Becoming a translator

Does anyone know how to set up as a freelance translator?
I did French as part of my Business degree at Uni, and did 3 months working as a translator in Paris, then worked for a French company back over here in the UK for a year as a bilingual account manager. So I have a bit of experience working with the language and translating, and would like to set myself up to do it in my spare time to see how it goes. I don't have much specialisms - the job in France was financial markets, and the accounts work was steel and freight.

Unforunately I have no idea where to start - anyone done this? Is it worth joining a site, paying membership to it, and getting work through there? Do I need to register as self-employed and do things like that for tax? What do you recommend? Any useful resources?

I looked at being a pre-GCSE tutor as I've got a bit of language teaching experience but not sure if my vocabulary is good enough to do it off the top of my head - with translating I feel 'safe' having my dictionary to fall back on for some reason even though I'm supposedly fluent!! I suppose once I do a bit of translation and get back into it, I may feel confident tutoring.
Thanks in advance. I appreciate any advice.
:A
«1

Comments

  • tanith
    tanith Posts: 8,091
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    I really don't know how you would go about it but we used to have a translator come into hospital to translate for patients to explain their ills to the doctor , they were obtained through an agency and one of them told me she was paid heaps for just an hours work... nice work if you can get it....
    #6 of the SKI-ers Club :j

    "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing" Edmund Burke
  • Thanks, I'll look into that.
    I meant originally as translating text as I can do it anytime from home as I have a full-time job but will certainly look into that too!
    :A
  • Skint_Catt
    Skint_Catt Posts: 11,548 Forumite
    My OH's ex is Polish and has done some translation for courts. She said it was very badly paid and a lot of time waiting around which they don't pay you for.
  • save-a-lot
    save-a-lot Posts: 2,809
    Combo Breaker First Post
    Forumite
    Hi

    I work writing Safety Data Sheets and we use translation services as the document is a Global product and is produced in many languages, an SDS is used for movement of dangerous goods and for workplace risk assessments. I can suggest you make contact with the Chemical Hazards Communication Society or email them at chcs@chcs.org.uk or via the form on the website - http://www.chcs.org.uk/chcs-contacts.php as they are well respected and all areas of chemical, pharmaceutical, petrochemical industries use them, from multinational companies to smaller concerns. Someone there could potentially put you in touch with companies seeking your skills, worth a try anyway
  • Im a translator working in Germany. Heres what happens at our company:

    You send us your CV, then we send you a test document that you will have to translate, usually about half a page long. If we are happy with your translation then we add you to our translator database (after discussing prices), and then contact you if we have any work.

    I think its a similar process at most other transaltion companies as well. Just send your CV to as many agencies as you can find on google, even ones elsewhere in Europe - theres quite a bit of demand for native english speakers who are fluent in a foreign language.

    I would suggest you contact my company, but the pay is awful, and they only look for tranlators that work for peanuts
  • FreakyPete - thanks for the headsup, if you can send me a PM with contact details/any website you have, I'll look into it once I'm set up. How long have you been translating for? I'm going to be charging a bit less than normal while I get established, and offered friends a bit of a deal so I can get more work and practice.

    I've doing it, I've taken the plunge!

    Thanks to some kind people:
    -My boyfriend paid for a 6-month membership to a translators' workplace website where people share ideas, there's monthly meetings, and people advertise work, as well as free webspace and email
    -My friend is a graphic designer and is designing me a business card
    -My brother is an IT student and making me a basic website
    -I've emailed some people I've done things for in the past to get testimonials for my website.

    All I have to pay for is a domain name so I don't have to use my personal email address which is about a fiver. I'm going to a language show next week and looking into distance learning qualifications/getting credentials!

    I'll let you know how it goes in a few weeks!
    :A
  • DKLS
    DKLS Posts: 13,459
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    I use translators quite a lot on a number of projects, and find it useful if they have additional knowledge. Eg I work on a number of medical projects, so for a recent project I employed Chinese & Spanish Medical students from the local university.
    Being able to interpret transaltions is very handy too, as I discovered when translating video scripts, there is a big difference between spoken and written english. A word for word translation produced jibberish.
    If you have additional specialist knowledge, you should be able to get a higher rate of pay.
  • save-a-lot
    save-a-lot Posts: 2,809
    Combo Breaker First Post
    Forumite
    DKLS wrote: »
    I use translators quite a lot on a number of projects, and find it useful if they have additional knowledge. Eg I work on a number of medical projects, so for a recent project I employed Chinese & Spanish Medical students from the local university.
    Being able to interpret transaltions is very handy too, as I discovered when translating video scripts, there is a big difference between spoken and written english. A word for word translation produced jibberish.
    If you have additional specialist knowledge, you should be able to get a higher rate of pay.

    Ditto - our translators have scientific knowledge and are able to translate in the correct context. Having some form of business knowledge of the sectors you translate for will get you better paid jobs as DKLS states.
  • ASK Translation agencies.

    My ex partner is a translator and when she first came to the UK in 95 she contacted all of the translation companies in the area. Most of them use freelancers a lot. Within 12 months she was turning work away because she was too busy.

    She found the translation companies in Yellow pages.
  • That's great - thanks. Atm, I'm getting sorted with a business email address and domain name but these recommendations will help. I have experience in financial/stocks translation as well as steel industry and energy markets, so hopefully this will all come in useful!
    :A
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 342.4K Banking & Borrowing
  • 249.9K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 449.4K Spending & Discounts
  • 234.6K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 607K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 172.8K Life & Family
  • 247.4K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 15.8K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards