8.   Online Translation



Imagine for a moment that you've written an article, a book, or even created a video. You made it in your native language; but you’d like people in other parts of the world to access it.

 

You will need to hire someone who speaks your own language and your targeted language fluently. It is where translation jobs come in handy; and you can make money from it as a freelance translator online.

 

Especially if you know one of the languages which are in huge demand right now including German, Japanese and Chinese.

 

If you want to be a translator professionally, you should consider taking a language proficiency test such as the Defense Language Proficiency Test (DLPT) or other language proficiency tests to show potential clients that you are indeed fluent in your specific languages.

 

Like most online work, gaining experience is essential. If you're enrolled at or live near a college, you could take classes in translation and look for opportunities to perform translation work on campus for various departments. It is crucial to get experience where you can show samples of your work to potential clients and get recommendations.

 

In order for you to become a freelance online translator, here are some steps you can take:

 

●   Post a profile on freelancing sites such as Freelancer.com, Guru.com, Upwork.com, etc.

 

Describe your interests and your levels of expertise. Look for translation jobs on the same freelancing sites and apply for them.

 

●   There are many sites which provide translation services exclusively. You can submit your known languages and get hired through any of those sites as well.

 

Here are some of the top online translation companies: Translators Cafe

This website is one of the best when it comes to finding translation jobs. You upload your CV, choose your rates per language combination, upload a profile picture and describe your specialization as well as any other services you offer (such as subtitling, editing, interpreting, localization, transcriptions, etc.).

 

The best feature of this website is their job board. Every day, new translation jobs with your language combinations are posted and you can then contact the agency or the person that placed the ad.

 

Translators Town

 

Translators Town is basically a bidding site similar to the freelancing sites above with the only difference being that it's specifically for translation services.

 

The size of the jobs available will vary from client to client

– like all the other bidding-type sites. There are even small jobs where the client may only want a photo caption translated. Then there are the larger translation jobs where the client may need a book translated into another language.

 

Proz

 

Proz.com is generally meant for professional translators with good experience, but there are also amateur translators as well. Registration takes no longer than a couple of minutes and then you will be ready to bid on their translation jobs. To bid, you will need to pay 1 USD per bid. It's a good idea to deposit a few dollars into your account when starting.

 

This site allows the employer to contact the freelancers directly and all payments are direct too, so there are no fees, except the bidding fee, which is quite low. With bigger projects I would recommend some kind of guarantee of payment from the employer for protection unless they are very reputable.

 

TRADUguide

 

TRADUguide is another great platform where translators and their clients can meet. Their automatic job notification service lets you receive translation requests in your chosen language pairs and specializations directly to your email.

 

Bidding on a job is as simple as clicking the link in the notification email and you will be brought to a form page where you can enter your bid or price quote. Should the client agree to your quote, they will contact you directly. Everything else, including payment is up to you and your client to agree upon.

 

How much can I get paid for online translation jobs?

 

●   You can get paid anywhere from $0.01 upward per word depending on the demand for the language pair you specialize in. If the number of translators for the language

 

are scarce, then you can charge a higher rate per word.