Translation - art & business » Getting established »
Getting started: where to start?
Thread poster: Simon Georgiou
Simon Georgiou
Simon Georgiou  Identity Verified
Local time: 04:54
German to English
+ ...
Mar 1, 2004

Hi. I'm a teacher currently thinking about a gradual change of career. I'm fluent in French, German and Italian (mother tongue English) and have done bits and bobs of tranlations, but nothing to write home about.

What hardware, software, dictionaries and other stuff should I invest in? What about a key text that all freelance translators worth their salt should have read?

All advice gratefully accepted!

sigeorgiou
 
Margaret Schroeder
Margaret Schroeder  Identity Verified
Mexico
Local time: 21:54
Spanish to English
+ ...
Two useful books on the freelance translation business Mar 1, 2004

sigeorgiou wrote:
What about a key text that all freelance translators worth their salt should have read?
sigeorgiou




I also read A Practical Guide for Translators by G. Samuelsson-Brown and The Translators Handbook by M. Sofer and I would definitely recommend the above books over these two.
 
Monika Coulson
Monika Coulson  Identity Verified
Local time: 21:54
Member (2001)
English to Albanian
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER
Get a webpage Mar 1, 2004

It will help as well.

Monika

sigeorgiou wrote:
All advice gratefully accepted!
sigeorgiou


[Edited at 2004-03-01 18:37]
 
Nenija Hasanic
Nenija Hasanic
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 05:54
English to Bosnian
+ ...
Few basic steps! Mar 1, 2004

I would (before investing some money) advise you to invest some time in developing your business. First, visit some freelancer's web sites and based on that experience try to build your own web site. There is a lot of free tools or online wizards that can help you build a simple, but still very usefull web presentation. Then, go through ProZ forums. This is an amazing site and it offers a lot of help and useful guides and tips to newcomers. I also recommend some voluntary work in the beginning, ... See more
I would (before investing some money) advise you to invest some time in developing your business. First, visit some freelancer's web sites and based on that experience try to build your own web site. There is a lot of free tools or online wizards that can help you build a simple, but still very usefull web presentation. Then, go through ProZ forums. This is an amazing site and it offers a lot of help and useful guides and tips to newcomers. I also recommend some voluntary work in the beginning, purposed to get familiar with the industry itself (to gain some experience). In any case, do not expect fast results. Good luck! ▲ Collapse
 
Özden Arıkan
Özden Arıkan  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 05:54
Member
English to Turkish
+ ...
Hi sigeorgiou, Mar 2, 2004

All the friends above provide invaluable advices. In addition to them I suggest you take a look at this portal. You may get to lots of resources, may contact the agency that has always a demand for your languages, and also find a venue for voluntary work there, in case you are interested in that.

Wishing you the best of luck...


PS Also, please don't forget to fill ... See more
All the friends above provide invaluable advices. In addition to them I suggest you take a look at this portal. You may get to lots of resources, may contact the agency that has always a demand for your languages, and also find a venue for voluntary work there, in case you are interested in that.

Wishing you the best of luck...


PS Also, please don't forget to fill in your Proz page in the shortest time possible

[Edited at 2004-03-02 01:04]

[Edited at 2004-03-02 01:05] ▲ Collapse
 
smarinella
smarinella  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 05:54
German to Italian
+ ...
all the best! Mar 2, 2004

Hi sigeorgiou,

I wish you all the best in your new career. If there is a possibility, I'll advice you to keep on teaching (I do it three times a week)and try at the same time to establish yourself as a translator.

There is a big need for Italian>English (English>Italian, on the contrary, is almost hopeless)- for other language pairs I'm not informed - so I believe that it'll be possible to find clients, maybe starting with agencies.

I wish you all the best<... See more
Hi sigeorgiou,

I wish you all the best in your new career. If there is a possibility, I'll advice you to keep on teaching (I do it three times a week)and try at the same time to establish yourself as a translator.

There is a big need for Italian>English (English>Italian, on the contrary, is almost hopeless)- for other language pairs I'm not informed - so I believe that it'll be possible to find clients, maybe starting with agencies.

I wish you all the best

smarinella ▲ Collapse
 
lator
lator
United States
Local time: 23:54
Spanish to English
+ ...
Great Combos Mar 2, 2004

You've got a really good combo of languages.

My advice to you(and it's already been said a million times) is to develop your business. This is all about business baby.

This is what I've come to find out in my adventures as a translator.
 


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 »

Getting started: where to start?







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 »
Anycount & Translation Office 3000
Translation Office 3000

Translation Office 3000 is an advanced accounting tool for freelance translators and small agencies. TO3000 easily and seamlessly integrates with the business life of professional freelance translators.

More info »