11.28.08
Stay in Touch
To become successful a professional translator, you need to stay in touch. You need to be easily reachable to your boss or client. Today, many translation companies will send out emails to several professional translators once they get a job order. If you are not the first to respond, chances are, you might pass up a good job opportunity to someone else. So how can you be sure to be always the first to respond? One excellent way on how to accomplish this is to divert all your emails as text messages to your cellular phone. Call your mobile signal provider about this kind of service.
If you have one of those more advanced phones that pretty much function like a computer, then you can just check your email every hour or so. You, however, must be sure to get an internet provider that is reliable, meaning their connection is fast and does not fluctuate whether you are on the road or at home. Customers who see your promptness in answering their inquiries will have a greater tendency to depend on you; thus, entrusting you with more work.
Using fancy gadgets is only one of the ways to keep customers happy and to build your career. You may have all the technology in the world, but if you lack communication skills, you will still lose customers. You are most likely the same as any professional translator – transfixed to the computer monitor the whole day, living by yourself in your own little world. Such solitary lifestyle can be detrimental to your interpersonal communications skills, which consequently, can ruin relations and lead to loss of customers. Prevent this from happening. Be sure to take breaks when doing a project. Talk to your officemate or friend; this will strengthen your relationships and develop your communication skills at the same time.
When talking to customers always practice patience and kindness, especially if problems arise. If you are angry about something, settle it in a diplomatic, peaceful way. Flush out your anger by taking a deep breath or by taking a short walk. As much as possible, always make sure you maintain a professional and kind tone when discussing matters with customers. The same goes to emails. Writing emails when you’re enraged can prompt you to use unpleasant words, capital letters and exclamation marks excessively. Doing so will not settle an argument, but rather impel customers to look for other translators.
11.26.08
Be Sure to Get Paid
You toiled to finish a translation job for weeks, and then suddenly, your customer ran off with your hard-labored work without paying you a dime. This scenario may only be an offshoot of the imagination but it can happen to if you don’t know how to distinguish trustworthy customers from those who are not. True, by providing an excellent job you have a greater chance of getting repeat customers who pay on time and in a reliable manner; but still, taking extra precautionary measures will help you prevent problems in the future.
Researching a customer is perhaps the most commonly practiced precautionary measure of translators. Check your client’s tax records and reputation through various forums modulated by other translators. Another option is to check if the customer provides a PO (purchase order) or a binding contract that is worded according to the law of the county. A purchase order is often a PDF or Word file, or simply a statement within the body of a regular email. When checking a statement, make sure that it includes payment schedule and penalty policies.
When researching your customer make sure to check their email address. A customer, especially someone representing a large corporation, normally uses a corporate email address and not a Yahoo or Hotmail account. Write to the company to verify if your customer truly works for them and if he has permission to outsource the work.
An effective strategy you can do, in addition to researching, is to demand a partial payment for partial delivery. Don’t be too harsh though in your demands or your customers will be put-off and pass the work to other translators. The best thing you can do is to accept a smaller amount of work and wait until your customer pays. After trust is established, you can accept more work or perhaps bigger projects.
11.17.08
Is Proofreading the Final Stage?
After proofreading and editing your work, don’t be hasty in meeting up with your client. There is still one last task that needs to be done to complete your work, and that is checking specific terminologies. This is the time when you pull your incredibly thick dictionary out of the shelf, or look for the best electronic dictionary. In this age of course, you, just like many translators, will most likely choose electronic dictionaries over bulky paperbacks. Reasons for this are understandable. Electronic dictionaries are easier to use and far faster than leafing through hundreds of pages. Furthermore, installing an electronic dictionary in your computer allows you to save and compile terms that are not available in paper dictionaries.
Online dictionaries are also an option you can consider. You can use Google or your favorite search engines to find an appropriate translation for a term. The web actually has myriad of ways to help you translate or even define a term; it can introduce you to the company that uses the term or lead you to translation forums. The choices are limitless.
Larger documents may introduce you to terms that are difficult and require more of your time. Talk to your client. Tell him that you still need a few days or weeks to do more research, so you can provide a flawless translation. Your extra effort will greatly help win the favor of your client. Who knows? He might even increase your pay.
10.17.08
How to Find a Qualified Translator
Here are some guidelines in finding a reliable translator:
Look for a Native Speaker
Finding a native speaker of the language in which the work is supposed to be translated in is crucial if one wants to get the best result. A translator who only learned the language might produce work that’s not as good as a work done by a native speaker.
Ask the Price
The typical price for a translation into any language ranges from $0.12 to $0.15 per word. Translators who have been in the business for a longer time can give discounts for large volumes of work, like books or manuals.
Consider the Communication
An experienced translator has a reputation of constantly keeping in touch with his clients. Moreover, before he takes on a job, he will ask the client first about important details, such as the target audience and deadline.
Check if He Meets Deadlines
Having a native translator to do a project will still be useless if he cannot meet deadlines. Before hiring a translator, check his ability to deliver on time by asking his previous clients. Normally, an article will take two weeks to translate, while a whole book will take at least three to six months.
10.13.08
Launching a Translation Career
Launching a translation career is no different from starting a career in writing, except that it requires an additional skill. A language translator should know how to write in English, and in a second language.
Primarily, a translator should market himself as a writer. Clients must first see his ability to capture people’s interest through his writing before they trust him with translation jobs. In translating a document, it is not enough to change a document into a new language; it must retain the tone and message of the document.
Someone who is seriously considering a translation career should study the work of successful writers first. This will help him understand the limit of his creative license and the level of work involved in each translation project.
