Tips for a beginner freelance translator. “This is an absolutely thankless profession”: young translators on the pros and cons of their work What you need to start making money with translations

On the one hand, in the global world, the profession of a translator is in high demand. But at the same time, why learn another language if there is a universal English that everyone tries to speak one way or another? Thirdly, competition in the profession is very high, and machine translation technologies are actively developing. T&P learned from five young translators what it is like to constantly be an intermediary between different cultures and how one more linguistic subpersonality helps in life, as well as about the joys of a successful formulation and the social significance of their case.

Anastasia Pozgoreva

translator from English

“You don’t just translate, but recreate the author’s text in another language”

In working with English, I tried a lot of different formats and topics, and eventually found my niche - I specialize in reverse translation. Of course, I also translate from English, the professional tradition has developed in such a way that usually a person translates into his native language, but any skill can be developed with practice. A huge bonus of working with the most common language in the world is the ability to choose any topic. I would never undertake to translate something medical, but I am happy to work with the museum and exhibition complex "Institute of Russian Realistic Art", I translate exhibition catalogs and captions for exhibits for them, because it is very close to me.

I don't think the machine will ever replace the human in translation. On the other hand, now there is practically no market for interpreting from English. Most of all I liked to translate at negotiations and meetings, but the demand for this is now almost gone. Most likely, now a large employer will simply not hire employees who do not speak the language. It is good to know the language as an addition to some other profession. I also had to retrain along the way and do more management, marketing and online sales. I'm coordinating the translation service for a global company: a large organization needs marketing materials in 35 languages. As a translator, I work on recommendations, I have never had to look for a job.

Recently, people around have become noticeably better in English, but this is more of an achievement state system education, but the Internet and the ability to travel. English is still relatively easy. I now feel quite confident in any work with English, although I am not a native speaker. The difficulty for a non-native speaker is mainly articles and commas, in the correct use of which we can never be one hundred percent sure. These nuances are best asked to proofread by a native editor.

The people I've met in the English translation industry tend to be much older than me, in their mid-40s, who have dedicated their entire lives to this work and are probably not ready to change anything. Very young people work with translations for about a year, and then they want to move to another area. After all, translation is a fairly monotonous job that requires perseverance. The pace of life has accelerated: people want for a short time learn as much as possible, and not focus on one task.

Not everyone is able to work as a simultaneous interpreter from English - even if they have the appropriate education. It requires special personal and cognitive qualities. I sometimes do synchro for fun, but it would be very difficult for me to do this as my main activity.

The specificity of translation from Russian into English for me is that a lot of cultural and other realities have to be given in transliteration or descriptively. When translating, the most important skill is to have a good sense of style and transcreation (transcreation = creative translation). For example, once the “minibus driver” in the context had to be translated as “kamikaze driver”. Transcreation requires a lot of time and effort: you cannot translate directly, you need to comprehend the text all the time and redo something. But as a result of the work, the feeling of belonging is especially dear to me. You feel like a colleague of the person who wrote the book. After all, you do not just translate, but recreate the author's text in another language.

Customers very often do not understand how much time it takes to translate. According to the conventional norm, one page, 1,800 characters, is translated per hour. But if a translator approaches his work responsibly, he will definitely understand the terminology, proofread and edit. With this approach, it is difficult to comply with the temporary norm. And they often do not understand that translation is, in principle, difficult. Just think: I took it, translated it, especially from English. In general, long-term communication in any foreign language is a big load on the brain, you get tired physically and mentally from this.

Sonya Grigorieva

German translator

"In another language, you're just a different person"

I studied international journalism at MGIMO and just last year I graduated from the master's program. In my last year of undergraduate studies, I started translating from German and into German in the theater. 2012 was the Year of Germany in Russia, when I worked at the New European Theater (NET) festival, which was entirely dedicated to Germany. It was so cool that I started thinking about it as a possible future professional activity. Since then, I have been working as a translator - mainly in the theater. It can be tours, when German troupes come, for example, to the Chekhov Festival. Or joint productions, say, at the Bolshoi Theater, when a German soloist, set designer or conductor arrives. Less often I work with dramatic performances, but this is very interesting, I was lucky to translate in Praktika and at the laboratory of the Moscow Art Theater. Chekhov and the Goethe Institute. I also translate all sorts of normal things that are not related to the theater, and I work on cultural projects at the Goethe Institute.

In general, if you want or need to work hard, this is not a problem, there are a lot of opportunities. The main thing is to understand what exactly you want to do, to develop your own structure. My situation seems perfect to me. Perhaps this is because I have not been in translation for 10 years yet - I do not feel tired of the monotony. In fact, this work is very diverse both in content and in rhythm. There is a day when you work 10 hours in a row: you are the only translator and you are tired. And the next day, only a couple of technical moments can fall out.

As you know, at MGIMO you learn the language you were assigned to (since the institute is connected with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which needs specialists in all languages). I don’t even remember exactly what I indicated when I entered, but I got German. I accepted this choice, and everything worked out very well with him. They say that when you learn another language to a certain extent, it's like you gain another soul. I think this is absolutely true. I have seen this many times with friends. In another language, you're just a different person.

I feel very comfortable in Germany and in the German environment. I am glad that no one can ever determine what my accent is, which means that I am not perceived as some kind of alien element. When I work with Germans here in Russia, I also cannot say that I see in them representatives of some completely different culture. Yes, they always turn off the lights when they leave the room, they try not to use plastic bags, they say that it's too warm here and we don't save electricity at all, but these are rather trifles.

