Starting as Spanish-English freelance translator? Thread poster: almalingo
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almalingo
United States
Local time: 09:26
English to Spanish
I apologize if this is the 4,000th thread about getting started. My particular dilemma is my language pair. In my area, there are at least three translation agencies with ATA-certified staff. Not to mention, the number of US Spanish speakers is growing exponentially. With so much competition, I am not sure how to get a foot in the industry or if it is even worth it. Because English is my native language, I have read I will probably only get Spanish to English work. However, I don't imagine there... See more I apologize if this is the 4,000th thread about getting started. My particular dilemma is my language pair. In my area, there are at least three translation agencies with ATA-certified staff. Not to mention, the number of US Spanish speakers is growing exponentially. With so much competition, I am not sure how to get a foot in the industry or if it is even worth it. Because English is my native language, I have read I will probably only get Spanish to English work. However, I don't imagine there is much demand for that in an English-speaking country.
Does anyone have any advice for me?
Thanks. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Sheila Wilson 
Spain
Local time: 15:26
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
| How much work do you need? | Aug 10, 2016 |
almalingo wrote:
In my area, there are at least three translation agencies with ATA-certified staff. Not to mention, the number of US Spanish speakers is growing exponentially. With so much competition, I am not sure how to get a foot in the industry or if it is even worth it. Because English is my native language, I have read I will probably only get Spanish to English work. However, I don't imagine there is much demand for that in an English-speaking country.
You probably only need a couple of thousand words a day, don't you - maybe less as a beginner? You say there at at least three agencies near you, so translation is clearly big business locally. But why restrict yourself to local clients? Unless you're into delivering certified copies by hand, you'll be working online. There's absolutely no reason why you can't accept work from clients (agencies or direct clients) anywhere in the world. In other words, your pond of potential clients is just about limitless. There must be a few thousand words per week out there with your name on  .
But you're right when you say that there's a LOT of competition. Take what you seem to want to do, looking at your profile offer: you want to translate into Spanish. How many native Spanish speakers are there who have been writing in the language (their own particular variant of the language, that is) ever since they learnt to write at school? Do you really think you can make a better job of it than those who've chosen translation as a career? Aren't they the real specialists? Isn't your real strength your ability to write English that will appeal to readers of American English, with every nuance of meaning and turn of phrase tailored to the text? As a [ul]full-time salaried translator[/ul] you should be ready to provide an adequate translation of every text you possibly can - whatever the subject, and whatever the direction - so that your employer can gain maximum ROI from you. As a [ul]freelance translator contracted for a single text[/ul] you have to be able to excel in what you do. After all, why would a client want to invest in you when 1,000 other freelance translators are better suited?
So, my personal advice to you would be to give up your ambition to translate every English text into Spanish (which variant of Spanish would that be, anyway?). Instead, aim to develop some specialisations over time that will enable you to stand out as the "goto" person in that field for translation from Spanish (any variant) into American English. You may need/want to be more of a generalist to start with, but you'll only earn a decent living if you can find a niche of some sort, a USP or as close to it as possible. You need to reduce the size of the pond you're swimming in so that potential clients can identify you as a well-paid expert. Otherwise you'll be swept along in the tide of "maximum volume, for minimum price, yesterday" work that's subject to continual rate cuts in its spiral down to replacement by Google Translate.
As an aside, I'm wondering what it is that makes you want to be a translator. How will you market yourself to your potential clients? I'm curious because there's no information at all in your ProZ.com profile. (Not that there's any obligation to complete your profile unless you want to look for work here  .)
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