I believe that after focusing on a certain industry for many years, everyone will gain insights and gains. I have been a translator for many years, and I always want to write something. I just don’t know how to write, so I am busy every day. Finally, I have finished the project in the past two days and have time to write something down. I hope that my experiences, feelings and experiences in translation will be useful for those who want to translate or are currently doing translation. My friends have some reference value.
Personal experience
I graduated from Henan Normal University in 2011, majoring in English. After the translation class started in college, I found that I fell in love with translation. I would go to the library to read books about translation. The ones that impressed me most were Mao Ronggui's "Colorful Translation", "Exploring the Forest of Translation", "Translation Aesthetics", etc. , and other translation-related books. I still keep some notes I took when I was in college. At that time, I felt that translation had opened up a new world for me, and I vaguely felt that I would be engaged in related work.
After graduation, there were almost no translation-related jobs. So, I went to work in a training institution in Zhengzhou for a few months. I found that when I had free time, I would still think about translation. At that time, I went to Yiyan.com, and when I had time, I would choose some articles to translate myself. This was purely my hobby.
In the training institution, the work is not too busy and the salary is good, but I still "think about" translation in my heart. So, I finally resigned and decided to fight for my ideals. So, after struggling for a while, I resigned to work as a translator. At that time, I found a studio that was recruiting translators. So, I went for an interview. This studio was located in a dilapidated community. It was not very big. There were three translators a day before me. At that time, I remember that the basic salary was less than half of the basic salary of the previous job, and a certain amount of translation was required. At that time, I thought that I would continue to be a translator even if I didn’t make money. But a month later, I was confused again. At that time, it cost ten yuan to translate a thousand words. I did my own calculations and figured out how much money I could earn in a month if I worked hard. The translator shouldn't be so embarrassed, right? So, I resigned decisively. To be honest, I basically didn’t learn anything in this month, and I still knew almost nothing about translation.
I found another job, which was said to be a translator, but actually it wasn’t very relevant. I just introduced foreign teachers to domestic schools. In the evening, I will look for part-time jobs online and work on test drafts. In a group, I met Lao Cao of Endless Translation. He sent me a test and said that I could come to their company. I felt flattered at the time and a little worried that I would be cheated. In April 2012, I decisively resigned from my third job and went to Yanjiao with my backpack.
This is where I really get into the business. Here, I would like to express my special thanks to Brother Cao (translated as Endless Cao Xudong), project manager Daqing, and colleagues who have helped me, some of whom we still keep in touch with. Now that I think about it, in Yanjiao, there was a period of time when I couldn't afford to eat, but I still persevered. I think I have the ability to be a translator. Eventually, I gradually gained recognition and established a long-term cooperative relationship with the company.
In 2014, due to personal reasons, I left Translation without Limits, but I have maintained our cooperation, which is equivalent to working full-time remotely. Later, I got married in my hometown and started a family. My son is now over two years old. In the later period, the business of Translation Without Ending decreased, and I established a long-term cooperative relationship with another translation company, Chagu Translation, which later became Sino-Foreign Translation, and we are still cooperating now.
The above is my general translation process, and then from the following aspects, I will introduce what I can learn about translation, which is also a glimpse:
Introduction to Translation
Nowadays, with the development of technology and the Internet, many college students are now working as part-time translators. I suggest that those who want to be a translator for a long time should stay in a translation company for one to two years to become familiar with the industry and learn some related translation software. Then, you can consider doing SOHO. This varies from person to person. There may be some people who are very capable and have never been short of work without ever going to a translation company. You can consider taking the Level 3 or Level 2 written translation exam, which is equivalent to having entry-level translation skills. Some people say that the written translation exam has little relevance to commercial manuscripts in the market. In fact, I feel that there is no contradiction between the two. The exam not only tests the content, but through the exam process, you have the ability to quickly understand the source language and the ability to quickly convert between languages.
Translation, in a sense, is a craft that you need to practice, and only after a lot of practice can you really master it.
When I first became a translator, I struggled with the huge difference between technical and commercial translation, the translation I imagined, and the translation I studied in university. This requires us to adapt and make changes in our thinking. At the same time, we must also have the ability to learn new knowledge quickly, and to search and verify accurately and quickly.
In short, I recommend combining theory with practice to get started quickly. Personally, I feel that the threshold for this industry is low and the level of translators varies. If you really want to be a translator, you will definitely stand out as long as you work hard.
Translation Salary
In the translation industry, as an ordinary translator, you may not be rich, but it will be enough to support your family. I had always doubted whether I could support my family as a translator, but it turned out that I could. I basically cooperated with two companies, and then gradually became customers introduced by other PMs or friends. The advantage of establishing a long-term cooperation with a certain company is that you don't have to worry about the source of the manuscript, and the PM and the translator have a certain tacit understanding beforehand. The disadvantage may be that once the company you cooperate with has personnel adjustments or a reduction in manuscript sources, you may not be able to respond in time. For a long period of time, you may be faced with the embarrassing situation of having no manuscripts to work on. This is because developing new customers requires a certain period of time, and cooperation is established step by step from small manuscripts. Some translators suggest that they constantly develop new customers and increase their unit prices. This may vary from person to person. I may be a little "unmotivated".