Translation translation strife, it all depends on the situation. I translated at the Golden Mask award ceremony, when you need to go on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater or the Stanislavsky Theater and translate in front of a large audience. This is a completely different feeling of yourself and language than when you translate the same important people, but within the framework of armchair negotiations.

It is very difficult to translate on the move without preparation, but it happens. Once I translated almost impromptu to lectures at the Museum of Military Uniforms. Usually there is an opportunity to prepare, to look at the terminology and special vocabulary in advance. And here, with the lecturer and the audience, we practically played the game “guess the word from the description”, I translated the details of the military uniform descriptively, and they told me correct names. A special case is when it is necessary to translate director's comments during rehearsals. Here it is important to very accurately convey often very complex philosophical concepts so that the intent and interpretation are clear. Recently at the Bolshoi there was Shostakovich's opera Katerina Izmailova, staged by Rimas Tuminas, and the German soloist had to translate about "consciousness". In German, this is a more complex concept associated with "conscience" ("Bewußtsein"), and such abstract phenomena are more difficult to convey than technical points.

Most of the actors and directors I work with speak English, but at a level that is sufficient for basic everyday communication. For real workflow and rehearsals, a translator is needed. On the one hand, this is an additional intermediate link in communication, on the other hand, it is a guarantee of a more complete understanding, and the interpreter must feel when to leave the conversation, and when, on the contrary, to help and explain.

It seems to me that one should not exaggerate the omnipotence of English at all. IN professional field there always comes a moment when a person must speak in his native language in order to say exactly what he wants. Besides, I had interesting experience working with young actors: it would seem that people of our generation who should know English fluently, because all the films and TV shows around broadcast this linguistic reality anyway. But the time when it was possible to study the language, they completely spent on their careers, so at the age of 25-26 they cannot work freely with English, translation is still necessary. If I had another life, I would probably try to do something of my own in the theater. This is probably why so many critics at some point try themselves as creators in their area of ​​​​interest, but often turn out to be so-so. So while I really enjoy watching this world, the theatrical environment is incredibly enriching and developing.

Denis Viren

Polish translator

“We have a lot more in common with the Poles than it might seem”

With the translation and the Polish language, everything happened quite by accident. I studied at VGIK as a film critic and thought that I would use Polish in my studies, and then I worked as a translator at the Moscow Film Festival a couple of times and after that I began to take on a variety of orders.

When I first learned Polish, I had the feeling that it was a rare language (for example, Polish has such a status in publishing houses). But over time, I discovered that this is rather a misconception. Firstly, quite a lot of people learn Polish just for themselves. Secondly, it turned out that there are quite a lot of translators from Polish, and for them, in turn, there is quite a high demand. It would seem, who needs the Polish language? Many Poles of the older and middle generation still know Russian, and if they do business with Russia, then, as a rule, they all the more speak Russian. Young people most likely know English, and they do not need an interpreter from Polish. It turned out that this is not the case and the translation is really needed. I know more about the sphere of culture, where major events are regularly held. For example, the theater festival of children's performances "Gavrosh", where Poland was the main guest last year. So it's hard to talk about competition in my business. In fact, there are a lot of niches, and everyone can find their own.

We have much more in common with the Poles than it might seem. Poland positions itself as a country that tends more towards the West. This is certainly true, but at the same time, the geographical and historical aspects still make themselves felt, you can’t get away from this. Poland is somewhere between East and West, and this is one of the main reasons for its specificity and the fact that it is a very interesting country from many points of view, including cultural. At recent business negotiations I drew attention to the difference between the Polish and Russian mentality - to the fact that, for example, the Poles who are engaged in business are very specific people. This is very felt in their manner of speech: they know what they want to say. Our businessmen have more confusion, chaos, so a conversation is often a kind of stream of consciousness. I think this is due to the fact that the thought process continues during speaking, and Poles are more likely to think everything through in advance.

I often hear fears that because of English as the language of international communication, local languages ​​like Polish will not be in demand. But practice shows the opposite. It often happens that people who even know English well say: “No, I want to speak my native language. Why, if there is an interpreter from my native language, will I express my thoughts not as fully and not as vividly as I could?

A translator is always more than just a translating machine from one language to another. The human factor is very important here. There is a very special bond with the one you translate, especially when you work together for a long time. On the other hand, the human factor can complicate the work. Here, customers have a strange idea of ​​translators as people who, firstly, must be available all the time, and secondly, they love their languages ​​so much that they can work simply because it pleases them. I can still understand the first point: apparently, these are the costs of the profession. The second point seems to me completely wrong, and, according to my feelings, this state of affairs has begun to change a little. There is respect and understanding that it is hard work, sometimes physically difficult.

Roman Bondarenko

Japanese translator

“In Russian everyday life, I don’t encounter my Japanese subpersonality”

I really liked the sound of the word "arigato", and I decided to learn Japanese. I studied at ISAA at the Department of History and Culture of Japan, so I was supposed to study the language and translation technique in full. It was quite tough training and very useful.

In 2014, I got a job as an interpreter at Baikonur. It so happened that to launch the Japanese satellite, they were looking for trilingual translators with Russian, English and Japanese. Our department issued a certain list of specialists, where I went after the teachers, but at that moment they all left to work for the Olympics in Sochi. Now I'm still working with French and getting my Spanish up to working order, so I don't even know what I should be called. Quintiling, probably. I feel that knowing Japanese in itself commands respect. For some reason, people think that learning Japanese is very difficult.

