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How/where to gain translation experience?
Thread poster: vivienneko
vivienneko
vivienneko
Spain
Jan 9, 2019

Hello!

I'd like to gain experience as a translator and practice somehow. But how do I do this? Where do I look? Most people need professionals with experience.
 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 07:26
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
Some ideas Jan 9, 2019

vivienneko wrote:
I'd like to gain experience as a translator and practice somehow. But how do I do this? Where do I look? Most people need professionals with experience.

Most people do, but not everybody. It's your job to convince them to give you a chance. For example, if you want to look for experience here on ProZ.com, you first have to complete every section of your profile, including some persuasive words in the About Me area. No need to say you're a complete beginner; instead, be prepared to take the time and trouble to deliver an adequate translation. Of course, it would be unwise to accept a highly technical translation first off, or an urgent one however straightforward it seems to be. Also be wary of people who contact you out of the blue to offer you enormous projects. Ask yourself why they'd do that. The answer is likely to be that they're scammers who have targeted you because you're more likely to take the bait.

While waiting for your first paid assignment, you can help yourself and others by answering KudoZ questions. That will exercise your research skills, you'll learn from more experienced answerers, and any points gained will help your visibility. Cloudsourcing translation opportunities include the TED Talks and through the Rosetta Foundation. Alternatively, maybe you could find something on the web in your source language that you think would be useful for your fellow language speakers, and offer to translate it for free. Not something commercial (never do that for free); rather something to do with a charity or association.

But even before any of that, have you had any training in translation? What makes you think it's for you? Just being able to speak two languages is a long way from being able to translate professionally.

Michele Fauble
Francesca Nicolini
Heike Holthaus
Wioleta Kwiatkowska
ferdi ferdian
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Wolfram Weinberg, PhD
 


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How/where to gain translation experience?







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