter.

The Translation Job

After successfully acquiring a business client, it is important to have a clear understanding of their expectations. Many clients will discuss the translation job with you, but it is very important to confirm that the details of the actual document are the same as what you discussed with the client, i.e., the source and target languages, document length, time frame and format for delivery.

Beyond these basic requirements, you need to confirm that indeed you can translate it. You must be confident that you have the requisite knowledge and resources to deal with the material and that you can complete the work within the required timeframe and deliver the job in the format desired by the client. You will quickly tarnish your budding freelance translator reputation if you fail to deliver a job on schedule. Freelance translators who are late in delivering work are the number one complaint in our profession.

After you review the assignment, if there is any doubt in your mind regarding your ability to deliver the job on schedule, you must immediately contact the client and ask for more time. Many times this is not a problem, or in some cases they may suggest another alternative, for instance, allowing you to do a portion of the assignment.

The most important point to keep in mind is to communicate with client; this shows respect for the client’s needs and your profession as a translator. It is better to disclose potential problems in the beginning to have the time to resolve them. Delivering part of an assignment done properly and on schedule is better than delivering a completed assignment late and done incorrectly.

There many times when you are working with an agency that they may not be able to tell you accurate information about the material. If that is the case, it is best to review the material for yourself before you commit to a time frame. Ensure you have the complete material or inform them that your price quote will need to be revised when all the material is received. In addition, it is best not to rely on a page count, with the wide variance in typefaces; it is of little use for estimating a translation job.

With all of the material in hand, you must now do the actual translation. Working on a computer is a given, but it cannot be stressed enough: backup your work EVERYDAY. A CPU failure, hard disk crash, or virus attack, are technological facts of life. Invariably, each one of us has experienced one or more of these disasters, but the situation is made even more nerve-wracking if you do not have a reliable data backup system in place. The best way to handle this task is to take the same precautions with your computer data as you do with your finances.

Creating back up disks of your work enables you to continue working on your project, even if this means renting time at an Internet café to do so. Another very good idea is to upload your documents to the Internet. Yahoo offers a free “briefcase” service that allows you to access data from where ever an Internet connection exists, saving you room on your hard disk and your sanity.

The other major problem that freelance translators may face with a job involves terminology, the legibility or quality of writing from the source document or unusual use of phrases, idioms and dialect.

In some technical document translations, the problem may be that an equivalent word does not exist in the target language. If you encounter this situation, you must allow the client to make the decision on how to handle this. They may have a glossary of word to use or connect you to the person who is an expert in the field to assist you.

Especially with Indo or Asian languages, the printed quality of the original becomes a crucial issue when a handwritten document is then faxed to you. But if you receive a fax of document that was photocopied, the print quality can degrade tremendously. By all means make your request for a quality print source text. If that is not possible, you may have to enlist the help of your associates to help you decipher the text.

On the other had, the phrases, idioms and dialect aspect of a translation job can be challenging and you would be well advised to network with native speakers of your target languages to assist you with the understanding of these vital components of translation.

As you gain experience as a translation, begin to build a glossary of terms, idioms, dialect, neologisms as well as official translations for proper names of business and government entities. Find the method that is the easiest to work with so that you will be able to use this on a daily basis. This is a valuable tool for yourself as well as other translators.

If the content and context of the source document is substandard, what can a translator do? Unfortunately not much or as the saying goes: “Garbage in, garbage out” the translation will reflect the source document. Your task is to translate the document, not to act as copy editor and the client cannot claim it is a bad translation. Conversely, if the source text is well written, the translation should be as well.

However, if in the rare case of a truly incomprehensible document, your only recourse is to contact the client, inform them of the matter and afford them the opportunity to make the decision whether or not they want to proceed with the translation. If they decide against the translation, you will lose some income, but gain respect for your integrity in the client’s mind.

When you perform a translation, ensure that it proofread to be free of errors, omissions by yourself and at least one other individual with a fresh pair of eyes. This final step is important because after hours of look at the same text, you as the translator may miss something. Finally, it is worth stating again the importance of timely delivery of your work.

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CHOOSING YOUR FREELANCE TRANSLATOR PATH

noreply@blogger.com (Ostom) — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 14:56:00 +0000

CHOOSING YOUR FREELANCE TRANSLATOR PATH

When an individual completes their university translation training program, there is often a lot of excitement at the prospect of becoming a freelance translator. However, translation is just as competitive a marketplace as the world of finance; getting started is not as easy as you might think.

Although it is a good idea to gain working experience with a translation agency, many of them are reluctant on extending contracts to inexperienced translators, soliciting business clients directly is difficult without commercial tools, in addition to the fact that there are governmental and tax regulations to consider in order to become a self-employed person. All in all it can be an extremely complicated and frustrating situation. The question is: how can you maneuver through this maze so you can become a successful freelance translator?

