Starting up as a translator

Th 10 t i t t d i iThe 10 most important decisionsin the life of a new translatorin the life of a new translator

Trinidad Clares Flores MA MITI MCIL NRPSI

QualificationsQ

Which qualifications?Which qualifications?

MA Translation Studies (Cardiff University)MA Translation with Language TechnologyMA Translation with Language Technology (Swansea University)

O li MA T l i (B i l U i i )Online: MA Translation (Bristol University)

Diploma in Translation (Chartered Institute of Li i t )Linguists)

Which qualifications?Which qualifications?Highlights MA Translation MA Translation with  MA Translation

Studies (Cardiff) Language Tech. (Swansea) (Bristol)

Classroom/distance Classroom Classroom Distance

Languages All FIGS, Dutch, Polish, Russian, Welsh, Chinese

FIGS, Czech, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese

Translation practice All Languages Advanced Translation module Applied TranslationTranslation practice All Languages Translation Class

Advanced Translation module Applied Translationmodule

CAT tools Introduction to SDL Trados & Dejà Vù (4 h

Language Technology (SDL Trados) (22 h)

Computer‐Aided TranslationTrados & Dejà Vù (4 h 

each)Trados) (22 h) Translation

Specialisedmodules

Literary TranslationScientific & Technical

Language Technology: (DéjàVu Star Transit Passolo

Introduction to specialised translationmodules Scientific & Technical

Medical & Pharmac.Politics & LawBusiness & Admon

Vu, Star Transit, Passolo, Systran)Terminology Management, Interpreting, Placement

specialised translation (legal, literary, commercial, social sciences, science and 

SubtitlingTranslation in the Arts

technology)

In‐house or freelance

In houseIn‐house

Advantages Disadvantages‐Stability ‐Less freedom‐Stability ‐Less freedom‐Peers ‐Lower earnings‐Career progression ‐Less controlMore support More hierarchy‐More support ‐More hierarchy‐More guidance ‐̏Office politics”

FreelanceFreelance

Advantages Disadvantages‐More freedom ‐Lack of stability‐More freedom ‐Lack of stability‐Higher earnings ‐Isolation‐Higher control ‐No peersMore flexibility More expenses‐More flexibility ‐More expenses‐Can work anywhere ‐Need more discipline

Questions to ask yourselfQuestions to ask yourself

Do I consider myself a business person?Do I like working on my own? (“Jelly” days)Do I like working on my own? ( Jelly  days)Do I mind having to do my own sales, marketing, i i i d di l llinvoicing and credit control as well as my own translation work?

Am I technically self‐sufficient?C I ith th t i t f th f tCan I cope with the uncertainty of the feast v. famine scenario?

ITI Survey ResultsITI Survey Results

h ki d f ?What kind of an entrepreneur are you?‘Inevitable’ entrepreneur: 8%p‘Natural’ entrepreneur: 20%‘Enforced’ entrepreneur: 5%Enforced  entrepreneur: 5%‘Accidental’ entrepreneur: 18%‘I don’t see myself as an entrepreneur at all – I’m just a professional’: 49%j p

“Weathering the storms and broadening our horizons”, Janet Frasier and Mi h l G ld ITI C f 2011Michael Gold, ITI Conference 2011

If you want to start a freelance careerIf you want to start a freelance career

a) Take out a loan (help from partner/family)a) Take out a loan (help from partner/family)b) Work part‐timec) Don’t leave your job until you have enough of 

a workloadd) Don’t expect your business to take off 

t i htstraight away

Professional Associations

Professional AssociationsProfessional Associations

h h ld j i ?Why should I join one?• Training/CPDg• Peer support• Know what’s happening• Know what s happening• Networking• Get work• Other services: credit‐check legal adviceOther services: credit check, legal advice, discounted products and services

Which one?Which one?

