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Translation of academic papers in Social Sciences
Thread poster: Peter Collins
Peter Collins
Peter Collins  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 04:03
Member (2011)
Spanish to English
+ ...
Aug 19, 2011

Hi,

I am developing a specialization in Humanities academic papers, having been translator and proof-reader for a couple of books and a number of academic papers in Anthropology and parts of a doctoral thesis in Pedagogy. I work from Spanish and Catalan into English. Has anybody got any good ideas about how to get regular work in this field? I guess that agencies don't tend to handle this kind of work. I need to find a way of communicating direct with academics.

Many t... See more
Hi,

I am developing a specialization in Humanities academic papers, having been translator and proof-reader for a couple of books and a number of academic papers in Anthropology and parts of a doctoral thesis in Pedagogy. I work from Spanish and Catalan into English. Has anybody got any good ideas about how to get regular work in this field? I guess that agencies don't tend to handle this kind of work. I need to find a way of communicating direct with academics.

Many thanks. ▲ Collapse
 
Jürgen Werner (X)
Jürgen Werner (X)  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 04:03
English to German
Try the universities! Aug 19, 2011

Maybe you can put up some ads on the notice-boards of various faculties? Get in touch with the academic staff and tell them what you do. Do you have special classified papers in Spain? You might want to post an ad there. Maybe periodicals specializing in your field of interest have a classifieds section, too? I think your strategy depends on who you want to work for: for professionals, try the periodicals or contact them directly. If you want to offer your service as a proof-reader to students,... See more
Maybe you can put up some ads on the notice-boards of various faculties? Get in touch with the academic staff and tell them what you do. Do you have special classified papers in Spain? You might want to post an ad there. Maybe periodicals specializing in your field of interest have a classifieds section, too? I think your strategy depends on who you want to work for: for professionals, try the periodicals or contact them directly. If you want to offer your service as a proof-reader to students, try the notice-boards or classifieds. ▲ Collapse
 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 03:03
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
Don't give up on agencies Aug 19, 2011

Peter Collins wrote:
I guess that agencies don't tend to handle this kind of work. I need to find a way of communicating direct with academics.


Students who are serious about the quality of their foreign-language thesis AND who have the money, will often approach an agency. It's a shame really as they are just paying for extra levels of profit-making, but they feel the agency will ensure quality. Please let's not debate that here!

There are agencies that specialise in academic texts and their are educational publishers who need translations, even though they are not strictly speaking translation agencies.

Jürgen's advice is all good, too. Unfortunately, a business card posted on the university's ad. board is likely to net you a lot of work for very small amounts of peanuts - if you want it! It's not that the students are mean, they just don't have the money, generally speaking. I would suggest that post-doc schools and research institutions might bring better pickings.

Sheila
 


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Translation of academic papers in Social Sciences







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