As you near the completion date of your studies, it’s a good idea to seek out internship or trainee positions with a reputable “full service” type translation firms. Many times a translation agency may not have the immediate capacity or resources to hire you, but will be receptive to this type of arrangement, which will provide you with excellent practical training post which will help you gain practical experience in a commercial environment. In many cases, internships evolve into salaried positions or serve as an effective reference for a career in the translation business.

The income potential as a freelance translator will be much greater after 1 to 2 years as a salaried agency employee, plus it will afford you the benefit of real world experience with the circumstances that surround the business of translation. During this period of time, you will be able set aside funds to purchase the equipment and supplies you will need as a freelance translator.

The majority of your time with an agency will be under the auspices of a seasoned translator who will serve as mentor and oversee your work, they will guide you around the common pitfalls, help you minimize your shortcomings and maximize the areas where you excel by working with a variety of documentation, as well as the tools of the trade that are vital to every translator.

With practical experience as a translator in an agency environment, you are in a position to begin soliciting your own clients on part-time basis. Soliciting business clients directly, contracts and fees will be discussed in another section, but it is most important to discuss your activity with the agency to avoid conflict of interests.

To begin your freelance work quest, you should discuss the realities of freelance work with a few seasoned translators. As a freelancer, you will no longer be able to avail yourself of the agency equipment, you will need to invest in the tools you need to work on your own, in addition to creating a supportive environment to perform your work.

Prepare an introduction package that includes your personal details, curriculum vitae (resume) and a cover letter to a select number of professional translation firms, corporate and governmental translation departments, highlighting your work experience. Be prepared and willing to complete a free test translation.

In addition, you will need to enquire of the tax and governmental requirements to register as a self-employed person within your jurisdiction.

The goal is to acquire at least 20 hours of freelance work which will enable you to resign your agency position, which will afford you the time you need to solicit new business clients and support yourself. A freelance translator can earn as much in 20 hours as a full-time translator in salaried employment.

If you use these guidelines, you will find your entry into the business of translation much less frustrating and be able to establish yourself within a reasonable amount of time successfully.

All rights belong to ostom, Use of this post is allowed provided this link is present at the end of the article http://getdirectclient.blogspot.com

Having a Professional Translation Is Not Crucial

noreply@blogger.com (Ostom) — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 14:54:00 +0000

Having a Professional Translation Is Not Crucial

For many people, the lack of understanding of what is involved in a professional translation is the reason for this perspective. While the services of a professional translators may not be common knowledge, when a business needs to be certain that information will be conveyed in another language accurately, this is the best way to proceed.

If a translation in not professionally prepared, it can result in misunderstandings which can cause damage to the credibility of the organization. Translation of documents needs to be considered as seriously as when advice from legal counsel required.

All rights belong to ostom, Use of this post is allowed provided this link is present at the end of the article http://getdirectclient.blogspot.com

Machines Are Just As Good As Human Translators

noreply@blogger.com (Ostom) — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 15:00:00 +0000

Machines Are Just As Good As Human Translators

The individual who makes this claim fails to recognize that these software programs are designed by human beings and have a limited frame of reference. However, the subtleties of the languages that humans use to communicate with each other are more than just words. In many cases of conversation, it may be a gesture that infers a meaning to a word that changes its context.

Only a human translator is capable of distinguishing the impact of the gesture, its meaning to translate it appropriately. Language is dynamic, constantly evolving and expanding. The same holds true for literature and technical documentation, a computer program can accurately translate a group of simple sentences, but will fail miserably in its ability to incorporate the relationship and complexities of the text.

Photo credit Kevin
All rights belong to ostom, Use of this post is allowed provided this link is present at the end of the article http://getdirectclient.blogspot.com

Bacau - Welcome my friend from Romania

noreply@blogger.com (Ostom) — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 05:57:00 +0000

Welcome my friend from Bacau,
I see you are a regular reader of my blog specially the post http://getdirectclient.blogspot.com/2008/09/101-tips-to-succeed-as-freelance.html
In case you want to write to me you can do it by clicking the "contact" on top of the blog.
For my other readers please read my post -101 Tips to Succeed as Freelance Translator http://getdirectclient.blogspot.com/2008/09/101-tips-to-succeed-as-freelance.html and suggest any other tips which we can include here to raise the tips list to 151!
Happy reading
=Ostom

All rights belong to ostom, Use of this post is allowed provided this link is present at the end of the article http://getdirectclient.blogspot.com

THE BUSINESS OF TRANSLATION

noreply@blogger.com (Ostom) — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 14:57:00 +0000

THE BUSINESS OF TRANSLATION

Language. Communication. Translation. The value of translation and its role in the business world is not taken seriously by many people some. However, as people become more mobile and businesses seek to enter new markets, it is clear that indeed, translation is a much more crucial part of our daily affairs than we realize.

For the individual who intends to become an effective translator, whether or not you agree, it is in your best interests to approach the business of translation seriously to avoid unnecessary problems. In addition, you would be well advised of some of the misconceptions regarding the professional of translation:

Knowing a Second Language, Qualifies You to be a Translator

Unfortunately, this misconception heads the list as the most common. It is also the one that undermines many translation projects. While being able to converse, read and write a foreign language is admirable, that fact within itself is not the sole requirement by which a professional translator is measured, nor does it qualify the person to perform translations on a level that is expected.