ITI CIOLEntry requirements Qualifications, 

exam/sample of work, experience

Qualifications, experience

experience

Member categories Qualified, Associate, PCI, Student, Corporate

Fellow, Member, Associate,Student

Specific groups Regional, Language, Subject

Translation, interpreting, language

F t l t O i t ti CFor new translators Orientation CourseProfessional Support Group

Training Translation Workshop Translation Division events

Fora LinkedIn, website LinkedIn, own Yahoo groupFora LinkedIn, website LinkedIn, own Yahoo group for trans, int.

Access to Credit Safe Yes No

PI Insurance Yes Yes

Self‐certification seals Yes No

Which equipment?q p

Equipment: hardwareEquipment: hardware

DesktopLaptopLaptopNotebookTablet

Equipment: hardwareEquipment: hardware

PriceComfortComfortFeaturesPortability

Hardware tipsHardware tips

Spend as much as necessary, you won’t regret itgGet an extended guarantee, it can be a life saversaverIf you only work on a laptop, get a good size screen (at least 16 inches)

Hardware tipsHardware tips

Make sure the keyboard is a full‐size one or a buy a separate oney p

Hardware tipsHardware tips

Appropriate desk and chair (better with footrest))Home Broadband & mobile Internet connectionconnectionQuiet area used exclusively for workGood All‐in‐one printer/copier/scanner/fax machinemachine

SoftwareSoftware

or

Check out Valeria Aliperta’s article on the latest ITI Bulletin on all things Apple!latest ITI Bulletin on all things Apple!

Windows v Mac for CAT ToolsWindows v. Mac for CAT Tools

• CAT tools available for Mac OS X:– Wordfast Pro

VMW P ll l D kt /B t C• VMWare or Parallels Desktop/Boot Camp:– MemoQ (fully supported)– Déjà Vu (not supported)– SDL Trados Studio 2011 (Windows Office versionSDL Trados Studio 2011 (Windows Office version needed for preview option)

S ftSoftware• Microsoft Office•CAT tool•Terminology processing tools (Xbench, Multiterm)Terminology processing tools (Xbench, Multiterm)•DTP program (Adobe Acrobat)Oth t l i i OCR (Abb Fi R d )•Other tools: unzipping, OCR (Abby Fine Reader), Search (S&R, Google Desktop)•Cloud storage software (Dropbox, Box.net, iCloud, etc.)•Dictionaries (Routledge technical, Oxford bilingual and monolingual)•Dragon Naturally SpeakingDragon Naturally Speaking•Instant Messaging program (Skype, MSN, etc.)

Apps for iPadApps for iPad

What about CAT tools?

CAT Tools: Friend or Foe?CAT Tools: Friend or Foe?

Advantages:‐Higher consistency and quality of the translationg y q y‐No need to repeat work: all translations are storedHigher productivity‐Higher productivity‐Allows you to work in more formats

Disadvantages:‐Can slow you down if not comfortableCan slow you down if not comfortable‐Lower rates if working with agencies

CAT Tools: which one to buyCAT Tools: which one to buy

What should I take into account:• What my clients requestWhat my clients request• Features (standard file formats: .sdlxliff, TM, 

l d ibili i h )glossary and compatibility with .ttx)• Learning curveg• Availability of resources• Price

FeaturesComparison

SDL TradosStudio Starter

SDL T Studio Freelance

MemoQ Déjà Vu X2 Prof.

WordfastPro

TM size 5000 units Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited 1,000,000

Multiple TMs No Yes Yes Yes (5) Yes

Multiple glossaries No Yes Yes Yes (5) Yes

Create project No Yes Yes Yes Yes

Real‐time preview Yes Yes Yes Yes (.rtf) Yes

Machine Translation Yes 3 MT engines Google MT Plug‐in

GoogleTranslate

AutomatedPlug in Translate

Term extraction SDL MultitermExtract 2011*

SDL MultitermExtract 2011*

Yes BuildLexicon

? Manual

Statistics No Yes Yes Yes YesStatistics No Yes Yes Yes Yes

PDF files Support Yes Yes No No Yes

Autopropagate Yes Yes Yes Yes YesAutopropagate Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Price €99/year €845 €620 €690 €350