Part of the Japanese picture of the world was very clearly explained to me at the institute, and part I had the opportunity to experience for myself. As for the financial return from working as an interpreter, I will say that you need to know the places. There are many sites that are full of not even ads, but rather requirements like “we need an ideal specialist, already yesterday and for a thousand rubles a day.” It is simply unrealistic to work on such conditions, but, apparently, there are still people who need experience or really need money - this is the only way I can explain that such ads appear all the time.

A translator is a person who is designed to provide interaction between two parties, in fact, a live interface. I'm pretty sure it can be replaced with a mechanical one at some point in about 90% of the cases. A qualified translator is a guarantee that people will understand each other and they will not have to take into account the risk that a busy manager with knowledge in English did not understand the busy leader with knowledge of Japanese. This is an opportunity to delegate the guarantee of mutual understanding to the human interface.

In terms of interest, only my experience as an interpreter at a karate training camp in Russia can be compared with work at Baikonur. Shihan, a 9th dan master (higher than sensei) came. I have never practiced karate, and I wanted to understand an unfamiliar environment in a minimum amount of time, master the terminology and mimic one of them. I remember that at one of the training camps, one of the honored sensei from the Russian side approached me during a break and asked me not to shout. And we are in the gym where 200-300 people train at the same time, I translate the commands, and they must be pronounced loudly, including phrases like “So, hand over the black belts to me after training, I will take them to Japan and send you brown ones instead” (which means downgrading). I can not mumble such phrases! No, I convey the same emotion when translating. That's how I shouted, being in full right, at 300 people, who represent a formidable enough fighting force.

I heard the theory that with each language learned to a certain level, a separate linguistic subpersonality develops in a person, which bears the characteristics of the mentality of the people who speak this language. This may be due to grammatical structures, such as the dominance of verbs in Spanish. I have a strong enough Japanese sub-personality that when I speak Japanese, I am a completely different person. But in his Russian Everyday life I'm not particularly familiar with the Japanese subpersonality. There are some concepts of the Japanese worldview that are very attractive to me. For example, "ikigai". Approximately it can be translated as “the meaning of life”, but more precisely it is something like “goal”, “direction”, “path”. The Japanese think much less in abstract terms, they are much more specific. Therefore, haiku poetry is like a magnifying glass on a particular moment. In observation, the Japanese are very strong, in contrast to theorizing.

Alexandra Bibikova

Italian translator

"People often ask me: 'You know Italian so well, why don't you leave?'"

My choice of profession began with a rather vague desire to become either an interpreter or a writer. It's just that I've always been inspired by the fact that translation is needed to facilitate understanding between people. We often do not understand each other in the same language, and even more so in different languages. I studied at the philological faculty of Moscow State University and chose Italian simply because I fell in love with Italy, with the language and culture. I remember one of my first interpreting experiences: I helped an Italian director who came to Russia to make a film about icons. He was interested in the Savior Not Made by Hands, since in Italy this genre is much less common. It was both very interesting and difficult - a specific topic.

In the end, I realized that I like both oral and written translation, the most important thing is what to translate, the topic. For example, I am not very inspired by the routine work on documents or the negotiations of oilmen. I'm ready to take on something like this, but it's important to me social significance my work. For example, now the help of an interpreter is often required for paperwork for adoption or for medical support.

I would say that translation is an absolutely thankless profession in the sense that those who can pay for this work usually do not see him as a worthwhile person. Often the customer wants to pay less or is not always respectful. So the translator is far from the most profitable and respected profession. But still, I can say that in Moscow many graduates work in one way or another by profession, in particular with the Italian language. And here, as in many other places, it is important to be quick, to be able to get into the professional environment, the very skill of communication and the ability to make acquaintances and keep in touch are important. In the work itself, it is very important to understand the life realities of the country whose language you are studying.

People often ask me: “You know Italian so well, why don’t you leave?” In sunny, carefree, friendly Italy, it is now very difficult to find work for both Italians and visitors. So it seems to me that working with the Italian language professionally in Russia, in Moscow, is easier than there. There are a lot of pitfalls in Italian. You will never stop improving.

My job is a constant compromise between what I want to do and what I'm paid to do. It can be quite dreary, you have to sit at night with several orders at once. No matter how well you do your job, there are still dissatisfied customers, and something has to be redone, re-arranged. But if you are translating not only for money or praise, you will find a lot of inspiration and pleasure. There is always a challenge in the work of an interpreter. For me, it was such a challenge to translate Italian poetry. When my colleagues and I were working on a book of poems by Corrado Calabro, it was supposed that I would make an interlinear translation, and then the poet would process my material into poetry - in this way we would have such a joint translation. As a result, my interlineators were published as something that is closer to the author.

In translating poetry, the most difficult thing was to convey the realities of Italian life into Russian. For example, there was a poem called "A targhe alterne", and such a concept simply does not exist in Russian. Targhe alterne is such an Italian law, it is aimed at limiting the flow of cars in the city center. According to this law, on even days, you can enter the center only by car with even numbers, and vice versa. Of course, the Italians will find a way to get around almost any law, and almost every family has two cars: one with even numbers, the other with odd ones. Nevertheless, such a restriction exists, and it is well understood by any Italian. The poem ended with the phrase "our life is unfair, like targhe alterne". As a result, we translated the name as "Roulette" and gave a footnote with explanations.

If you know any foreign language, then you can easily earn money from home by translating. But first you need to learn how to become a freelance translator and reach the first customers.

