non-profit for experience and references
Thread poster: Severina Losch
Severina Losch
Severina Losch
Luxembourg
Local time: 17:34
Luxembourgish to French
+ ...
Oct 7, 2020

Hello everyone,

I recently decided to change my career from language teacher to freelance translator. I've been unofficially translating during my teaching career and have been officially translating for only 2 months.

In my 2 months, I have worked on translating medical projects for Transperfect from English to French and translating html coding for Microsoft from English to Luxembourgish. Both languages are my mother tongues.

I know that my official tr
... See more
Hello everyone,

I recently decided to change my career from language teacher to freelance translator. I've been unofficially translating during my teaching career and have been officially translating for only 2 months.

In my 2 months, I have worked on translating medical projects for Transperfect from English to French and translating html coding for Microsoft from English to Luxembourgish. Both languages are my mother tongues.

I know that my official translation experience is very little, so I am looking to do non-profit translations to gain some experience and get references.

Is there a place on this website with all the non-profit offers?

Thanks in advance for any insight.
Severina
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Eva Stoppa
Eva Stoppa  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 17:34
English to German
+ ...
Well Oct 7, 2020

If you want to translate voluntarily, Translators without borders might be a first place to go.

But if you already have translated for private companies, why start translating for free?


Fatine Echenique
 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 17:34
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
@Severina Oct 7, 2020

Severina Losch wrote:
I am looking to do non-profit translations to gain some experience and get references.


References may be harder to get, but would you be happy with being credited publicly for a translation? Or simply experience?

For medical and general experience, you can try:
https://translatorswithoutborders.org

For software experience, you can try:
http://transifex.com/
After logging in, click "Explore" in the top right corner to find projects to participate in. Try to find a project with no Luxembourgish yet, that is likely to be used by people, and with a small number of words (say, < 5000). Find out how likely it is that your translation will actually be used in the release version of that app. (For example, I had a quick peek at K9 Mail.) After you've translated it and the app becomes available in Luxembourgish, see if a Luxembourgish newspaper is willing to publish a small story about this app now being available in Luxembourgish. It makes you googleable.

You can also translate subtitles at:
https://www.ted.com/talks

Several lyrics sites have a feature whereby anyone can request a translation to or from lyrics, and this can give you useful experience as well, although your name typically won't be highly visible.

You can translate books (only get money if it becomes a best-seller, which is almost never):
https://www.babelcube.com/

Added:
Does anyone know of a service similar to BabelZilla? (BabelZilla itself isn't really useful anymore, since Mozilla/Firefox decided to dump all easily translatable extensions from their browser a few years ago, for "security" <cough> reasons.)

[Edited at 2020-10-07 12:29 GMT]


Severina Losch
 
Severina Losch
Severina Losch
Luxembourg
Local time: 17:34
Luxembourgish to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
@Eva Oct 7, 2020

Eva Stoppa wrote:

If you want to translate voluntarily, Translators without borders might be a first place to go.

But if you already have translated for private companies, why start translating for free?




Hi Eva,

I got those projects through recommendations but when I apply or bid myself on jobs, I'm usually told that I don't have enough experience.


 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 16:34
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
Not TWB, IMO Oct 7, 2020

Severina Losch wrote:
I know that my official translation experience is very little, so I am looking to do non-profit translations to gain some experience and get references.

I don't know if any give references (and I wouldn't use that term personally for client testimonials). Certainly, TED, Wikipedia and other crowd-sourced translations areas will give you a lot of feedback -- some of it great but some not so useful. They would have some value to you.

But many if not most NFP organisations need autonomous translators who don't need anyone to proofread their work or give them feedback. NFPs are looking for experienced translators who are willing to work pro bono rather than for free -- the distinction being that it's work for the public's good, not for the good of the translator. TWB, by the way, set translation tests and ask applicants for two years' professional experience. As one of the reviewers of FR>EN applicants' tests, I've just passed the 1,000 mark of reviews and I can tell you that the statistics show that around 50% of applicants are rejected.

