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Looking for a French to English translation mentor
Thread poster: Anna Fitzgerald
Anna Fitzgerald
Anna Fitzgerald  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 11:16
Member
French to English
Apr 11, 2005

Hello,

I am a freelance French to English translator. I have been translating professionally for the last four years and am currently trying to build my client base so that I can support myself as a translator. My idea of a mentor is someone who would share his or her workload. I would gain in experience, rather than being paid. My areas of specialization are religion, biology, biochemistry, chemistry and contemporary art. Having studied biochemistry in both French and American univ... See more
Hello,

I am a freelance French to English translator. I have been translating professionally for the last four years and am currently trying to build my client base so that I can support myself as a translator. My idea of a mentor is someone who would share his or her workload. I would gain in experience, rather than being paid. My areas of specialization are religion, biology, biochemistry, chemistry and contemporary art. Having studied biochemistry in both French and American universities, I feel I have the background to become a medical translator and would love to work with a translator in this field.

Another suggestion I have had is to look for volunteer translation work. If anyone has any ideas as to where such work can be found, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks! ▲ Collapse
 
00000000 (X)
00000000 (X)
English to French
+ ...
Be careful Apr 11, 2005

Hi Anna --

I think you're setting yourself up for exploitation.

Perhaps a better idea to increase your workload would be to learn how to use CAT Tools. You can download Wordfast for free at:

http://www.wordfast.net/index.php?whichpage=downloadpage&lang=engb

If you like it and use it enough to have large translation memo... See more
Hi Anna --

I think you're setting yourself up for exploitation.

Perhaps a better idea to increase your workload would be to learn how to use CAT Tools. You can download Wordfast for free at:

http://www.wordfast.net/index.php?whichpage=downloadpage&lang=engb

If you like it and use it enough to have large translation memories, you can purchase a licence for a very reasonable price.

The manual is excellent, and from there you could try Trados.

But instead of Trados, I would personally recommend SDLX. You can try the full version for one month without any commitment. The documentation is free and available at:

http://www.sdl.com/products-home/products/products-support/products-support-documentation/products-support-documentation-2004.htm

Good luck!

Esther ▲ Collapse
 
Lia Fail (X)
Lia Fail (X)  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 11:16
Spanish to English
+ ...
agree with Esther Apr 12, 2005

Anna Fitzgerald wrote:

Hello,

I am a freelance French to English translator. I have been translating professionally for the last four years and am currently trying to build my client base so that I can support myself as a translator. My idea of a mentor is someone who would share his or her workload. I would gain in experience, rather than being paid. My areas of specialization are religion, biology, biochemistry, chemistry and contemporary art. Having studied biochemistry in both French and American universities, I feel I have the background to become a medical translator and would love to work with a translator in this field.

Another suggestion I have had is to look for volunteer translation work. If anyone has any ideas as to where such work can be found, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks!


Anna

I agree with Esther, you cannot work for nothing. Is there a chance that you are under-estimating your skills and knowledge?

With field knowledge of biochemistry, you shouldn't have any problems getting work (and you say you have been translating part-time for 4 years).

For some objective feedback, maybe you should do a course (there are plenty online, from the UK anyway), just to learn about the issues involved.

See this post on volunterer work with 'Translators without Borders': http://www.proz.com/topic/28033
 


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Looking for a French to English translation mentor







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