Alignment tool Yes Yes Integrated Yes Integrated

File formats Sdlxliff, ttx, itd,inx, icml, xml, pdf, resx, xtg

Sdlxliff, ttx, itd,inx, icml, xml, pdf, resx, xtg

Xliff, .ttx, .inx, .mif,.xml, .pdf

sdlxliff, .ttx, .xml, .inx…

.inx, .pdf, .mf, 

.ttx

Translation Memories Survey 2006Translation Memories Survey 2006

Imperial College London:‐Around 80% translation professionals use TMAround 80% translation professionals use TM‐Most‐widely used tool: TRADOS (51% + 24%)‐Highest rating: Déjà Vu‐Less than 2% of respondents used MemoQLess than 2% of respondents used MemoQ

http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww3.imperial.ac.uk%2Fportal%2Fpls%2Fportallive%2Fdocs%2F1%2F7307707.PDF&date=2009‐09‐18

CAT Tools: types of matchesCAT Tools: types of matches

• New words• Low fuzzy matches (up to 84%)• High fuzzy matches (85‐99%)• 100% matches• 100% matches• Repetitions

• 101% /Perfect matches/ICE matches (context)• “Internal matches”• “Leveraged” wordsLeveraged  words• Post‐editing

Should I specialise?p

Absolutely!Absolutely!

‐Key to professional sector‐Less competitionLess competition‐Higher rates‐Increase your professional self‐esteem

Industrial v professional sectorIndustrial v. professional sector

I d t i l P f i lIndustrial Professional‐Fast turnaround ‐Highly specialised‐High volumes ‐Professional profile‐Low rates ‐Direct contact‐Intensive use of technology ‐Technology as aid‐Imposed conditions ‐Negotiated conditions‐Translators as commodity ‐Translator as valued‐Impersonal mass offers partnerp p‐Translators bear exchange ‐Translator as linguisticrate costs “consultant”rate costs consultant

Examples of industrial sectorExamples of industrial sector• http://nopeanuts wordpress com/resistance/llorens/http://nopeanuts.wordpress.com/resistance/llorens/: charge for using their own tool “Translation Workspace”Workspace

“ ” d b• “Requests” to reduce your rates by 5%

• No payment for 100% matches and repetitions

• http://nopeanuts.wordpress.com/2010/11/11/mega‐mills/

Dear Sir/Madam,

We are looking for a long term commitment with a freelance for our different projects, b d t l ti diti / f di di t i ti i t t ti ibased on translation, editing/proofreading, audio transcription, interpretation, voice cover, copyright, DTP etc. 

Current project details:p jLanguage: Italian>EnglishSubject: TechDeadline: November 30th, by 5:00PM GMT+1

Volume / Length: 10 000 words (It is a part of a project of 100 000 words)Rate: 0.035 EUR/word, please consider the amount of work.We need partial deliveries every day.p y yTRADOS is required.Target lang. should be your native one. PLEASE LET ME KNOW HOWMUCH CAN YOU TAKE.

Would appreciate if you could send us some details about your work as it follows:1. A link to proz profile (for easy tracking)2. Your CV3. Indicate the rates you operate for:• Translation• Editing / Proofreading4 Contact information (phone numbers hours to be contacted) required4. Contact information (phone numbers, hours to be contacted) required.Let us know if further collaboration is possible.Best regards,

How?How?

St d i f d i h bj t• Studying for a degree in your chosen subject• Attending short specialised courses• Watching webinars: 

– 6th December ‐ Getting Started with Telephone I t tiInterpreting

– 1st February – Specialising in Medical Translation9th F b Ch i t f T l t– 9th February – Chemistry for Translators

• Reading journals and related literatureV l i k i i li d bj• Volunteering to work in your specialised subject (NGOs, charities, etc.)

How much should I charge?charge?

The $64,000 question!

