I'm pretty good at english and I've considered becoming a translator, (as that is something society finds valuable) and I was wondering if I could hear from someone with experience in the industry? I realise it might be different depending on which language you translate to and from (mine being swedish) but how is the market for translators/proofreaders in general? is it just as difficult as other freelance work where it takes years to build a clientele? Or is it more common to work for an agency or something?
There certainly is a market for the work, and the more flexible you are regarding what you can/will do, the greater your opportunities. The challenges faced by pretty much all freelancers are very much in effect in the world of translation. There are untolled complications and variables, to include differing certification bodies in different countries, differing requirements regarding certification by language, availability of work by geographic region, if one is savvy in the search for commissions via the internet, etc. etc. etc. I started as a military interpreter in the hush-hush world of sigint. Luckily for me, my diploma from the DLIFLC is an understood commodity in the world of interpreting and translating in the U.S.A. It opened many doors for me after my time in uniform. When I moved to Puerto Rico, I worked for an over-the-phone interpreting company (two of them actually) and when I tired of the torture of that kind of work I wedged open an opportunity with the United States District Court, District of Puerto Rico, where the river of documents in need of translation to English is never-ending. As a certified federal court interpreter and translator, I further secured my longevity by taking work no one else would take. Document translators tend to disdain being seen as DTPs and will refuse work that requires a highly formatted end product. They just want to deal with text. I take it all. I will recreate even the most complicated loan forms (they come up quite a bit in cases) with precision. I take Scene Findings Reports (commonly called Crime Scene Reports) wherein the the associated photographs are as gruesome as you could imagine, and render products with all the horrible images no one wants to look at. I take cases regarding crimes against minors, which people often don't want to know about because it will really tear your heart out. If it's physically possible for me to do, the answer is yes. Because of that, come Thursday of any given week, I'm turning away work because I'm already overcommitted. I am a one man show, but I know lots of folks who do work via agencies that get them work. I personally do not care to work in that fashion because I want to be able to work directly with the client, I want to be able to choose the work I'll take (agencies often go the route of most translators as I mentioned above), and simply because the work I have with just the USDOJ is more work than any individual could possibly do and I don't really need anyone to hunt for me.
Very interesting, thank you for taking your time to respond! Do you manage to write novels while you do this? Or are you too mentally strained afterwards?
I do, but... it also depends on the workload. Being your own boss isn't all it's cracked up to be. You're the only one accountable for whether you do or don't meet the client's needs/deadline, so sometimes it means working long hours. Also, you need to take stock of what your life needs are. I don't have a mortgage (bought my home outright) or a car note. My life is very low-cost and my hubby has a full time job as well. Also, moved this to the lounge as it is not a writing related question.
Thank you! One more question, do you think writing a novel in English and one in Swedish would help me showcase my skill in both languages, with the purpose of gathering clients, I mean?
Depends on the kind of clientele and the kind of translation work you want to chase. I do legal translations as 99.99% of my income. My translation of a story or novel will not serve as part of a portfolio for legal or medical clients. In those realms, the manner of translation (and interpretation) is highly governed, prescriptive, and requires a precision and faithfulness to the original material that is not necessarily the goal in the translation of a story. ETA: Let me add that the schools of thought, or mindset, or however you want to engage it, can be very different between one facet of the field and another; hence, people do tend to specialize. The kind of hyper-exactness I bring to bear in legal work would be horrible for a novel. In the translation of a novel one needs to take into account that sometimes things just don't translate well from one language to another, from one culture to another, and choices will need to be made as to how to alter the end product so that the intent, meaning, tone, pace, etc. is kept integral, if not the exact wording.