A professional translator qualifies for this role by having a thorough understanding of their native language as well as the language of another country. Further, the skills required of a translator include being able to interpret the nuance of the source language into that of the target language.

This includes the social, cultural and historical influences that impact they way we communicate. In addition, all of these factors must be combined with the ability to effectively write the language so that it will be clearly understood by its intended audience. Without all of these ingredients being taken into account, an accurate translation is extremely difficult.

It Is Easy To Be A Translator

If the process of translating a document involved moving bricks or land moving equipment, perhaps it would be clear to everyone that translation can be an involved, complicated, mentally exhaustive task. A translator must focus their attention on two different languages simultaneously.

They must find a balance in the content and the context of two different languages. A translator must understand the information being presented in the source language and then find the best way to convey this understanding in the target language. This requires not only an excellent vocabulary, but also the knowledge of how the information they are translating needs to be presented in terms of phrases, metaphors, tone and intention.

All rights belong to ostom, Use of this post is allowed provided this link is present at the end of the article http://getdirectclient.blogspot.com

Why job offers are so low on oDesk, freelancer.com, scriptlance and other portals?

noreply@blogger.com (Ostom) — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 13:48:00 +0000

It's a mystry to me.

Who are those translators who work for jobs in these portals at 15,000 words for $150?

I see many translators gladly quoting for jobs in these portals for very very very low rates.

Who are the people who buy translation at such low rates? What do they do with such translations? Where are they used? Do they not care about about quality or standard?

Someone said the reason why these job offers are so low on such portals is simply the fact that the buyers have absolutely no understanding and/or respect for the translation market. They consider translators as mere secretaries who type their text, not much brain work involved, and who don't need to be skilled - after all, you only need a dictionary to be a translator, right?!

.All rights belong to ostom, Use of this post is allowed provided this link is present at the end of the article http://getdirectclient.blogspot.com

Secrets of Success as a Freelance Translator

noreply@blogger.com (Ostom) — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 16:11:00 +0000

This post is from my blog -Tips for Trnslators http://getdirectclient.blogspot.com/

THE INEVITABLE INTRODUCTION

What’s Inside These Pages for You?

“Secrets of Success as a Freelance Translator” is a bird’s eye view of the translation business from a practical and profitable angle.

Over the next few months I shall be writing posts on this topic. You are welcome to make your comments and ask questions.

The information is practical because it will address the specific realities of business procedures and profitable because we are talking about a profession, not a past time.

Because translation is a service, it differs from industry or commerce; translators do not keep an inventory like industries keep raw materials or commercial establishments keep finished goods. As an intangible, services cannot be stacked on a shelf.

However there are three criteria that are used to compare for products or services; quality, fulfillment time and price. If Product Number One is desirable but not affordable, Product Number Two is good and reasonably priced, but unavailable to you conveniently and you need it now, you look for the best alternative Product Number Three which best meets the criteria.

So what does that have to do with secrets of success as a freelance translator?

When a client calls a translator, they know that they cannot use the same criteria as when they are buying a product; there are no inventories, there is no “Product Number Two or Three,” because their translation is not waiting to be found.

This creates a dilemma for many clients who may not be comfortable in performing the task of finding the best translation service. Since this is an intangible, the client will use the only factor they can identify and use: the fastest turnaround.

Keep two words in the front of your mind; time and skill. That in essence is what your business as a freelance translator will revolve around and this is what the client needs to be assured that you can provide. The clock never stops ticking; as a freelance translator your grasp of this fact will enable you to identify and manage the tension and pressure behind every client’s call. Remember that the translator is usually brought into the picture as the step before the final production.

For every minute that a client with a job that needs to be done NOW uses to find a translator, time slips away that could be applied to the translation work, reducing your turnaround time potential. Using this logic with a client who is calling every agency in town because they need a 100 page document translation completed within a week, will help them stop “shopping” and get the translation started. In a business that is based on communication, the freelance translator must be the one in the exchange that keeps a cool head with both feet firmly on the ground of reality, in order to accomplish the turnaround time that is required to have the translation done properly.

In the pages that follow, you will gain insight and skills to handling this scenario in its many different variations. These methods have been proven by some of the most successful freelance translators. What makes them “secrets” is that they have been collected from all types of experiences from translators around the world.

Starting with the discussion of the “business” of translation and freelance opportunities straight through to how to equip yourself properly with the fortitude, skills, equipment and ability to attract and retain clients and finishing with some reference points for you to spread your wings and fly successfully in the rare air of linguistic communications. The information is presented to give you the ability to make the most of your particular situation, desired goal and motivation and be a great freelance translator. Good Luck!

All rights belong to ostom, Use of this post is allowed provided this link is present at the end of the article http://getdirectclient.blogspot.com/