If you start your journey wrong, then there is a high probability that you will soon quit this business. No orders - no money. I will show you the shortest and most profitable way from my personal experience.

And let's start with this question - what kind of knowledge and skills should a person have in order to work as a freelance translator?

Who can become a freelance translator

What I am going to tell you here is in many respects at odds with the "conventional opinion". But I have experience as a translator and managing my own translation agency. That is, I studied this issue from both sides. So you can trust me =)

And here is the first interesting thought. Often people think that to work as a translator it is simply necessary to know a foreign language very well. That is, this requirement always goes "by default". But actually it is not.

The fact is that language is a very multifaceted thing. If you can, for example, speak English well, does this mean that you will be a good translator? Not at all. We are often approached for work by so-called "bilinguals" (these are people who have two native languages, for example English and Russian) - but they are completely unable to translate.

Translation and knowledge of the language are two completely different things. If you, a Russian person, are now given a description of some production chemical processes, you will not understand a word there. Although everything will be written in Russian.

On the other hand, if you give the same document to a specialist in industrial chemical processes, he will understand everything that is described there without words, using only pictures and formulas.

Therefore, I have always maintained and continue to assert that in order to be a good translator, it is not necessary to know a foreign language very well. But you need to be well versed in the topic you are translating into.

Is it necessary to have a higher education in translation?

And here is the second “interesting thought” after you. In fact, higher translation education only hinders translation. Yes, that's exactly how it goes. If you are a philologist or a linguist, or a techie in general, you are much more likely to become a highly paid translator than a graduate of the translation faculty.

Do you know why this happens? It's pure psychology. Imagine a person who has been learning to translate for five years. And he believes that already something, but he learned to translate. With his diploma, he comes to a potential customer - and there he is told that all his knowledge is worthless.

And that they won't pay him a lot of money. And they will pay the smallest kopeck so that he does not die of hunger until he learns to translate for real.

Imagine the frustration and anger of such a person. Naturally, he decides that no one just needs translators today. And he leaves to teach foreign languages ​​or to engage in tutoring.

But another person - a graduate of the philological faculty - also wants to translate. And they also tell him that he can’t do anything, and that they won’t pay him much. And the man ... agrees. Because he himself knows that he doesn’t really know anything yet. And he begins to study, and eventually becomes a very good translator with excellent earnings.

Therefore, if you do not have a translation education, rejoice. You are more likely to succeed in this field.

What if there is no niche knowledge?

At the beginning of the article, I said that it is not necessary to know the language very well, but it is necessary to understand the topic. So what if you don't know much about any topic? You are not a doctor, not a chemist, not an engineer. Maybe you need to go get an additional higher education?

In fact, you need to study. But I strongly recommend that you conduct training in "combat". That is, start translating on some topic, and after 2-10 orders, you will begin to understand it very well.

Yes, first sit with dictionaries and the Internet, but then you will see that the terms are the same everywhere, and the constructions and sentences are the same. And you will begin to translate literally "with closed eyes."

Agree, this is more fun than sitting at a desk for another three years and taking some kind of exams.

Moreover, you do not fully know what topic you will like - medicine or technology, or jurisprudence? receive everything higher education- too time consuming. Therefore, use the initial period of your work as a freelance translator in order to determine your niche.

And by the way, let's look at the steps - how to get the first order and become a freelance translator.

Where to find the first customers?

The translator has three main types of customers. The first is customers from various translation exchanges. The second is a translation agency. And the third is direct customers (firms, companies).

Most translators prefer to work through exchanges. This is the simplest, but the least profitable option. Customers come to exchanges in order to find the cheapest translators.

Of course, exchanges are different. For example, the ProZ international exchange will allow you to reach foreign translation customers. But by now you should already have a very good track record.

Russian exchanges of translators are basically a haven for yesterday's students who have absolutely nowhere to go with their English.

I strongly recommend that you start working with a translation agency. There you will be paid more, and there you will receive a stable flow of orders. The customer came to the stock exchange once - and left. And translation agencies will send you new texts every day.

Most likely, you will not be able to start working with direct customers right away. Because it needs to be registered. entity, marketing, sales, and much more. You will spend all your time just doing this. So there will be absolutely no time to translate and earn.

Therefore, the "editor's choice" is a translation agency. But there is another difficulty with them.

How to get a job at a translation agency

Translation agencies are very distrustful of new translators. In order to somehow protect themselves from newbies, they put up requirements on their sites “from 1-3 years of experience as a translator”.

If you just send them your resume and test translations, they most likely will not even answer you. First, your resume must be written correctly. Download our .

Secondly, do not believe everything that is written on the websites of translation agencies. In fact, they will agree to work with you even if you have no experience at all. You just need to approach this matter in the right way.

I wrote more about this in an article (opens in a new tab).

In short, translation agencies may take the risk of approaching you with an order if they have absolutely no other options. All full-time and trusted freelance translators are busy, but a new order has arrived, and there is no one to translate.

And that's when they start trying new translators. If you have, then there is a high probability that they will turn to you.

And this will be your first step on the path to wealth and fame.

By the way, what kind of “wealth” can a novice freelance translator count on?

How much can you earn from translations?

Here I have two news for you - one is bad and the other is good. The bad news is that no one will pay you much. When novice translators find out the rates at which they are offered to work, their eyes often pop out of their foreheads with amazement.

