r/TranslationStudies

Hi all, so the title pretty much sums it all up. I used to work as a freelance translator (did so for about 15 years) and I switched to tech last year. Overall, I never really wanted to stop translation but I decided to give tech a go because of an opportunity and because, after moving to a bigger and incredibly expensive city, the perspective of freelancing within a slowly dying industry was causing a lot of anxiety. Now about a year and a half later, and realising I absolutely hate working in tech, especially what I am doing now, I would like to get back into the business, most specifically into localization and possibly project management.

Is this doable, realisitically and if so, what classes/certifications could help increase my job market value? I don't want to go back to freelancing because my ageing heart couldn't take the pressure anymore, but any opportunity in the translation/localization industry sounds like heaven to me at the moment. I don't have project management experience per se, but my two roles in tech involved some project coordination to some extent. Feel free to hit me with the harsh reality as well, I'd like an accurate idea of what the industry looks like now.

Hi, do you guys have any idea how the assessment is structured with Transperfect?
They need to evaluate that I’m able to speak the language.

Now that AI has severely disrupted the translation field, many have decided to leave the profession.

Those of you who have quit translating, what do you do now for a living?

Are you better off with your new occupations?

So, recently I joined a translators association in my country and I was shocked, well angry as f*uck to say the least about the following situation.

They present themselves as a defenders of translators rights and human translations over AI. Then, one of the big fish of said association started asking about DeepL API not working on its version of this translator CAT tool of choice.

At first I was like wtf, isn’t DeepL an AI? So I went to check this person pages and it says “human translation made with care” but on the other side, crying about DeepL not working.

What do you think of this situation? Isn’t a bit of “scamming” the client saying you provide human translation when in fact you are using DeepL for some if not all?

PD: disclaimer, you can be on the AI boat if you want, I will never be on that boat.

I'm writing an essay about the way AI impacts the job of translators. One part is about how well those tools actually work, so I had to mention that, but the teacher asked for new examples outside of what is already mentioned in the sources I found online. Does anyone have any ideas?

I see only two possibilities with a company outsourcing their localization to Crowdin:

1. They're either going to get extremely bad translations because the people writing them lack context and coordination, so terms become jumbled and tone is completely lost, or
2. They're going to have people put in the necessary amount of effort required to properly manage all the terms, preserve tone, adapt translations to context, etc.... And then essentially just have people working a full-time job for free (or extremely low wages)

Isn't this just a straight up loss for the industry as a whole? The quality of localization goes down and professional localizers have to compete with people willing to do their jobs for free.

When I look at games that were properly localized by professionals (E.g. Nintendo games) and compare them to games that were localized by Crowdin, the difference is night and day. The Nintendo game has character, charm, wit, and very good use of emotions and tone to make the player feel things. The Crowdin game feels like reading janky Google Translate output. In one scene this character is treating you like their best friend and in the next scene they're speaking like a robot

Am I missing something?

I want to translate about 100 screenshots of UI with text in them. That is, block out the existing text in the image and replace it with new (localized) text. Currently I have no need to heavily modify the existing image and am fine simply blocking the old text with a colored rectangle and pasting the new text over the top.

I did a few images using MSPaint and it works just fine, but it's very cumbersome to do it that way for several reasons (the main one being that once you place a piece of text it cannot be edited again).

I'm sure you guys know of software that makes this easy as I'm sure this is a common task for some people, but ChatGPT was unable to give me any good ideas exept for Adobe Illustrator which is not ideal (and also incredibly expensive for me since I have no way of using it professionally).

Ideally the software would automatically identify the text in the image, automatically identify the font size and color that was used, and automatically block out the existing text and insert a textbox at that location that can then be edited, moved, and resized.

A small wording mistake can completely change the meaning of a contract, manual, or email.

Have you ever seen a translation mistake create an awkward or expensive situation?

Genuinely curious. I work adjacent to translation (tech side) and from what I see on LinkedIn and in conversations with translators, the post-editing model seems universally hated. Translators say things like they end up rewriting most of it anyway but get paid a fraction of the rate, or they just breeze through it really quickly and accept that they can't give it the attention they would have liked to given the rate. Regardless, agencies keep pushing it as the future.

Is it actually working for anyone? Or is the whole model just optimizing for the agency's margin at the translator's expense?

