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Pro Bono Thread poster: Michael Purvis
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Hey there;
I'm just starting out as a translator and work is trickling in slowly. Can anybody point me in the direction of some pro bono work? It will give me something to do while i'm waiting for more work and hopefully some nice testimonials to put on my website.
My language pair is Spanish - English.
I would be particularly interested in translating for environmental charities - does anybody have any suggestions?
Thank you very much guys!... See more Hey there;
I'm just starting out as a translator and work is trickling in slowly. Can anybody point me in the direction of some pro bono work? It will give me something to do while i'm waiting for more work and hopefully some nice testimonials to put on my website.
My language pair is Spanish - English.
I would be particularly interested in translating for environmental charities - does anybody have any suggestions?
Thank you very much guys!
Michael ▲ Collapse
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ATIL KAYHAN 
Türkiye
Local time: 18:48
Member (2007)
Turkish to English
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| Translation Jobs | Nov 16, 2012 |
You can also check out the Translation Jobs on the first page of ProZ.com. If there is any that you are interested in, you can write to them (or formally apply) saying that you are willing to do the job pro bono. I am sure they will be more than pleased. Good luck!
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Diana Coada (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:48
Portuguese to English
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| Sorry, but are you serious? | Nov 18, 2012 |
ATIL KAYHAN wrote:
You can also check out the Translation Jobs on the first page of ProZ.com. If there is any that you are interested in, you can write to them (or formally apply) saying that you are willing to do the job pro bono. I am sure they will be more than pleased. Good luck!
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ATIL KAYHAN
Türkiye
Local time: 18:48
Member (2007)
Turkish to English
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| Yes, I am serious | Nov 18, 2012 |
Why not? A job is a job.
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| Freelance Websites | Nov 18, 2012 |
Hi. I am a budding translator as well. Have you tried any of the freelance websites such as guru.com or odesk? You usually have to submit quite a few applications before landing a job, and the pay is usually well below industry standard, but it's better than doing absolutely for free if you can get some projects. It works for me while I'm waiting to land a large project.
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Sheila Wilson
Spain
Local time: 16:48
Member (2007)
English
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| What is a job? | Nov 18, 2012 |
ATIL KAYHAN wrote:
Why not? A job is a job.
A job is PAID FOR. Otherwise, how would any of us live? If you do a job for free, someone else is just going to make more money off your back. And the entire industry suffers as a result. Don't we already have enough poorly-paid jobs advertised, without doing them for free?
[Edited at 2012-11-18 17:54 GMT]
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Jessica Noyes
United States
Local time: 11:48
Member
Spanish to English
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| Idealist dot org | Nov 18, 2012 |
If you go to www.idealist.org and go to the "volunteer" section, and type in "translation" there are hundreds and hundreds of requests for translators in different combinations.
I got my start by volunteering (and now I have all the work I can handle), so I recommend it.
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| Worst advice ever | Nov 18, 2012 |
ATIL KAYHAN wrote:
You can also check out the Translation Jobs on the first page of ProZ.com. If there is any that you are interested in, you can write to them (or formally apply) saying that you are willing to do the job pro bono. I am sure they will be more than pleased. Good luck!
I'd rather lie in bed all day and don't get paid than work for somebody and don't get paid.
If want to practice your translation skills, download a random document in Spanish from the internet, in the field you want to translate in, and just translate it for yourself.
Or of course, if you feel like doing charity, you can do that.
[Edited at 2012-11-18 18:41 GMT]
[Edited at 2012-11-18 18:41 GMT]
[Edited at 2012-11-19 00:46 GMT]
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Attila Piróth
France
Local time: 17:48
Member
English to Hungarian
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| Atil, please check out any code of ethics | Nov 18, 2012 |
For example, the American Translators Association's code of professional ethics is available at http://www.atanet.org/membership/code_of_ethics.php
We the members of the American Translators Association accept as our ethical and professional duty
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to ask for and offer due recognition of our work, and compensation commensurate with our abilities;
The International Association of Professional Translators & Interpreters included the following term in its code of ethics :
3. Duties Related to the Protection and Promotion of the Translating and Interpreting Professions
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3.4. Not favor unfair competition by offering or accepting fees below those generally considered to be proper and fair in the market where they practice their profession.
