Questions on working as a translator

[kmmorr]

(First, let me apologize for posting this twice--somehow the text of my original post completely disappeared.)

I've recently come to a few very important conclusions:

1. I am strapped for cash and will continue to be for the foreseeable future, as next year I plan on going to grad school.

2. If possible I don't want to work normal part-time jobs, because they will interfere with my progress in Chinese, which I consider to be much more important to my future.

3. Because of this, the only part time job I really want to do is freelance translating.

So, I'm assuming some people in these forums have experience working as translators, and I'm hoping you can help answer a few questions I have. Here they are (and please do excuse me for my complete ignorance of the topic):

1. Just how good does your Chinese need to be if you want to translate written Chinese into English? This is perhaps the most important question. At present, I have pretty good reading skills, but I am not fluent, and in most texts (such as newspapers or non-academic books) I still encounter 3-5 words I don't know in each paragraph. I can quickly look these up in a dictionary, but reading is never really a breeze. I'd like to work as soon as possible, but I'm worried that I'm still far off from the level necessary to be a translator.

2. Are there any good books or courses that you can recommend to help someone prepare to be a translator?

3. How do you get started? Do you need some sort of certification?

I realize it's difficult to really gauge my Chinese level from that short description I gave above--I guess I'm just wondering how dependent on a dictionary a translator can be, and how much you can use a dictionary to make up for your slightly less-than-perfect Chinese.

Thanks very much for any help!

[roddy]

For my money, if you are willing to work at a slightly slower rate and take the hit to your hourly rate, you don't need to have 100% understanding of the text right off - view the time spent with dictionaries and Google searches as extra study. Obviously something you just can't make head or tails of is going to be horrible to work with, and you need to be realistic about your abilities - it's not the stuff you don't understand that catches you out when translating, it's the stuff you think you understand. 3-5 words per paragraph sounds a bit high though, and I'd suspect you're going to find your hourly rate dragged down quite a bit though - if you can accept that though, no problem. You're going to have to learn the words at some point anyway.

As for books, I never used any kind of course, I basically went from studying Chinese to a proofreading job, to freelancing. I do remember finding this book very useful. It's designed for Chinese translators, but English speakers are quite capable of making the same kind of mistakes if they're not careful. Apart from that I'd just recommend getting hold of different style guides / books on writing. It's easy to forget that at least 50% of translating Chinese to English is - English. Looking at my ebooks folder I have style guides from The Economist, the Guardian, and the BBC. The Oxford Essential Guide to Writing. Writing - The Elements of Style. How to Win Friends and . . no wait, never mind. Ernest Hemmingway On Writing (not necessarily that useful, but good fun). Basically, whatever works for you, but time spent on improving your English writing will be as well spent as time spent on improving your Chinese reading. Which might not be what you want to hear, but there you go.

What certification you need probably depends on where you are. Heifeng has been generously allowing us to vicariously take a Chinese exam here. I don't have any certification, basically all my work has come to me on the strength of luck and referrals.

This might also be of interest.

[kmmorr]

Thanks very much for the reply, Roddy. To be honest, at the start I'd be more than happy to work at (very) low rates. As you mentioned, time spent on dictionary and google searches can be viewed as extra studying time--being paid (however much) to study Chinese sounds pretty sweet to me. Also, in my defense, a lot of the words I don't know are either nouns are transliterations of foreign names/place names (god how I hate those), so while I do have to check a dictionary, it doesn't necessarily waste an inordinate amount of time.

"The Translators Guide to Chinglish" certainly sounds good--I'll have to give it try. As for the books on style, I'll be going to grad school for journalism, so I figure I'll be needing all those anyway.

Anyway, I'm thinking of waiting another two or three months and then giving it a shot. I have no idea how I will cover up my complete lack of experience or any kind of certification on my resume, but hopefully I'll think of some (partially honest) way to do so.

[simonlaing]

The pay rate on average in China is much less than teaching english. So if you're thinking of a job to help pay for living expenses of being a grad student Teaching is better and more reliable than translation.

You have to contact translation companies, try to go to famous ones (though there is not much of a ranking or standardized system) as they will be able pay more. You will be doing proofreading so advertise for that.

It also might be possible to do technical writing or other translation for large companies in China.

Good luck,

Simon:)

You can try just going into offices to get jobs, or be put on the translator list, But guanxi and knowing people helps aswell

[Lu]

To start with your last question: no, you don't need any certification to be a freelancer. You only need to convince the person who needs a translator that you are one.

As to resources, I recommend the dictionaries, and google. I've gotten really good at finding stuff there. Straight translations in obscure places, but if I can't find those, I just search for the word and browse the results to get a feel for what it means. Wikipedia is also very useful for names and more complicated terminology.

As to how much you understand, if at all possible it might be good to have someone check your work, at least at the start. Not sure how you would find such a person though. Personally I am sometimes quite dependent on a dictionary, how much really depends on the text. I have slaved through texts in which I had to look up almost every other word, while for some others I had to look up only a few words. I'm currently paid to translate, for a company that holds quite high standards, and using dictionaries is perfectly acceptable, as is asking native speakers what the hell this or that means.

Also, translating is quite different from reading. I've read articles with understanding virtually every word, yet while reading congratulating myself for not having to translate it. Have you ever tried your hand on translating something yet? If not, try it out.

Anyway, good luck! Translating Chin-Eng should be really good practice for both your studies.

[kmmorr]

@simonlaing: I'm really just looking for any job--some kind of supplemental income. But I'd rather earn a small amount of money working in Chinese than a large amount of money doing something I don't want to do (i.e. teaching). It sounds like it will be quite difficult for me to get a job with no experience/recommendations (I have absolutely no guanxi in this area. . .). Do you think it would be worthwhile to prepare some kind of portfolio of sample translations?

@Lu: I have tried translating things before, and I know what you mean about the differences between straight reading and translating. The thing is, I kind of enjoy that aspect--it's fun to find phrases that are common or simple in Chinese but that require some serious thought before they can be translated into good English. I also have access to some Chinese friends who speak quite good English and would definitely help ease the pain of particularly difficult passages.

Anyway, thanks very much to both of you for your advice.

[Lu]

Do you think it would be worthwhile to prepare some kind of portfolio of sample translations?

What I did is basically: having mingpian printed saying that I'm a translator, and handing them out to absolutely everyone. I'm not making a living with freelance work, but assignments do come in now and then, even now that I'm not even looking for them since I have a fulltime job (as a translator).

Making a portfolio and sending it to some companies or people that might need translating work done might work as well. And ask already-established translaters you may know to pass on work to you if they are too busy/not interested.

You could also try finding translation bureaus in your home country (or anywhere else) and working through them. Translating can very well be done online.

[msittig]

It's easy to forget that at least 50% of translating Chinese to English is - English.

This is very important.

The translation book that Roddy recommended is also available on Taobao (USD 17 vs RMB 18-22).

[simonlaing]

Knmorr,

Since you don't much mind about the amount you make, you should just try contacting the translation companies in your city. Espicially if you're in a city other than Shanghai or Hong Kong the number of Chinese capable native speakers is low and it is likely you will be in demand. Espicially for westerners just going up to companies and telling them you're interested in do this kind of work can help.

if you're in Nanjing I could give you a few names.

Good luck,

simon:)

[kmmorr]

Thanks for the suggestions and help, Simon. Since I'm in Chengdu it looks like I'll have to venture out and find places on my own. I figure after two or three more months of hardcore studying I'll be confident enough to try it out . . .