How so?! Only 120 - 150 rubles per translation page? Yes, this is a hell of a job - to sit and poke around in dictionaries, study new topic, look for materials. Why do they pay so little for it?

In fact, not every translation agency will pay you 120 - 150 rubles yet. Somewhere they will pay much lower. In addition, the "heaviness" of work is most often explained by the fact that the translator simply does not know how to work.

If this is his first translation page in life, it will seem to him that it is simply incredibly difficult. He will translate 2-3 pages a day and fall unconscious from exhaustion. But with experience it turns out that everything is not so bad. An experienced translator can easily translate 10-20 pages a day (especially if this is an order for “his” topic).

As a result, the income of such a translator will reach six figures per month. Considering that he will work from home, in comfortable conditions, without bosses and getting up at 7 in the morning - very good.

To roughly estimate what you can count on for money - use our (opens in a new tab). It will show you quite accurately how much you can earn and under what circumstances.

Yes, I forgot to mention the good news. If a translation agency loves you, they will be willing to pay you much more than their other translators. Sometimes even much more. But how to call this same love?

For what will you be willing to pay 2 times more than the rest?

What do you think the customer is willing to pay for? By the way, this is the third and final paradoxical thought in this article.

Most translators will say that the customer is willing to pay "for quality". And of course they will be wrong. The fact is that the “quality” of a translation is an even more multifaceted concept than the “level of knowledge foreign language».

I often give this example. Company X needs to get the cargo through customs. And for this, they need to provide a translation of the packing list for this cargo by 12 o'clock. The most important thing that should be in the translation is all the numbers and dates. If there is no agreement in the paste perfect - it's not scary. Nobody will even notice it. But if only one digit is missed, the cargo is wrapped.

Therefore, from the customer's point of view, a high-quality translation in this case is a translation that is done quickly, and all the numbers are in place. For such a translation (even with grammatical errors), he will kiss you, quickly transfer the payment, and then he will only contact you.

But if everything is perfect in terms of translation, but the translation itself was ready only by 13 o'clock, and the cargo went back to mysterious China ... Then you are in big trouble. And no perfect pasta will help you.

So. The most important thing that customers are willing to pay for is responsibility. I will never tire of repeating it. If you take a translation and complete it by the specified deadline, you are loved. If you do not give up work and do not disappear from the field of view of translation agencies for weeks, you are loved.

It is very difficult to find such a translator. And they will be afraid to lose you. And so, when you ask for a “slightly” increase in your bid per page, they will agree. And on such “a little bit” you will very soon earn much more than other translators. So develop responsibility. They pay for it.

Conclusion

I hope now it has become clearer to you how to become a freelance translator, and how to approach this business in general in order to start earning quickly and a lot.

If you want to quickly upgrade all the skills that are needed for a real translator (including the very responsibility and discipline) - sign up for our course.

There you will learn all the secrets and tricks that will allow you to quickly enter the ranks of elite translators. And this is a completely different level of life.

See you later!

Your Dmitry Novoselov

Hello my dear readers! You know, today I began to think that working on the Internet, translating texts from English would bring me a good additional income. Translation services are a convenient way to make money on the Internet for those who own required level one or two foreign languages.

Do not speak English at the proper level? Here is a very decent SkyEng school that gives you the opportunity learn english for free. A school with a very good reputation. You can improve your English in a short time if you need to.

With English to "you" and can teach other people? Worth paying attention to Sky Ing service, where you can register your resume as an English teacher, and be interviewed for admission to a team of specialists. A great opportunity to earn on knowledge of English and work with students via Skype!

This is not just a human hobby! Translations, like other Internet earnings at home, require not only a professional approach from you, but also many other qualities of a business, communicative, personal nature. If you have set yourself the goal of becoming a good and highly paid freelance translator, muster all the will and necessary information into a fist. Today I will write you useful recommendations that facilitate the work and search for customers.

Work as a translator at home via the Internet

I have known English for as long as I can remember. As a child, I constantly listened to music and tried to translate myself the words from my favorite song. For me, learning a new language became like a game, boys can be taken to “Weak”, there is always a spirit of perfectionism and the desire to get better.

As soon as I graduated from school and university, I realized that I did not have much language practice. No, but I'm all. After a few years passing customs control, I began to stutter, it was terribly uncomfortable, because I considered English my second language, after Russian.

Something had to be done about this, besides, the constant lack of money made itself felt. I started tutoring, but soon realized that it was not my thing at all. Then I started looking for a job as a translator online. Firstly, having gained a few clients, I began to choose topics myself, and secondly, I always had an extra penny, and I did not forget the language. It is very convenient, besides, vocabulary is constantly improving. I didn’t even think that I didn’t know so many more words, despite the fact that the vocabulary of the English language is not so big. Now translating texts is my hobby. Thus, I save myself on tutors and I am sure that I will not forget English.

Translation of texts from English into Russian for money at home

You don't know where to start? Believe me, the main thing is to want to start and be confident in your actions. Translating text is not difficult, especially when you have access to electronic dictionaries, various specialized resources, the main thing in such work, no matter how strange it may sound, is to start doing it.

Opportunities that are open to you

Consecutive translation during oral dialogue. I myself often made such translations, but here I did not work remotely, but in this way. It was not far from Lake Baikal when I hitchhiked there with my friends. A group of American tourists came to the lake, I don’t know where the American guide has gone, but the point is that they were given our guide, who could only say: “Hello”. I could not but influence the reputation of our country, and I took up consecutive translation. The bottom line: the guide says a sentence, you listen to him, then translate into English, and so on for several hours of continuous “talking”.

