| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Has anybody ever abandoned a language pair because it doesn't pay well enough? Thread poster: Ben_ (X)
|
|---|
Thereotically, if I had a inbox of Latin English queries, I might even given up PLEN save for the best payers, at least as long as the texts didn't take awful loads of time to translate as is sometimes the case with Latin.
On the other hand, I don't really do much Latin Polish these days because even doubling the rate for living languages doesn't make up for the additional time investment, while already putting a heavy strain on the client's wallet.
| | | |
Although I don't do French, still...
Carmen wrote:
"I used to offer FR-EN as well in the early days but found that I was getting no work in this language combination"
I can hardly believe this (not that don't believe you, but there has to be a huge market for this language combination).
| | | |
Robert Rietvelt wrote:
Although I don't do French, still...
Carmen wrote:
"I used to offer FR-EN as well in the early days but found that I was getting no work in this language combination"
I can hardly believe this (not that don't believe you, but there has to be a huge market for this language combination).
Yeah, that's quite surprising in law, medicine and science, where MT won't do despite its recently quite good results in simple/general EnglishFrench.
| | | | Audra deFalco (X)
United States
Local time: 17:53
Italian to English
+ ...
Robert Rietvelt wrote:
Although I don't do French, still...
Carmen wrote:
"I used to offer FR-EN as well in the early days but found that I was getting no work in this language combination"
I can hardly believe this (not that don't believe you, but there has to be a huge market for this language combination).
There is a huge market for French > English. Huge.
There's a big enough market for any language combination if you can market yourself right and have good enough work to keep clients coming back. The key is to reach out to clients--not wait for them to reach out to you. Market, market, market. And specialize! The bulk of my clients come from a super niche market, and they're more than happy to pay my rates. In fact, I might have to up them soon.
| | |
|
|
|
| Huge market for French-English jobs paid in US$ | Oct 31, 2014 |
Audra de Falco wrote: Robert Rietvelt wrote:
Although I don't do French, still...
Carmen wrote:
"I used to offer FR-EN as well in the early days but found that I was getting no work in this language combination"
I can hardly believe this (not that don't believe you, but there has to be a huge market for this language combination). There is a huge market for French > English. Huge. There's a big enough market for any language combination if you can market yourself right and have good enough work to keep clients coming back. The key is to reach out to clients--not wait for them to reach out to you. Market, market, market. And specialize! The bulk of my clients come from a super niche market, and they're more than happy to pay my rates. In fact, I might have to up them soon.
At present, people who charge US$ for Fr-En jobs will have no shortage of work. In fact, French and other European agencies often post jobs in US$ even though they are in the Euro zone. Of course that could well change if the dollar ever goes back up ....
| | | | Oksana Weiss 
Germany
Local time: 23:53
Member (2011)
German to English
+ ...
| Not one, but two! FR-RU, FR-UK | Oct 31, 2014 |
Had to abandon French altogether, unfortunately, though I really love this language. Not enough work and poorly paid at that. Does not compensate the efforts for keeping it on the proper level. Still watching their comedies in original language - they are really funny:)
| | | | | It's a personal thing | Oct 31, 2014 |
Of course there's no question that there is enough work for FR-EN translators, what I meant was that I was exclusively getting offers for PT-EN work along with some ES-EN work so I personally decided to stop offering FR-EN because I was happy with the flow of work and decided to focus on PT and ES. I'm keeping up my French in case the Spanish and Portuguese offers dry up but there's no sign of that as of yet, happily!
| | | | | If I would speak French.... | Nov 3, 2014 |
....and I mean on a (much) higher (educational) level then the school/vacation French I do now, I would put it on my list! No hesitation about it.
So in short, I believe you all, but got a hard time imagining it.
| | |
|
|
|
Kay Denney
France
Local time: 23:53
French to English
| Just because the market is huge | Nov 4, 2014 |
Just because the market is huge, doesn't mean you will necessarily corner it!
If a translator has plenty of work elsewhere, they don't have time to market themselves. And after all there are plenty of FR-EN translators to match the market.
| | | | | But that goes for all markets | Nov 4, 2014 |
There are plenty translators to match all (common) markets, unless you are translating from Inuit to Swahili, then, and maybe only then, you got a change.