Don’t ask how much a translator earns in a day, because everyone spends different amounts of time. You can ask the translator’s unit price and translation speed. This will give you an idea of ??his income. Don’t complain that the industry is chaotic and the salary is low. Ask yourself first about your ability. If you have the ability, there are still many high-end manuscripts. There will always be someone doing high-end, terminal, and low-end manuscripts. You just need to find your own position. You can also set your own price bottom line when accepting manuscripts.
Translation field
Translation is only a general concept, and there are many subdivided fields. I found that the longer I worked, the more cautious I became. I would not dare to take on the type of work that I was not good at. This is because for unfamiliar fields, it is painful and slow to do it yourself, and after you finish it, you still don’t know the quality of your translation. After finishing it, I will not feel any sense of accomplishment. When we are newbies, perhaps we are often ignorant and fearless, and dare to do anything. After working for a period of time, you should choose one to three areas that you can control, and then gain an in-depth understanding of the professional knowledge in this field. Liberal arts students may mostly choose fields related to law, contracts, and culture. Science students may choose fields related to their major. But this is not necessarily the case. It all depends on your interests and the types of manuscripts you may be exposed to. As a liberal arts student, I am particularly interested in technology, computers, etc., and I have come across a lot of manuscripts on big data, cloud migration, etc., so I bought relevant books to expand my knowledge in this area. , have an overall understanding of the field.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Freelance Translators
As a freelance translator, you do not belong to any unit or company. You are relatively free and can arrange your working time reasonably. I have relatively fixed working hours every day, and sometimes I am even more tired than working hours. During this year's epidemic, many people may be "stuck" at home with nothing to do. I have been drafting since the third day of the Lunar New Year. I have made an appointment for a project with a well-known domestic technology company years ago. Since I can't gather or go out, I will start drafting. As a result, I worked on this project for more than forty days and was even busier than usual. The epidemic seems to have little impact on me, because this is how I usually live.
However, there are still many disadvantages to being a freelance translator. I am at home every day and have little external communication. Sometimes I feel that it is difficult to communicate with others. Over time, I also become reluctant to communicate with others. . Moreover, they also have to face practical problems such as no social security. Moreover, when people ask me about my work, I often don’t know how to answer. After I say it, I am afraid that others will not understand it and then have to explain it. Now that I am back to my hometown, people around me still think that I am teaching, and I am too lazy to explain it again. . I remember when I first lived in my current community, my wife was at home taking care of the baby, and I was writing manuscripts at home.
In the community, there was an aunt who took care of her baby every day. Finally one time she couldn't help but ask her daughter-in-law, how do you live when you two don't work at home and your husband doesn't go downstairs all day long? When my wife told me, I said helplessly, it seems I have to hang around downstairs more often.
At the same time, working as a translator and facing the computer every day will have adverse effects on your eyes, cervical spine, weight, etc. At present, I have also begun to face my own problems, insist on running and exercise, and actively adjust my work status. The body is the capital of revolution. Without a good body, the physical and mental work of translation cannot be done for a long time. In fact, no matter what profession we are in, we must pay attention to our health. The older we get, the stronger this awareness will be. Please take care of your body!
Machine translation and human translation
In the past two years, machine translation has made certain breakthroughs. This has had a relatively large impact on translation. Some simple, or patent and other translations are relatively difficult. In fixed areas, machine translation may already be able to meet the needs. In the past few days, friends have recommended to me several articles related to machine translation. Nowadays, there are more and more MTPE (machine translation + post-editing) projects. The unit price for translators is often half of the translation price. I haven't really come across this type of project yet. This may become the norm for translation in some fields, and you may need to adapt to it. Or, you better yourself and refuse to accept such projects. I believe that machine translation is still unable to replace human translation. However, we still have to embrace technology and make use of technology.
Translation software
At present, most professional translators should use CAT software tools. Mainstream software such as Trados and Memoq are relatively easy to use, and there are many related learning videos on the Internet. , you can make full use of it. I am currently using the domestic CAT software "Snowman". Some people may not know this software, but I have been using it myself. I find it easy to operate and powerful, and it fully meets my translation needs. I first used Trados, and also Memoq, and now I basically use Yeti. If a translator is proficient in using one or two CAT software, he will get twice the result with half the effort.
Veteran translators and new translators
Veteran translators come from novices slowly. New translators who are new to translation often don’t know how to start and are very nervous. I've had this experience myself. Therefore, after I have been a translator for several years, if a novice comes to me to ask about translation, I usually encourage them, and then give some suggestions and provide some learning materials. And, if possible, we will help introduce the translation company. Everyone is a novice. Some people have been doing it for many years, but their level may not be very high. Some people may have been doing it for a year or two, but they may become proficient very quickly. I feel very happy to be able to help others. Therefore, I suggest that experienced translators, if they come into contact with new translators, give them lots of encouragement and help.
In this article of mine, there is no specific translation content full of useful information introduced by other translators. I just want to briefly introduce my translation experience in the same way as a friend chatting. "What you see on paper will only make sense, but you must practice it." If you want to be a translator, please take action. Everyone's situation will not be exactly the same. I believe you can also find your own unique path. .