There is also such work in online mode, you connect to the dialogue as a participant in a conference, meeting or seminar remotely, via Skype. Of course, I didn’t take money for my services, but you can earn good money in this way.

Legally competent technical translation and other highly specialized topics are valued much higher than classical ones. If your translation will be used for "internal" use in a workflow is one thing, but the task of technical translation is to create texts that will be used while working with foreign partners or providing regulatory support for business.

Notarized translations. If you are moving to another country, you need to have documents or international treaties translated by a notary public. I will say right away that this is a good income, because my friend has been doing this for many years in a row. He does not sit at home, for work he only needs a computer and Internet access to receive and submit work.

The only thing to consider is that the translator himself must obtain a certain license to engage in this type of activity. It is inexpensive, but you can get it only after passing certain exams for knowledge of the language and its level. Notaries, as a rule, work with translators on a long-term basis, so if you find an employer, you can consider it serious and for a long time.

Correction and editing of materials in different languages. This work at home is not very paid (since the actual texts do not need to be translated, you only need to correct errors), but at the same time, the process itself is no less laborious.

Unusual earnings for those who do not stand still

I would like to tell you about one work that is not entirely related to translations, but is related to foreign languages. I can even recommend it to those who want to get practice in a foreign language and want to communicate more in it. The bottom line is, there are sites, and you need to tell about it: what do you see, is it easy to find information on it, what do you like, what not.

This is necessary so that the site owner knows how efficiently the space is used and how easy it is to find the necessary information. I did this job for a year and a half, then I decided to find something else. No, it’s not that I don’t like it anymore, it’s just that I always develop and rarely stand in one place, even if it’s warm and cozy. Looking for a job on this site https://www.rev.com/freelancers/transcription. Maybe this information will be useful to you. If you have any questions, write in the comments, I will be happy to help you.

On the same site I found subtitles for various TV shows and movies. The only thing that can confuse you is that the money comes to the PayPal payment system, so ask before registering, or there is a PayPal cashing point in your city. Ukraine, for example, has an office of the company only in Kyiv.

Where else to find work for beginners who want to get into translation of texts?

To work from home, all you need is a computer with internet access and a few hours of free time. It seemed that there would be a desire, but there will be vacancies themselves, you just need to register on a specialized website and start working at home.

But in fact, all sites have their own working features, which no one will tell you about when registering. As a result, it may turn out that such a job does not suit you, and you have already lost time, and the income you received was not what you expected. Therefore, before registering your account, think about the work scheme that suits you best.

Domestic communities of translators

The search-translator network.rf is a popular site for finding employees focused on the Russian market. Search-Translator of the Russian Federation has many specialists who work not only with popular languages, but also in the language of the countries of near and far abroad. The disadvantage of this system is a significant predominance of those who want to work on customers. But here you can always find information about remote work for translators.

Online Bureau

Another type of work at home for a translator is to find a job in a specialized agency. Here you can register as a professional certified specialist and receive an order for translation of legal, medical, technical literature.

Or you can perform remotely less time-consuming written translations or place orders for consecutive interpretations, literary translations, stylistic or grammatical corrections of the text.

Becoming a member of a specialized bureau is a special kind of job for a translator. As an intermediary between the translator and the customer, the employer takes a fixed commission percentage. But only on this site you can often find a fairly well-paid job.

Help you!

The rating table of domestic and some foreign agencies can be viewed on the website https://translationrating.ru/. Here it is convenient to choose a potential place of work by category.

The largest freelance resource in the world freelancer.com will also help you find a potential employer. On the portal, most people are engaged in rewriting or copywriting, so translators, and even more so professional ones, are worth their weight in gold here.

Project orders can be found on the page

• https://www.weblancer.net/,
• https://workzilla.com,
• http://www.etxt.ru/.

I think this little article will be useful to you, and you will decide to earn money remotely and become your own master. If you have been working as a translator for a long time, write in the comments how you started and why you decided to take this job. It will be interesting to read and, perhaps, you will give impetus to someone who dreams of such a job, but does not dare to start ...

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Six tips from MSLU teacher, former translator of USSR leaders Andrey Chuzhakin on how to become a high-class translator

Without knowledge of the Russian language, you will not become a good translator

The translator must be fluent in the foreign language. But first of all, he must perfectly know his native language - Russian. Firstly, reading classical literature will help here. In particular, such masters as A.S. Pushkin, A.P. Chekhov, L.N. Tolstoy and many others.

In addition to the classics, it is necessary to read newspapers and magazines, to go so far as to study in detail the annotations to medicines and instructions for household appliances. This will help to be fluent in various styles of language: journalistic, official business or scientific. When translating into your native language, you do not have to reinvent the wheel, you will have the necessary margin standard phrases and expressions that are used when characterizing the same drug or aircraft. In addition, watch your speech at home, think about what you want to say, build sentences correctly. As a result, you will bring your speech skills and abilities to automatism, you will speak correctly always and everywhere.

Be erudite

With due perseverance, anyone can learn to speak a foreign language. But if you do not have knowledge in the field of geography, history and, for example, politics, it is impossible to become a good translator. It is very difficult to translate the speaker's speech if you do not know the subject of the conversation. You will be in the know if you watch the news daily and read analytical publications in the media, both in your native language and in a foreign one. Now the Internet and satellite TV help in this. If you make any mistakes when translating into English or if you find it difficult to find an exact analogue in Russian when translating an English proverb, this is forgivable. But if you have a vague idea of ​​where Vietnam is located and don't know its capital, then this is serious. If you don't know who is the prime minister of, for example, Canada, then top-level translation is out of the question.