My motto is: "Nothing ventured, nothing gained".
| | | | tietzes (X)
Japanese to German
+ ...
| number of languages | Nov 4, 2014 |
Personally I wouldn't go for too many languages. One language pair is already plenty and a life's work - I don't understand how some translators can a) learn several source languages to the required very high level and b) become acquainted with the areas of specialization in all of those languages embedded in their respective cultures. Imagine you're a legal translator. You have to familiarize yourself with the respective legal systems of the coun... See more Personally I wouldn't go for too many languages. One language pair is already plenty and a life's work - I don't understand how some translators can a) learn several source languages to the required very high level and b) become acquainted with the areas of specialization in all of those languages embedded in their respective cultures. Imagine you're a legal translator. You have to familiarize yourself with the respective legal systems of the countries of all your working languages and with the legal terminology and phraseology in all of those languages. Plus, you must manage to make the transfer from each source language/specialization/culture into your target language, for each language pair different "neuronic pathways" being required which have to be build up. Provided that you get work in all your language pairs, you have to constantly switch between languages/cultures/..., stay up-to-date in terms of fields of specialization, read/watch TV in all your languages preferably on a daily basis... ▲ Collapse
| | | | | You don't usually do the same kind of work in all language pairs | Nov 4, 2014 |
tietzes wrote:
Personally I wouldn't go for too many languages. One language pair is already plenty and a life's work - I don't understand how some translators can a) learn several source languages to the required very high level and b) become acquainted with the areas of specialization in all of those languages embedded in their respective cultures. Imagine you're a legal translator. You have to familiarize yourself with the respective legal systems of the countries of all your working languages and with the legal terminology and phraseology in all of those languages. Plus, you must manage to make the transfer from each source language/specialization/culture into your target language, for each language pair different "neuronic pathways" being required which have to be build up. Provided that you get work in all your language pairs, you have to constantly switch between languages/cultures/..., stay up-to-date in terms of fields of specialization, read/watch TV in all your languages preferably on a daily basis...
In my case, I am a Spanish lawyer and studied Spanish, British and US legal systems. Most of the work I am getting in EN > ES language pair is related to law and business.
However, in my RU > ES language pair I mostly do more creative texts, such as speeches, articles, press releases or news. Also contracts and memos, but less frequently.
Since I started speaking Spanish and Russian at the same time (bilingual family), there is no chance I forget Russian no matter what (even if I stop translating from it).
However, I agree. Too many languages is not serious. I also "speak" French and Dutch, but with my current level I would not even dream to translate from them. I need way more practice and time (which I do not have).
And no, I will not "abandon" Russian as one of my source languages (true, it does not "pay" much). It is just too beautiful to be discarded, just like my dear Spanish.
| | |
|
|
|
| Just one pair | Nov 4, 2014 |
I only have one pair, ES>EN. My wife used to translate EN>ES (being a native speaker from Argentina) and we made a good team. She's decided to move on to other things and no longer translates. I guess that means we abandoned the language pair, or at least the direction.
I am working on adding Dovahzul to my working pairs, though. I would say that it's an extremely underserved market.
| | | | | It's not just about rates... | Nov 5, 2014 |
I am in a similar situation with PT - ENG and NL - ENG. Unfortunately, I have virtually given up on PT - ENG, not only because agencies are not willing to pay my reasonable rates, but because of too many bad experiences with PT agencies where most of the work in this pair comes from. In fact, only one of the five Portuguese agencies I have recently worked for have paid on time. It's a shame, because I live here and I like this sort of contact with the language, but it's not worth the hassle.
| | | | | Pages in topic: < [1 2] | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Has anybody ever abandoned a language pair because it doesn't pay well enough? | Trados Studio 2022 Freelance | The leading translation software used by over 270,000 translators.
Designed with your feedback in mind, Trados Studio 2022 delivers an unrivalled, powerful desktop
and cloud solution, empowering you to work in the most efficient and cost-effective way.
More info » |
| | Anycount & Translation Office 3000 | Translation Office 3000
Translation Office 3000 is an advanced accounting tool for freelance translators and small agencies. TO3000 easily and seamlessly integrates with the business life of professional freelance translators.
More info » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
Translation news
