| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Poll: Have you ever considered a career change after becoming a translator? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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Chié_JP
Japan
Local time: 12:30
Member (2013)
English to Japanese
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| More challenge welcomed, but not more "simple volume"! | Oct 23, 2015 |
Triston Goodwin wrote:
I sort of fell into translation. I enjoy it, but I want more money with less work attached to it.
I have trouble going out on my own for some strange reason (health issue, allergic to everything including temperature change! ridiculous and doctors kind of hated me)
so this is one of very few options to work.
Earnestly I really thank everyone for trusting me with their works even when I am not in perfecthealth and perfect condition.
I do my best and everyone liked me for it - , wanting me to do more ... this is now telling on me after a few years.
I do not know what to say and sorry that "I have to feel sorry for everyone all the time".
I suffer from tenosynovitis in the left finger, which made me quit playing the piano and hope this won't make me quit typing keyboard. Tried voice input but cursors needs improvement, so this is the reason I am urged to pursue efficiency and stability over interest in content.
Triston Goodwin wrote:
To be honest, I would like to get back into carpentry. I used to make the most beautiful tables you've ever seen. I like that kind of work because it's slow and deliberate. Translations always seem rushed...
Translation is about setting with desktop and never leaving office when you want to satisfy everyone and ensure fast response.
I even started having trouble finding what to talk to friends today forgetting sociality.
I miss handcraft, handwriting and handwork, open air, voice and murmur of people at the cafe break and tinkling of coffee cups, not to mention conversation with colleagues.
Nikki Scott-Despaigne wrote:
Building on existing skills, the potential to grow is endless. However, I found myself a little bored of the mechanics of the profession after a little after 10 years as a freelancer.
Triston Goodwin wrote:I like that kind of work because it's slow and deliberate. Translations always seem rushed...
People with less quality with more volume will be preferred in not a few cases - what are there for these people who likes to see things build up over time.
For me it is like solving a puzzle on and on all the time. In terms of ability I am an adequate freelance worker (if I may say so), attention to detail, keeping deadline, efficient and finding errors and solution even before pointed out by client. It is quite interesting and I also enjoy builingual or tri-lingual work environment but I still miss proactive research activity that I have gave up due to health reason some years ago. A comfort zone protects me greatly, but stops me from growing and exploring at the same time. If I stay it is just because I am tired of wondering what I could have done without health issue.
[2015-10-23 18:30 GMTに編集されました]
[2015-10-23 18:31 GMTに編集されました]
| | | | | I've had quite enough career changes already... | Oct 23, 2015 |
... and finally landed in the right place with translating.
I like being an eternal student and handing in assignments that I actually get paid for!
When I finally grow up, I'm going to be a pensioner, volunteer at the local museum and bombard the newspapers and politicians with letters and my brilliant opinions. 
| | | | Mario Chavez (X) 
Local time: 23:30
English to Spanish
+ ...
| Unique perspective | Oct 24, 2015 |
Paul Adie wrote:
I am also an artist in residence at the Glasgow School of Art in the jewellery/silversmithing department and hope to gradually reduce (cherry pick?) the amount of translations I do. I'm quite happy with the flexibility translation offers until I get the other business up and running.
I am a strong believer in receiving and cultivating external influences as a translator. Along these lines, I admire artists and artisans because they engage their visual senses more than the average translator.
If you are a translator and not an artist/artisan, ask yourself: do you care for the text beyond just words and sentences? Does the appearance of a typeface or the aesthetics of a page entice you to be curious? Or any typeface (fount or font) will just do for you?
Still doubtful? Ask yourself: do you separate paragraphs with two hard returns? Do you try to replicate the original document's appearance, like bold text, headings in bigger font size, the placement of graphics or the appearance of tables and such?
I thought so.
| | | | Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 23:30
English to Spanish
+ ...
| YouTube carpentry money in the future? | Oct 24, 2015 |
Triston Goodwin wrote:
I sort of fell into translation. I enjoy it, but I want more money with less work attached to it.
