Translation - art & business » Getting established »
Pages in topic:   < [1 2]
How to justify being a freelancer?
Thread poster: Williamson
Larisa Migachyov
Larisa Migachyov
United States
Local time: 10:35
Russian to English
Enjoyment of life. Jun 27, 2003

Williamson wrote:

How pleasant is it to sit (alone) behind a computer screen for 8 or more hours a day transposing a text from one language into another? If I would sum up the things I find pleasant based upon past experiences then the order of importance would be:
1. Aviation 2.Interpreting 3.Giving MsOffice Training-courses 4.Translation.
To start with 1 as a career,I am too old. So I will just have to settle with 2,3,4.
as a source of income (money again). Whether you like it or not: from the craddle (baby utensil business)to the grave (undertaker) it is all about money and people go through great lengths to get it.


Language is one of the things I enjoy. I did translations of poems for fun, in college. Maybe I'm just very fortunate, but I have always managed to find ways to get paid for things I enjoy. The things I, personally, find pleasant are:

Engineering design (which is my main job)
Music (specifically, piano playing and composition)
Translations (I love language, and things having to do with language)
Teaching (specifically, math tutoring)

Right now, my income comes from all of the above, in varying proportions. Sometimes, I have no translation projects but a lot of students, sometimes I have both translation and engineering projects *and* a lot of students, sometimes I have no students and a steady engineering job. I'm lucky in that I never have to sit 8 hours at a computer doing any one thing; I get 3 hours, then an hour with a student, then 3 hours of engineering, then a couple of hours of piano practice (and some work on the piece I'm writing). All of the above are things I'd do even if I didn't get paid for them.

Money - of course it's important. But I don't like segregating my life into two categories - the unpleasant things I do to get money and the pleasant things I do with my free time. I'd rather do pleasant things to earn my money and pleasant things in my free time.
 
Pages in topic:   < [1 2]


To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator:

Moderator(s) of this forum
Jorge Rodrigues[Call to this topic]
Rita Pang[Call to this topic]
James Heppe-Smith[Call to this topic]

You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request »

How to justify being a freelancer?







CafeTran Espresso
You've never met a CAT tool this clever!

Translate faster & easier, using a sophisticated CAT tool built by a translator / developer. Accept jobs from clients who use Trados, MemoQ, Wordfast & major CAT tools. Download and start using CafeTran Espresso -- for free

Buy now! »
Trados Business Manager Lite
Create customer quotes and invoices from within Trados Studio

Trados Business Manager Lite helps to simplify and speed up some of the daily tasks, such as invoicing and reporting, associated with running your freelance translation business.

More info »