| Nutzer | Initiator des Themas: Anna Fangrath Volonteer Translations |
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Anna Fangrath 
Deutschland
 Mitglied (Jun 2008)
Russisch > Deutsch
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Hello,
I would like to do some volonteer translations to get practice in translating.
My language pairs are EN- DE, RU-DE
Can anyone tell me where to find such projects?
Do you know any active projects that need translators?
thank you in advance
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Jack Qin
China
Mitglied (Jun 2008)
Englisch > Chinesisch
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You can send your CV to translation agencies in the Blue Board, stating that you are willing to offer free translation. In my opinion, that will work.
Jack
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Nicolas Coyer
Kolumbien
 Partial member
Spanisch > Französisch
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| | Why giving away translations to profit-driven agencies? | Jun 19 |
I don't think agencies need more bargains than they already have.
Some not-for-profit entities usually post such requests here.
There is this one (see below) for example that connects women across the world working for peace. I've been suscribed to their distribution list for translation projects but have not had the time yet to work for them.
http://www.peacexpeace.org
You could browse the nature preservation org sites, as well.
You also have ongoing projects, like freeware (e.g. Mozilla).
The choices are plenty. It all depends on what you like.
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Niraja Nanjundan
Indien
Mitglied (2005)
Deutsch > Englisch
+ ...
| | Articles, forum discussions and Translators Without Borders | Jun 19 |
First of all, Nicholas is right - never offer to do voluntary work for translation agencies - most of them will just exploit you.
There is an article in the knowledge base about pro bono translation work that might be useful:
Sources of Pro Bono Translation Work by Anna Fitzgerald
http://www.proz.com/doc/78
You can also try Translators Without Borders:
http://tsf-twb.org
This topic has been discussed several times in the forums. If you do a search for "volunteer work" or "pro bono translations" you will find most of the discussions with some useful tips.
I hope you really benefit from doing volunteer work. All the best!
Niraja
[Edited at 2008-06-19 03:42]
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Paula Gallego
Réunion
Englisch > Spanisch
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Hi Anna!
I used to work for Front Line - The International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
Dublin (Ireland)
E-mail: info@frontlinedefenders.org
Web site: http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/
Maybe they have something for you. I translated human rights texts from English to Spanish, but they have many languages in their website.
I also think that you shouldn't do free translations for agencies. Is our work as translators!
Good luck!
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raniaelmaraghy
Ägypten
Englisch > Arabisch
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Check the Ashoka website. They need volunteer translators in many language pairs.
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Elizabeth Joy Pitt de Morales
Spanien
Mitglied (2007)
Spanisch > Englisch
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Hi Anna,
Here's another option for you:
http://www.translationsforprogress.org
They bring together low-budget NGO's with student/beginning translators. You sign up and they notify you when there's a need that fits your profile.
I do agree that working for free for profit-driven agencies is not the way to go. There are plenty of volunteer opportunities out there that are perfect for you to get your feet wet without taking work away from professional translators. Also, think about this: if you provide "apprentice" services for free for an agency, at what point do they become "professional" services and you begin to charge for them? How and when will you convince the agency that they should start paying you a fair rate today for something you gave them for free last week?
Quality agencies look for professional translators, and those that would accept "apprentice" translations for free (and then charge the client for them) are not the kind of agencies that earn loyalty from their clients or respect from their service providers.
Liz
 
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Lia Fail
Spanien
Spanisch > Englisch
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| | free translations to agencies? | Jun 19 |
Jack Qin wrote:
You can send your CV to translation agencies in the Blue Board, stating that you are willing to offer free translation. In my opinion, that will work.
Jack |
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3 reasons NOT to do this:
1. why give something for free to a profit-making entity?
2. why encourage sub-standard quality?
3. why undercut real professionals ... including yourself?
Another issue is to offer oneself as a volunteer to a NON-profitmaking body.
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Anna Fangrath
Deutschland
Mitglied (Jun 2008)
Russisch > Deutsch
+ ...
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thank you for your replys
will try all of these options except translating for agencies for free
I think too it´ll undermine paid translators
[Edited at 2008-06-19 12:58]
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Richard Bartholomew
Deutschland
Mitglied (2007)
Deutsch > Englisch
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Tadzio Carvallo
Mexiko
Mitglied (2006)
Englisch > Spanisch
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What a pity that you don't handle my language pair, I'd give you a lot of work to volunteer!
(I'm kidding, I would pay you.)
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lexical
Spanien
Mitglied
Portugiesisch > Englisch
| | There is a broader question, | Jun 22 |
.. though not one that I suppose concerns you much at present, which is this: why should a not-for-profit organisation (however admirable the work they are doing) receive services for nothing? The natural corollary is that the service provider (freelance translator - you or me) absorbs a loss on behalf of the charity.
Now, my issue is this: if I think a charity is worth supporting (and as it happens, I contribute regularly to a small number of worthwhile third world charities), I do so out of my income, enabling them to decide how to spend my cash. But I they wish me to translate something, they pay the same fees as anyone else. That way, we can be more certain that they have the necessary public support because they have the financial resources stemming from that level of support.
I was particularly grieved a year or so ago to be approached to provide free translation services for some greenery-yellary world summit that was proposing to fly people from all over the world free of charge and levy no delegate registration fee, but was quite happy to exploit freelance translators for its own ends to interptet and translate the proceedings for free.
And I'm sorry to say it succeeded.
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RachelG
Vereinigtes Königreich
 Deutsch > Englisch
| | RE: Pro Bono translations - for and against | Jul 3 |
Hi everyone,
I am a new student member of ProZ.com. I have just passed the first year of a Diploma/MA in Translation and wanting to get some experience in the 'real world'. My combination is German into English. I live in England.
I see that there are arguments for and against doing volunteer translations so I'm a bit confused as to what to do now! I initially thought about doing some for free but after reading this forum am undecided. I saw (on another forum I think) that someone advised having any 'beginner' translations checked by an experienced professional. This of course makes sense.One can then get professional feedback. They mentioned paying a translator to do this. So, potentially, I could do a free or paid translation for a non-profit organisation/charity and pay a translator to check it? Does this sound intelligent or not? I would appreciate any advice anyone could give me!
Also, as I don't yet have any translation software, would WORD be ok to start with? I know it would depend on the organisation one was doing the work for but any advice on this would also be appreciated.
many thanks
Rachel
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islander1974
Jamaika
Mitglied (2007)
Französisch > Englisch
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Hi Rachel,
Microsoft Office, the internet, and good dictionaries are all you need to get started!
There's nothing wrong with doing volunteer translations - but don't just do it for experience, do it for good causes that you believe in. I've done it a couple of times in the past, and been satisfied....and the organizations I've done it for, grateful.
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Louise Souter
Spanien
Spanisch > Englisch
+ ...
| | Sources of Pro Bono Translation Work | Aug 27 |
The author of the article above stated that:
"If you have little translation experience, it is a good idea to seek the help of a seasoned translator to proof-read your work and offer suggestions. As you will usually not receive feedback from those for whom you are doing volunteer work, this is a good way to ensure that you make progress while offering your services."
This makes sense but where/how do yo find professional translators willing/able to take the time to do that?
[Edited at 2008-08-27 17:34]
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