Types of workTypes of workDo we know what we are talking about?Do we know what we are talking about?

o TranslationP f di /R i i / i i /Editio Proofreading/Reviewing/revising/Editing

o Transcription/Voice‐overo Transcreationo DTPoo LocalisationTestingo Testing

o Interpreting (consecutive, simultaneous, whispered, )telephone, etc.)

Types of chargesTypes of charges• Rate per word/thousand wordsp /• Rate per character, cartella, etc.• Hourly rate• Hourly rate

• Proofreading/reviewing/editing*• Special jobs: localisation (translation+resizing), testing, transcription, etc.

• Minimum chargeg• Weekend and urgent work

When deciding your rate, take intoaccount..

!• Taxes!• Expensesp• Holiday pay• Sick pay• Sick pay• Pension contributions• CPD• Slack timeSlack time• Admin time

How do I calculate my rate?How do I calculate my rate?Daily outputDaily output

2000‐2500 words/day2500 words/8 hours = 312,50 words/h

Hourly rateHourly rateTo earn £20 per hour: (equivalent to £28,800/year)

Word rate£20/312,5 words = £0,064 per word/£64/1000 w£20/312,5 words   £0,064 per word/£64/1000 w£30/312,5 words = £0,096 per word/£96/1000 w

CalcProCalcPro

• http://www.asetrad.org/pdfs/CalPro_v1.3_(EN‐GB).xls

• To help us determine how much we need to charge depending on how much we want tocharge depending on how much we want to earn

Other information to help usOther information to help us

• Bear in mind language combination, specialised field, countryp y

• Check rates published by professional associations (i e recent survey by ITI/CIoL)associations (i.e. recent survey by ITI/CIoL)

• Most importantly… talk to other experienced translators

Should I give volume discounts?Should I give volume discounts?

Author: Alejandro Moreno Ramos (http://mox ingenierotraductor com/p/author html)(http://mox.ingenierotraductor.com/p/author.html)

Is competing on price good?Is competing on price good?

I’m a novice I should charge lessI m a novice, I should charge lessIf you accept a lower rate, the client won’t pay the y p , p y

higher rate of experienced translators and everybody will losey y

Once set it’s very difficult to increase your rate withOnce set, it s very difficult to increase your rate with an existing client

Novice translator + reviewer = same quality as i d t l texperienced translatorhttp://nopeanuts.wordpress.com/

How do I promote myselfp y

How do I promote myself?How do I promote myself?

f i l i i1. Professional associations2. Translators’ fora3. Translators’ directories4 Social media4. Social media5. Powwows or other translators’

hgatherings6. Training and other eventsg7. Specialist fora and events

2 Translators’ Fora2. Translators  Fora

P f i l A i ti T N t ( l CI L• Professional Associations: TransNet (general CIoLforum for translators), InterpNet, etc.

• Technical fora TW users WF Pro dejavu I• Technical fora: TW_users, WF_Pro, dejavu_I, memoQ

• Language specific: Traducción en España• Language‐specific: Traducción en España, Apuntes, Asetrad, SpanNet (ITI)

• Specialised: iJurado PS interpreters Wales• Specialised: iJurado, PS_interpreters_Wales, Medtrad

• Jobs adverts: Jobs‐translators tr‐jobs InfotradJobs adverts: Jobs translators, tr jobs, Infotrad• Payment: http://www.paymentpractices.net

3 Translators’ directories3. Translators  directories

• www.Proz.com• www.aquarius.netwww.aquarius.net• www.translatorscafe.com• www.trally.com• www translatorsbase comwww.translatorsbase.com• www.traduguide.com• www.bewords.com, www.mytranslation.com, www.bookinterpreter.com, 

www.interpretersportal.com, 

Advantages DisadvantagesJob offers Strong competitionExposure “Cattle market” approachBlue Board Low quality offersPowwows Pay per servicesPowwows Pay‐per‐servicesKudoZ Limited ability to commentTranslators forums Commercial company profits from p y p

translatorsTraining events Perpetuates translator as “commodity”G b P l f li i iGroup buys Perpetuates culture of clients setting prices