Read the works of the ancient Greeks and the Bible

Knowing how in a particular country it is customary to greet each other or how to behave at the table, that is, knowledge of etiquette, is a prerequisite for an interpreter. Nevertheless, it is necessary to study the history of Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece, to read the works of that time, such as, for example, Homer's Iliad. It is essential to know the Bible. In high-level negotiations, it is very common to have to translate Bible quotes and Latin proverbs. Their knowledge, firstly, will help you immediately figure out which expression and from which plot is used. Secondly, all this has long been translated, and you can use forms that are known to everyone in your speech. This will definitely not make you look funny.

Practice translating

Many countries have their own forms of writing not only documents, but even letters, and not only business ones. All these stamps you must know. Here in France, for example, if a doctor refers a patient to another doctor, he writes to his colleague that he was very pleased to work with the patient, and he wishes his colleague the same. These are the little things you need to know. Therefore, you just need to sit down at your desk and draw up various documents, certificates and letters in the form of those countries whose language you speak. After drawing up the documents, they must be checked in all sources that are available to you, first of all, of course, in educational literature, for example, in spelling dictionaries and other benefits.

Watch your appearance

Often when translating, you will have to have very close contact with people. Therefore, in addition to daily personal hygiene, you should pay special attention to the oral cavity, in particular fresh breath. In this situation, we are not talking about the need to brush your teeth. You still have to keep an eye on the oral cavity during the day. Here you can help various means for fresh breath. In addition, you should always have well-groomed hands and hair. Men, by definition, cannot have too long hair. Your clothes should be neutral tones, you should not attract more attention to yourself than the person you are translating. This point is especially true for women. No cleavage. A strict suit, blouse and soft make-up - this is what a female translator looks like. Remember, high-level meetings involve eye contact leaders, be they politicians or businessmen. You should help negotiate, not take the fire.

Learn Cursive Techniques

Remember, an interpreter not only translates from one's native language into a foreign one, but vice versa. He writes down everything the guest says. This is necessary so that after the negotiations, with the help of an interpreter, a picture of the negotiations is drawn and analyzed. In this case, cursive writing helps the translator. You can develop your own cursive writing system, the main thing is that it helps you quickly write down and then just as quickly decipher your notes. One sure way is to write key nouns. They will help you quickly remember not only the specific words and expressions of the guests, but even their facial expressions.

Summary

Andrey Chuzhakin, Translator
Born September 1, 1949 in Moscow.
Education: MGPII them. M. Torez, translator-referent (English and Portuguese), Academy of Social Sciences under the Central Committee of the CPSU.
He worked in the international department under the Central Committee of the CPSU, the direction is the developing countries of Africa. Founder of the "applied theory of oral translation and translation shorthand". Author of the World of Translation series and other tutorials.
Lecturer at Moscow State Linguistic University, Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor at Moscow State Linguistic University, Faculty of Translation.

Translation of texts on the Internet is a relevant and popular service that developers and owners of websites or online stores, various bureaus, individuals or companies need. To figure out how to make money by translating texts, let's try to find out who can be the customer of such services, what income can be expected, what knowledge and skills a translator needs and where to start working?

Who can make money translating texts

If you have basic knowledge of a foreign language and are fluent in your native language, you can start making money on the Internet. It is not necessary to have a linguist diploma, but translation skills are required.

Large translation agencies recruit staff from graduates. For a freelance exchange, an individual or a company, a diploma is not the main requirement. A portfolio can become the basis for starting a successful cooperation, and newcomers will be offered a trial order.

To understand how to make money by translating texts on the Internet and start working successfully, first of all, you need to:

• good resume;
• portfolio.

But if you only rely on automatic systems, such as Google translate, then it is better to look for other ways to earn money. It is impossible to make a high-quality translation of the text without knowledge of a foreign language. Any program can only help in the work, but will never replace a linguist.

Popular foreign languages

English is beyond competition, it is the language of international communication. High level owning it opens up wide opportunities for earning, and not only in the field of a translator. The service of translation from English into Russian remains the most demanded.

But the other side of the coin is a lot of competition, which is made up of a whole army of performers - from students to high-class linguists. Therefore, it is easier for performers with knowledge of a rare language to find a job and make money translating texts: there is little competition, and, accordingly, the prices for work are higher.

According to the level of demand, foreign languages ​​can be arranged in the following order:

• English;
• German;
• Chinese;
• French;
• Turkish;
• languages ​​of the Scandinavian group.

How much can you earn by translating texts

Earnings on the translation of texts for a beginner is from 80 rubles. for 1000 characters without spaces (zn.b.p.). The average price for translating a general text is 100-120 rubles per 1000 zbp. You can earn several times more by translating specialized materials.

The following points affect the earnings of a translator:

• language (translations from rare languages ​​are more expensive than, say, from English or German);
• narrow specialization of the text, when knowledge of professional vocabulary is required for work;
• urgency of the order (urgent work always costs more);
• translator's qualifications backed up by a good portfolio.

How can a translator earn a lot?

• Look for flirting exchanges with higher price tags. International exchanges pay for work in foreign currency, their average rates are higher. Here you are more likely to find large and expensive orders.
• Use your knowledge of the language in other areas of activity, indicate your specialization in your resume, work experience, this will set you apart from the general mass of performers and increase your pay for work.
• Master modern programs designed to facilitate the work of a translator, use CAT Tools. This will help to significantly increase the speed of work, and hence earnings. In addition, the efficiency of execution, without harm to quality, has always been appreciated by customers, therefore, it makes it possible to earn more.