Surely a basic course on translation techniques would stand you in far better stead at the present time, wouldn't it? There are several privately run ones from English to French that have been mentioned in discussions recently (in case you don't want to or can't do a Master's). One is the course I studied some years back in the opposite direction. It's noted in my profile.


 
Severina Losch
Severina Losch
Luxembourg
Local time: 17:34
Luxembourgish to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
@Sheila Oct 8, 2020

I don't know if any give references (and I wouldn't use that term personally for client testimonials). Certainly, TED, Wikipedia and other crowd-sourced translations areas will give you a lot of feedback -- some of it great but some not so useful. They would have some value to you.

But many if not most NFP organisations need autonomous translators who don't need anyone to proofread their work or give them feedback. NFPs are looking for experienced translators who are willing to work
... See more
I don't know if any give references (and I wouldn't use that term personally for client testimonials). Certainly, TED, Wikipedia and other crowd-sourced translations areas will give you a lot of feedback -- some of it great but some not so useful. They would have some value to you.

But many if not most NFP organisations need autonomous translators who don't need anyone to proofread their work or give them feedback. NFPs are looking for experienced translators who are willing to work pro bono rather than for free -- the distinction being that it's work for the public's good, not for the good of the translator. TWB, by the way, set translation tests and ask applicants for two years' professional experience. As one of the reviewers of FR>EN applicants' tests, I've just passed the 1,000 mark of reviews and I can tell you that the statistics show that around 50% of applicants are rejected.

Surely a basic course on translation techniques would stand you in far better stead at the present time, wouldn't it? There are several privately run ones from English to French that have been mentioned in discussions recently (in case you don't want to or can't do a Master's). One is the course I studied some years back in the opposite direction. It's noted in my profile. [/quote]


Hi Sheila,

Thank you so much for your feedback.
I am also looking into courses, but they won't fix my lack of experience unfortunately.
You seem to be very experienced and I really appreciate the detailed explanations.
Would you maybe consider becoming my mentor on ProZ?

Thank you in advance.
Severina
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Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 16:34
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
Mentoring Oct 9, 2020

Severina Losch wrote:
Would you maybe consider becoming my mentor on ProZ?

Thanks for the thought, Severina, but I don't do mentoring and I'll be retiring at the end of the year anyway. But ProZ.com do have a full mentoring programme, so do check it out here: https://www.proz.com/guidance-center/mentoring-program


 
Severina Losch
Severina Losch
Luxembourg
Local time: 17:34
Luxembourgish to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
@Sheila Oct 9, 2020

Sheila Wilson wrote:

Severina Losch wrote:
Would you maybe consider becoming my mentor on ProZ?

Thanks for the thought, Severina, but I don't do mentoring and I'll be retiring at the end of the year anyway. But ProZ.com do have a full mentoring programme, so do check it out here: https://www.proz.com/guidance-center/mentoring-program



Hi Sheila,

Oh that's too bad. I have already sent out messages to all the possible mentors. Let me know if you change your mind even if it's just a month or two of mentoring, I really think I could learn a lot from you. =)

Thank you for all your input.


 
Emily Gilby
Emily Gilby  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:34
Member (2018)
French to English
+ ...
Volunteering Oct 13, 2020

Hi Severina. Volunteering certainly helped me get into the industry. I translated for 2 years on a voluntary basis before becoming a full-time translator and the charities I worked for provided me with great references which I needed to land paid jobs. The two main charities that I worked for were UNICEF and Première Urgence Internationale. Like you said, I found that I couldn't work for TWB at first because I needed to experience, therefore, I would recommend contacting some international char... See more
Hi Severina. Volunteering certainly helped me get into the industry. I translated for 2 years on a voluntary basis before becoming a full-time translator and the charities I worked for provided me with great references which I needed to land paid jobs. The two main charities that I worked for were UNICEF and Première Urgence Internationale. Like you said, I found that I couldn't work for TWB at first because I needed to experience, therefore, I would recommend contacting some international charities and offering your services, they'll be loads out there who will be glad for your help Good luck!Collapse


 


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