After fully knowing what translation is like, one has the option to be a freelance translator or to take a full-time translation job. In doing freelance, one can place an ad on newspapers or create a personal website to advertise one’s service. In choosing a regular work, however, one has the option to work for a multinational company, a non-profit organization or a government agency.
A translator who decides to do freelance must have a set of payment policies. He must determine whether he will charge per word or per page. Of course, before he can determine his method of pricing, he should check his experience first. If a translator is just starting out his price should be minimum, or even perhaps a little below the minimum. He can jack up his price when he already has a steady client base.
10.06.08
Translation and Interpretation: What’s the Difference?
The two terms are clearly worlds apart in definition, but surprisingly, there are still a few who cannot tell their difference.
Translation is the process of converting a text from one language to another; therefore, its focus is on written language. A translator reads and understands a document written in its original language, and then re-writes the document in the target language.
Interpretation, on the other hand, involves verbal communications. It is about listening and understanding a message said in one language, and then expressing it in another language. There are two types of interpretation.
The first one is Simultaneous Interpretation. This type is commonly practiced in meetings, symposiums or other forms of social gathering where the speaker has to deliver a message to an audience that speaks a different language. In simultaneous interpretation, the interpreter converts the message in a manner that appears as if he can anticipate what the speaker is going to say. Normally, simultaneous interpreters already have an idea of the topic, and have high degree of concentration.
The second type is Consecutive Interpretation. Unlike simultaneous interpretation, this one is not instantaneous. The interpreter first listens and understands what the speaker is saying in two to three sentences before converting the message into the target language.
10.02.08
To Be or Not To Be a Freelance Translator
Professional translators who are considering the freelance market may want to read this article first to know the pros and cons of their likely decision.
Pros:
- There is no need for a middle man; thus, a direct transaction with clients and no need to divide the fee.
- Working hours is flexible.
- It’s more comfortable and efficient to work from home.
- Break time can be anytime.
Cons:
- A middle man provides an honest evaluation of a translator’s skill. A translator that does not have one will most likely have a hard time gaining the trust of possible clients.
- It requires more discipline.
- Advertising and promoting one’s service will take up time.
- There is no guarantee of stable orders.
Choosing between going freelance or taking a regular office job is one of the most important decision a translator have to confront in his professional life. It is by carefully assessing his skill and lifestyle can he know which career path is the right one for him to tread.
09.01.08
Time to Send the Bill
It’s funny to see how a translator, who after feeling confident with his finished work, suddenly lose courage when its time to give the invoice. A budding translator often has this predicament. He is either too shy or he just doesn’t know if his timing is right. Experienced translators don’t know exactly how to overcome coyness; however, they recommend that an invoice should be given together with the translation, so clients can quickly forward the invoice to their accounting department; thus, ensuring a more timely payment.
Most clients are satisfied in receiving invoices created in a Word file. There is nothing wrong with it as long as the invoice is neat and contains necessary information like client information, type of work provided, business license number and payment information. An invoice need not be fancy; it doesn’t need to have playful fonts. A translator who has an unusual-looking invoice might only encounter problems with his clients’ accounting department.
A translator can be confident when its time to ask the pay due to him; all he needs is right timing and a well-prepared invoice.
08.19.08
How to Translate Poetry
Poetry is indeed a beautiful piece of literary art whose message can transcend through time; however, it is also one of the most difficult forms of writing to translate. Poetry can speak to the soul if one fully understands what it means. For someone who took a job translating poetry, here are a few tips that will help him explain a poem’s every verse while retaining its lyrical nature.
Read the piece repeatedly. Poetry is often a complex form of writing that has to be read over and over again to get its message. It would be impossible to translate poetry if it was only read once. When reading, a translator must read the piece forward and backwards; he should also focus on other elements like the tempo of every verse, repetition and techniques unique to the writer. Reading poetry aloud will help a translator hear facets of the words or phrases that was not noticed at first.
Get to know the poet. Of course, it would greatly help if the translator gets to meet the poet. Knowing what the poet was thinking and feeling during the composition will provide insights into the meaning of his work. One can also ask his influences and inspiration for writing. Translating difficult parts of the poem will be a lot easier if the translator and poet have an open communication.
Spend time. Translation poetry takes more than just a few minutes; it is often done in hours, or even days. Whether a translator uses translation computer software or a plain language dictionary, he must relay the complete message of the poetry while maintaining its aesthetic appeal.
After translating, a translator should take a breather first. He can take a week-long vacation or spend time with his family. Taking a break will a help a translator gain a fresh pair of eyes and an objective point of view.
07.28.08
Use Your Friends
There is no better set of people that can help develop one’s ability to speak a foreign language than those he usually hangs-out with. Friends, as many can attest, are good practice audience. One need not use the language he learned throughout conversations; a simple “Hello” or “How do you do?” will suffice. However, if one has friends that can speak the language fluently, he should talk to them using the foreign language; discuss with them the news, weather, sports, movies or just about anything under the sun. One must depart from his comfort zone in order to master his new language.
In public places or whenever one is apart from his circle of influence, the language should not be put on hold. One must be wary of opportunities where he can talk about his new language. For instance, when he hears someone speak the language at a supermarket, he should initiate a conversation with that someone. The conversation should not be all about the language; it must also touch some personal topics, such as the person’s hometown, job or hobbies. Introducing oneself to a total stranger and showing a sincere desire to know the person and the language they speak will not only develop one’s ability to use the language, it will also produce new friends.