How to start making money on translations

First of all, it is worth registering on the top exchanges by posting a portfolio with the most successful work. This will significantly increase the chances of getting a good order, even if you are a beginner. Then it remains to place applications and wait for a response to them. If you are not confident in your abilities, start with the minimum rates, this will allow you to earn a rating and realistically assess your capabilities.

Write a concise resume that includes:

• level of knowledge of a foreign language;
• work experience (in the absence of official places of employment, list practical skills and abilities, leave links to your work);
• additional education or knowledge in other areas of activity that can be useful in the provision of services for the translation of texts on narrow topics;
• personal qualities that will be useful at work.

Resumes can be emailed to potential customers.

Where to look for a job

• Translation agency. This is one of the options to get a job as a freelancer. It will save time on searching for orders, a list of ready applications and comments on them will be sent to e-mail. In this case, you will be employed and will be able to work as a translator in Moscow or any other city, being at home.
• Freelance exchange. The most popular source of income. There are common sites where orders for translation activities account for a few percent of the total volume. There are specialized exchanges that deal exclusively with transfers. The advantage of the exchange over the bureau is that you can independently select orders from the general feed and place orders. This gives freedom of choice and allows you to independently regulate the possible flow of orders and do work at any time.
• Information sites and forums. There is often work for translators here. Any site has one distinct theme, so working on several resources will improve skills in a particular area.
• Publishers sometimes hire employees to work remotely. If you are confident in your abilities and can provide a solid portfolio, then work in a publishing house will be a source of good income.

Freelance exchanges

Freelance exchanges remain the most popular and affordable source of income. Among the most famous Internet sites offering orders for the translation of texts, the following can be distinguished.

1. Littera.ru- a well-known site where there is a rich order feed. As with most exchanges, to activate, the user must pass an aptitude test. The payment here is not the highest, but a wide selection of topics allows everyone to find an order to their liking.
2. Telejob.ru- a kind of electronic scoreboard, where there are a lot of job advertisements. The site offers a convenient search for each foreign language. A wide range of offers allows you to choose a job for job seekers with different levels of language proficiency.
3. Etxt.ru– an exchange of general orientation with a certain share of orders for the translation of texts. On this site, rating and status matter, which determine the number of stars received for the test for the skill level, positive reviews customers and a good portfolio. A good option for both beginner translators and professionals working at a price of 150-200 rubles. for 1000 zn.b.p.

Specialized platforms that are engaged only in translation activities. The competition here is high, the cost of orders is different. Among them are the following.

• Tranzilla.com is, rather, not an exchange, but a directory of translators. Registration is not required to place an order. All performers are in the public domain, the customer can directly contact any specialist. The cost of services varies from 200 to 450 rubles. for 1000 zn.b.p.
• perevodchik.me offers orders from any language: English - from 300 to 1500 for 1000 zbp, the price tag for Chinese and Arabic starts from 500 and goes up to 2000 rubles for 1000 zbp. In addition, the price depends on the thematic focus of the text.
• 2polyglot is an international platform offering services for the translation of legal, technical, literary texts, as well as for the processing of audio and video. Payment for orders can vary from 5 to 800 USD.
• ProZ.com- a large specialized platform, where the main customers are foreign bureaus and firms. It is possible to purchase PRO status, which gives access to the most profitable orders. There are sections on training and exchange of experience.
• Translators Cafe is a well-known exchange of foreign customers, which is not inferior to ProZ.com in popularity, offers a large selection of orders, has a user-friendly interface and many useful functions.

Pros and cons of making money on translations

Consider the disadvantages of the translation profession.

• Big competition. The modern translation market requires the implementation of large volumes of work in a short time. A lot of services come to the aid of the translator, which leads to a decrease in the quality of the translation, as well as professional requirements to the specialist himself and, as a result, leads to a reduction in prices and an increase in the number of performers who are ready to do translations.
• Not the most interesting topics, which are based on commercial texts. This circumstance discourages creative people. However, it can attract performers who are far from knowing a foreign language, but striving for high earnings on the Internet.

The advantages of translation activities include the following.

• Floating work schedule and remote work. You yourself set the intensity of the working day, do not depend on the management, you can relax during the day and work at night, choose orders and regular customers with whom you will cooperate.
• Despite high competition, barriers to career development Hardly ever. And with some effort, you can achieve excellent results and earn good money. Career ladder successful translator in this case it might look like this:
  • work on freelance exchanges can be the first step on the career ladder;
  • freelance translation agency employee;
  • work with your own customer base, which will provide you with more expensive orders;
  • cooperation with foreign clients.
• A translator will always find a job with a decent income. These can be both direct translations and teaching activities or tutoring.

• An important point is the development of your own customer base. This makes it possible to receive regular orders, saves a lot of time on finding new customers and allows you to evenly distribute the load.
• Do not stop there, improve your professional level, read specialized literature, look for areas of translation with less competition, learn rare languages, the payment for translations from which is higher.
• If you are a beginner, try to start with simple tasks, do not get many orders, get comfortable in a new field, evaluate your strengths and capabilities. Do a quality job and then you will be able to qualify for orders of a higher value and translate large volumes of texts.
• At the initial stages of work, choose topics that are close to you.