This is an open forum, indexed by search engines, so contributions will be found for many years to come. By showing clear of ignoring such a basic principle, you risk to lose many potential clients who respect these principles. And they often tend to be the best clients. Of course the choice is yours. You might as well put out a "please abuse me, I am desperate" sign on your profile. It will attract some people.
Michel, you may be interested in reading what other professional translators think of pro bono work. The results of a recent survey, with replies from over 160 translators is available at http://www.pirothattila.com/PB_survey.pdf .
Best,
Attila
[Edited at 2012-11-18 19:47 GMT]
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| I quite agree | Nov 18, 2012 |
Sheila Wilson wrote:
A job is PAID FOR. Otherwise, how would any of us live? If you do a job for free, someone else is just going to make more money off your back. And the entire industry suffers as a result. Don't we already have enough poorly-paid jobs advertised, without doing them for free?
[Edited at 2012-11-18 17:54 GMT]
It has taken me six months to get rid of an agency which paid me €0.03 per word off my back.
If I pay my cleaning lady €11.00 per hour, why should I get less?
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Sarah McDowell
Canada
Local time: 10:48
Member (2012)
Russian to English
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| I wish we had a "dislike" button here | Nov 19, 2012 |
ATIL KAYHAN wrote:
Why not? A job is a job.
You must be joking! Otherwise, please stop giving people the WORST ADVICE EVER.
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Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 17:48
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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| Payment is not the only part of a job | Nov 19, 2012 |
Sheila Wilson wrote: ATIL KAYHAN wrote:
Why not? A job is a job. A job is PAID FOR.
Yes, I think that is the ideal, but from the perspective of someone who wants to break into the translation market and who is willing to do pro bono work, a job is more than just something that you get money for. A job is a commission. A job is a set of requirements that you are expected to fulfil to the best of your ability. The benefit of doing pro bono jobs (for newcomers) is about more than just getting experience in the actual translation work -- it also teaches how to deal with clients and how to apply professional and ethical standards in a practical way.
That said, I do not quite agree with Atil's original suggestion, for the reason that it takes away income from non-pro bono translators. Undercutting (i.e. outbidding fellow-translators by means of unrealistic or unsustainable rates) is a bad thing, and Atil's suggestion comes rather close to it.
I don't think that Atil's suggestion will bite him, for it is a novel suggestion, but I think it is safer for new translators to find pro bono clients in ways that do not take away income from colleagues.
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ATIL KAYHAN
Türkiye
Local time: 18:48
Member (2007)
Turkish to English
+ ...
| Pro Bono Work | Nov 19, 2012 |
Sarah McDowell wrote: ATIL KAYHAN wrote:
Why not? A job is a job. You must be joking! Otherwise, please stop giving people the WORST ADVICE EVER.
Why do you call it "the worst advice"? I am free to give any advice I deem appropriate, and in this case, I feel it is appropriate here.
What is the objective here? The objective is him doing a job for free (pro bono). This is his objective. Why can't he pick any job he deems appropriate (that he likes, etc) , and do it for free? What is there to prevent him from doing that? The objective here is NOT to get paid. It is just to complete a job pro bono. He is looking for some references to put on his resume/profile. This is a perfectly valid desire.
I think you would better start putting yourself in someone else's shoes before judging anybody harshly.
"Do not judge any man until you have walked two moons in his moccasins."
Native American saying
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OG Pete
United States
Russian to English
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There are plenty of unpaid internships in my country - actually a few translation agencies that I work with use interns. Some unpaid internships are actually quite competitive. I am going to withhold my opinion on this subject. However, I wonder whether or not this is a common practice in other parts of the world?
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