4 Social Media4. Social Media

• #l8 #i10n, #ITItranslators, #ITIconf, #IntJC

• ITI, CIoL, Freelance Translators & Interpreters N k T l i i b d iNetwork, Translation agencies bad practices, Translation Professionals

• Aiic interpreters AsetradAiic interpreters, Asetrad • Blogs, own website

LinkedInLinkedIn

There’s something about translationThere s something about translation

A Pragmatic Eye (Charlie Bavington)A Pragmatic Eye (Charlie Bavington)

Translation Times: Judy & Dagmar JennerTranslation Times: Judy & Dagmar Jenner

5. Powwows and translatorsgatherings

77

6 Training and other events6. Training and other events10th D b C t t T i l d L d Ci il10th December: Contract Terminology and Law, and Civil Liability by Lexacom English Law Courses, London10th December: Translating Business Film material, Aston g ,University, Birmingham (ITI)21st January: NWTN Boost your Business Day, Manchester (business planning marketing sales negotiation and(business planning, marketing, sales negotiation and assertiveness) (ITI)24th January: webinar “Choosing your market” (ITI via y g y (eCPD Ltd.)13th February: LRG Pricing WorkshopF bi “Q lit CPD b d t”Free webinar: “Quality CPD on a budget”http://www.ecpdwebinars.co.uk/cpd_on_a_budget.html

7 Specialist fora and events7. Specialist fora and events

• Chambers of commerce• Trade fairsTrade fairs• Professional Associations• Conferences & professional events

How to break the vicious circleHow to break the vicious circle

No workNo  No workexperience

Test: to do them or not to do them?do them?

TestsTests

Reasons to do them:Prove your knowledgey gProve you can follow instructionsProve your technical skillsProve your technical skills

X Reasons not do them:X A sample can show my workX The client is just following bureocratic processX The client is just following bureocratic processX I have qualifications and experience

TestsTests

Should they be paid?If very specific requirements from existing clienty p q gIf required by a specific timeframeUnusually long (more than 300 words)Unusually long (more than 300 words)

X We consider them a marketing toolX We are confident that they will lead to paid worky p

Where to look for help?p

Where to look for helpWhere to look for help

• ITI’s Orientation Course• Books published by experienced translatorsBooks published by experienced translators• Fora• Translators’ blogs• ColleaguesColleagues• Webinars

Books

h i l i i

Books

The Entrepreneurial Linguist(Judy and Dagmar Jenner)

(Chris Durbam)

WebinarsWebinars

– “Quality CPD on a budget” (http://www.ecpdwebinars.co.uk/cpd_on_a_budget.html)

“A l i f j b ff i f l ”– “Applying for job offers: top tips for translators”(http://ecpdwebinars.blogspot.com/2011/11/applying‐for‐job‐offers‐top‐tips‐for html?spref=tw)offers‐top‐tips‐for.html?spref=tw)

Other resourcesOther resources

• Fire Ant and Woker Bee http://translationjournal.net/journal/56fawb.htmp j j

Th T l ’ T l B• The Translator’s Tool Box: A computer primer for translatorshttp://www.internationalwriters.com/toolbox/

What to do if I don’t have work?work?

Feast v FamineFeast v. Famine‐Update/improve your CV

d /i b i ( )‐Update/improve your website (or create one)‐Update your social media sites‐Learn more features of CAT tools‐Get more software and learn to use itGet more software and learn to use it‐Learn more about a subject you are interested in (it could be a new specialised field)could be a new specialised field)

‐Learn/improve another language‐Send your CV to existing clients‐Send your CV to new targeted clientsy g‐Catch up on translators’ directories, fora and blogs

And enjoy yourself!And enjoy yourself!

trini@trinidadclares.comtrini@trinidadclares.comSkype: tclares

Twitter: trini.clares