I have been taking a lot of web design and SEO courses lately. I really enjoy the challenge, especially when competing against others for those top positions in Google. I also started teaching a Spanish medical terminology class at a local technical college and they want me to teach some other classes, too.
To be honest, I would like to get back into carpentry. I used to make the most beautiful tables you've ever seen. I like that kind of work because it's slow and deliberate. Translations always seem rushed...
Oh, and let's not forget my YouTube money. I'm on course to make $12 this month!
A carpenter, indeed? That's really neat, Triston! I think finding translation that is slow and deliberate is still possible. I strive to find customers that will give me the time I think is appropriate to complete a job, without rush.
That's why I try to live by the motto keep calm, translate slowly.
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Paul Adie (X)
Germany
Spanish to English
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Mario Chavez wrote:
If you are a translator and not an artist/artisan, ask yourself: do you care for the text beyond just words and sentences? Does the appearance of a typeface or the aesthetics of a page entice you to be curious? Or any typeface (fount or font) will just do for you?
Still doubtful? Ask yourself: do you separate paragraphs with two hard returns? Do you try to replicate the original document's appearance, like bold text, headings in bigger font size, the placement of graphics or the appearance of tables and such?
I thought so.
I do spend some time with fonts and reproducing texts from PDF when required, but I recognise that translation is just a job, and it will never get my blood racing. I'm always surprised to hear that people are 'passionate' about translation. I think the word has just become a quick go-to word for getting work.
I read an interesting article about passion recently on the New York times. You think a translator feels that?
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/23/opinion/lady-gaga-and-the-life-of-passion.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0
[Edited at 2015-10-24 06:49 GMT]
| | | | | @Petitavoine | Oct 24, 2015 |
Petitavoine wrote:
I wish you every success!
Thank you. That's sweet of you. (Translation was already a career chage as I'd started out in the law). Translation remains one of the rare fields where all past knowledge and experience can be put to use directly.
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After a somewhat restless career, I've found my niche and am content.
Yes, Mario, I too try to make the documents I produce easy on the eye as regards fonts, layout, spacing, exquisitely formatted tables and so on, engaging my aesthetic sense, however tedious the actual content may be (annual accounts? Send them my way!).
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I've wanted to be a translator since 8th grade, when I first started to learn Spanish. I've never swerved from that goal. However,
I recently certified as a landscape designer. It's my passion, but it pays so much less than translation - unless/until you get to be really fast and have a ton of clients - that I haven't had a chance to try it out with more than a handful of projects.
I translate a lot of science, and sometimes I wish I had become a scientist, but langua... See more I've wanted to be a translator since 8th grade, when I first started to learn Spanish. I've never swerved from that goal. However,
I recently certified as a landscape designer. It's my passion, but it pays so much less than translation - unless/until you get to be really fast and have a ton of clients - that I haven't had a chance to try it out with more than a handful of projects.
I translate a lot of science, and sometimes I wish I had become a scientist, but language is really my true love and I'm totally happy with what I do. ▲ Collapse
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Mario Freitas
Brazil
Local time: 00:30
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Once I left translation in second plan, because I was raised in a culture where we look for a job and a career in a company. I became and Admin Manager and wasted 20 years of my career in that. I wish I would have chosen to be a full time translator 20 years ago. I would certainly be doing a lot better now. There is no way I can offset the time I lost in my life with fixed working hours, bosses, in-house jobs and stupid company officers. I will never do that again.
The only 'job pos... See more Once I left translation in second plan, because I was raised in a culture where we look for a job and a career in a company. I became and Admin Manager and wasted 20 years of my career in that. I wish I would have chosen to be a full time translator 20 years ago. I would certainly be doing a lot better now. There is no way I can offset the time I lost in my life with fixed working hours, bosses, in-house jobs and stupid company officers. I will never do that again.
The only 'job position' that would make me switch from translation (and I still plan on it) is to the position of "millionaire". ▲ Collapse
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