Succeeding as a freelance translator

David Charlston

2013

Introduction

• 1. Our experience of multiligualism • 2. A Multi-Purpose Metaphor • 3. Surveying the field of opportunities

• 4. Business practice and the translator’s voice • 5. The text as a frozen social space • 6. Translation theory as an end in itself

Our experience of multilingualism and interlingual communication

• Brigitta Busch: “We are all multilingual”

• Write notes on your experiences:

– languages you have learned formally

– dialects, regional varieties in your experience

• Tell you neighbour what you have written

• What distinguishes a freelancer?

A Multi-Purpose Metaphor

Surveying the field of opportunities

• How can you make money out of interlingual skills? – Full-time employment

– Working for agencies/companies

– Direct clients

• Identifying demand in the market

• Tailoring your situation and skills to meet demand

• Curriculum vitae: writing and dissemination

Business practice and the translator’s voice

• Judging and interacting with prospective clients

– Small UK Translation Agent

– Large US Translation Agent

– My invoice

– Certification

Small UK Agent’s Webpage

Large US Agent’s Webpage

The text as a frozen social space

• Find out as much as you can about the participants and processes surrounding the text

• Analyse and research the text in detail until you know who is saying what to whom and why

• Translate, read and re-read the text from several different perspectives

Translation theory as an end in itself

• Disadvantages

– Isolation, vulnerability

• Advantages

– Independence, flexibility, learning

• Understanding yourself as a multilingual participant in a multilingual world

• Acting and responding creatively to a changing environment

Freelance translation as an inter-perspectival, participatory activity