Which language to learn better to translate into English?
Thread poster: literary
literary
literary
Local time: 07:12
English to Polish
+ ...
Jan 29, 2015

I translate in Poland mainly from Polish into English. Somehow creating sentences in English comes naturally to me though I am Polish. Maybe I could move to another country and translate into English for 4 times better money? Which country/pair would you recommend? I know some French, some German, some Russian, some Spanish. Which market is the largest? Is the UK a good market for translating INTO English?
I've worked with all sorts of clients: businesses, universities, local governments,
... See more
I translate in Poland mainly from Polish into English. Somehow creating sentences in English comes naturally to me though I am Polish. Maybe I could move to another country and translate into English for 4 times better money? Which country/pair would you recommend? I know some French, some German, some Russian, some Spanish. Which market is the largest? Is the UK a good market for translating INTO English?
I've worked with all sorts of clients: businesses, universities, local governments, tourism organizers.
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Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 07:12
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
A quick peek Jan 29, 2015

literary wrote:
Which country/pair would you recommend? I know some French, some German, some Russian, some Spanish. Which market is the largest?


In the past month, the following number of jobs were posted on ProZ.com:

Polish - English = 27
German - English = 146
French - English = 94
Spanish - English = 99
Russian - English = 35


 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 06:12
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
What exactly are you hoping to do? Jan 29, 2015

literary wrote:
Which country/pair would you recommend? I know some French, some German, some Russian, some Spanish. Which market is the largest? Is the UK a good market for translating INTO English?

I'm not sure whether I've understood this correctly. I get that you're Polish, living in Poland, and translating in both directions between Polish and English.

Now you want to leave Poland and settle in another country. Do you really only want to do that because you might get richer? In fact, will you necessarily get richer just by charging more, if you have to pay more to maintain the same standard of living (or perhaps a higher standard of living if that's the "norm" in your adopted country)? How about all the other questions that arise when you move country? Believe me, I can think of a few, having lived in the Netherlands, France and Spain since leaving my native England.

You say you translate mainly into English. Does that mean that you now want to translate from this new country's language into English? That would mean you translating from one foreign language to another. Is that a good idea? I wouldn't have thought it would sit too well with outsourcers or direct clients.

Your other questions I can't answer. I'm not actually sure I've addressed the first one.


 
Michele Fauble
Michele Fauble  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 23:12
Member (2006)
Norwegian to English
+ ...
Credibility Jan 29, 2015

Sheila Wilson wrote:

That would mean you translating from one foreign language to another. Is that a good idea? I wouldn't have thought it would sit too well with outsourcers or direct clients.


Agree. Not a good idea.


 
Robert Rietvelt
Robert Rietvelt  Identity Verified
Local time: 07:12
Member (2006)
Spanish to Dutch
+ ...
Foolish thought Jan 29, 2015

Why would you think you could translate just as well to English from a language you don't speak? Living in Germany for example (as the best translation combination as mentioned by Samuel) to learn the language, is going to cost you much, much more than living in Poland).

My advice to you would be: "Every man to his trade".


 
Woodstock (X)
Woodstock (X)  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 07:12
German to English
+ ...
You are considering moving to England, Jan 29, 2015

as an example, to translate INTO English as a Polish person? This does not sound like a very good plan to me, because you would be competing with lots of other local native Englishspeakers at the same time, or other Polish translators who have lived there longer. Besides, any outsourcers in their right mind would give a nativespeaker priority over a non-nativespeaker, unless you are competitive in price. That in turn would upend the reason for you moving in the first place, would it not? And kno... See more
as an example, to translate INTO English as a Polish person? This does not sound like a very good plan to me, because you would be competing with lots of other local native Englishspeakers at the same time, or other Polish translators who have lived there longer. Besides, any outsourcers in their right mind would give a nativespeaker priority over a non-nativespeaker, unless you are competitive in price. That in turn would upend the reason for you moving in the first place, would it not? And knowing "some" of a language doesn't mean your are proficient enough to translate it. Not to rain on your parade, but I would really rethink this idea if I were in your shoes.Collapse


 
Arabic & More
Arabic & More  Identity Verified
Jordan
Arabic to English
+ ...
You don't need to move Jan 30, 2015

You don't actually have to move to a different country to earn better rates. You can just start forging relationships with better-paying clients (wherever they may happen to be).

 


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Which language to learn better to translate into English?







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