Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Poll: How did you get into translating? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "How did you get into translating?".
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| | | Nigel Greenwood (X) Spain Local time: 12:54 Spanish to English + ... I drifted in from another field... | May 26, 2014 |
I had been working for different companies as an Outsourcing Engineer (finding suppliers in other countries of sub-products). I was made redundant from my last company when I was 54, -no chances of finding other employment- and I started to work as a full-time freelancer specialising in Engineering. So my 'drifting' was forced on me. But I am very grateful and very pleased with my new career. Have a great day, all of you... See more I had been working for different companies as an Outsourcing Engineer (finding suppliers in other countries of sub-products). I was made redundant from my last company when I was 54, -no chances of finding other employment- and I started to work as a full-time freelancer specialising in Engineering. So my 'drifting' was forced on me. But I am very grateful and very pleased with my new career. Have a great day, all of you Nigel. ▲ Collapse | | | Tim Drayton Cyprus Local time: 13:54 Turkish to English + ... I drifted into it from a different field ... | May 26, 2014 |
is how I answered, but it is hard to categorise. I first attempted to get translation work at a time when I was unemployed in 1984, but received no replies to any of my applications. I tried again in 1990, when I was a student and could have used some additional income, and received one free test translation for an agency, and that was it. In 1996, at a time when I was running a language training company, I started to receive inquiries out of the blue about translations from client companies and... See more is how I answered, but it is hard to categorise. I first attempted to get translation work at a time when I was unemployed in 1984, but received no replies to any of my applications. I tried again in 1990, when I was a student and could have used some additional income, and received one free test translation for an agency, and that was it. In 1996, at a time when I was running a language training company, I started to receive inquiries out of the blue about translations from client companies and did some of the translation work myself and assigned some of the jobs to other people. I had my first real bash at setting myself up as a full-time freelancer in 1999, when I had returned to my native country of the UK and had to find a way of earning a living. That lasted until 2002. Most recently, I set myself up as a freelance translator once more in Cyprus in 2004, more as a stopgap than a anything else, although I have been earning my living this way since then. ▲ Collapse | | | Julian Holmes Japan Local time: 19:54 Member (2011) Japanese to English
I chose translation since it gave me a better chance to use my linguistic skills. After 7 years of Latin and 4 of ancient Greek, I was worried my Japanese would go the same way and be lost and forgotten like a dead language. Never looked back... | |
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Noura Tawil Syria Local time: 13:54 Member (2013) English to Arabic from different fieldS | May 26, 2014 |
From Pharmacy, as a profession, and literary writing and plastic arts as hobbies. They're all integrated into translation "specialties" now. | | | from different fields | May 26, 2014 |
International business in steel industry, construction, internet marketing, international business conferences for various industries (steel, scrap, coal, cement, grain, etc.) Almost everywhere (except construction) I had to make translations and to use my language skills regulary. Now I find my previous experience helps me. | | | Diana Coada (X) United Kingdom Local time: 11:54 Portuguese to English + ... How did you get into translating? | May 26, 2014 |
When I decided I wanted to be an interpreter - it comes with the territory | | | from another field | May 26, 2014 |
I'd worked for years in freelance journalism but had been moving away from it. I had an editing gig and considered applying as a translator for the same company. I'd done some translation in the past and started looking at translation as a possibility. I still do editing and other writing work as well. I had studied journalism and english lit and the skills I learned have been very helpful. Plus, I get more work and make more money than I did in journalism! | |
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I drifted into it from a different field | May 26, 2014 |
At the time I didn't know that translation as a job field even existed. Come to think of it, I wonder why that is. | | | I drifted... | May 26, 2014 |
When I started working I had no defined carreer plan (I was then married to an airforce pilot and we moved all the time) so I drifted a lot: civil servant, senior secretary, hotel manager, junior director, account executive, public relations officer, vocational trainer... Many years later, translation found me and I have never looked back! | | | I always wanted be a linguist and possibly a translator, among | May 26, 2014 |
other things like being a writer, a journalist and a visual arts artist. Also an acrobat-- well this one did not work out. Just joking--the last one just a child's idea, never acted upon.
[Edited at 2014-05-26 10:28 GMT] | | | neilmac Spain Local time: 12:54 Spanish to English + ... Drifted into it... | May 26, 2014 |
... although I had also always wanted to be a translator. However, when I finished my degree in Russian, the main source of work available was for the government and I didn't fancy signing the official secrets act. So I went off to teach TEFL in Spain instead and did so for several years before ending up in what I always kind of knew was my true calling, translating ES-EN. I rarely get the chance to use my Russian nowadays and it's very rusty...
[Edited at 2014-05-26 10:44 GMT] | |
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Rolf Kern Switzerland Local time: 12:54 English to German + ... In memoriam
A friend of mine, a mechanical engineer, knowing I was an electrical engineer, asked me whether I could do a translation for the company in which he worked in the field of electrical insulating tapes. That was the start. | | | John Fossey Canada Local time: 06:54 Member (2008) French to English + ... Didn't "drift" | May 26, 2014 |
I answered "Other" because while I got into it from another field, I didn't "drift" into it - it was a deliberate decision when I was looking for something else to do after the business I was in previously closed. | | | EvaVer (X) Local time: 12:54 Czech to French + ... As most people above, I drifted | May 26, 2014 |
When working as a secretary, my income was low and I needed something extra. This extra outgrew my salary quite fast, so that the decision was easy. | | | Pages in topic: [1 2] > | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Poll: How did you get into translating? Wordfast Pro | Translation Memory Software for Any Platform
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