Hi guys,

Just wondering how normal it is to not get asked to do any agency tests at all after applying? I understand maybe I'm just underestimating the timeframe here, but I've applied to 20+ agencies and not even gotten an acknowledgement of my application. A family friend who works for an agency has had a look at my CV so I don't think it's an issue with my application, but even after he referred me to the agency he works at, I've had no response after emailing them. I understand the market is screwed, but I thought I would at least get an acknowledgement (lol)

What kind of timeframe does it usually take between applying and hearing back nowadays? Should I be chasing this up/reapplying? At what point?

Working on a software development project at work to add additional localization values in our program. I need to translate several text instances from English to Spanish, French, German, and Chinese. That being said, there are several spots where we append units of measure after a configured value (ex. “Timeout: 50ms”). Do abbreviations like “ms” and “sec” have translations in the languages that I mentioned? Or are the English abbreviations generally used/understood globally?

Translators have been told for ages to specialize, specialize, specialize. Establishing your niche is supposed to be the ticket to irreplaceability, high rates, and professional fulfillment, with the legal and medical fields getting especially high attention.

I'm beginning to wonder, though, if that's changing with AI and machine translation. LLMs are especially good when dealing with similar texts within the same contextual framework, because they can build up a solid database of reference (or "training") material. Indeed, I'm seeing more and more people in specific niche fields (e.g., patent translation) talking about AI encroaching on their space. I feel like I'm just waiting for AI to come into my niche.

On the flip side, LLMs are less good when confronted with new, unfamiliar material. Humans might struggle with new materials too, but we can do research and figure things out without resorting to hallucinating.

So that leads me to wonder, is it now becoming more dangerous to take the conventional approach of specializing in a particular niche, and is it better to be a more flexible generalist who knows the source and target languages through and through and can figure out the specific material on the fly?

Hello everyone! I've been working on getting myself on the map recently by creating profiles in different sites to offer my translation services. I was about to create a profile on Fiverr just to see that the top translators for the field I wanted to specialize on (video game localization) charge between $0.05 to almost $0.02 USD per word for translations. These rates seem extremely low to me based on what I know about them, but I just started out this year and I don't have a lot of experience. It seems impossible for me to compete with this translators that have way more experience and lower rates. Any opinions or advice for this? Is this normal on other sites or is this just a Fiverr thing? Thank you!

I’m not sure If this is the right place to ask this question but I was just curious on if your hanging out with a person who speaks 1 language and someone else who speaks another, and your translating for them, do you translate it automatically, like as fast as a thought, like you hear it in one language, and already understand it in the other or do you have to sit their and think about it and translate every part of it for you to understand? Does that make sense?

I have an advanced degree in a field that's been rough for me, but have an undergrad degree in area studies with a minor in a language.

My dream was always to be a translator. In undergrad, I studied a few languages- I've been at least B2 in 3 languages at different points, and I recently tried taking a first pass at translating a few short chapters from some books, enjoyed it, and like how they came out. I'm working on getting my language skills back up to par, and I would be interested in going into translation.

What steps could someone interested in breaking into the field take? Would it be possible for someone to review what I've translated and give me some feedback?

I'm guessing most of us are trying to get out of this industry. Problem is, I feel like my skillset is completely useless. I tried to get some certificates (Python, SQL, Project Management, Excel, Supply Chain, Marketing etc.) but I feel like even a business degree holder (which is often the butt of the jokes) is in a way better position than me.

ChatGPT became popular before I even graduated. I had no idea what to do so I tried content editing. After that, I had a full-time AI training job which I had to leave due to relocation (Thank god, it felt so icky). While doing that job, I thought I could go into NLP, so I applied for a computer science online bachelors a year ago and dropped out immideately. Not because it was hard but because it felt like too much work for an uncertain future. They also seem to grind a lot which I dislike.

Then I considered marketing but the fun, creative jobs are turning into AI slop and I feel like companies expect everything from marketing for peanuts. Way too stressful, too many AI tools and KPIs at a time capitalism is absoluetly hated.

Now, I'm considering supply chain. I got accepted into a masters in supply chain management but I'm still uneasy. It feels like I've been prioritizing practicality more than what I actually want nowadays because of AI. I enjoy operational stuff and Excel, the field values languages too. I just wanna try it but many people call it stressful so I'm worried.

I'm making my own game in my free time (I enjoy drawing) and I feel so depressed. I feel like I don't belong here.

I used to be so lively, full of hope, creative and I used to feel smart. I don't know what happened but I lost myself. I feel like I'm slowly losing the will to live. I don't want to live a life without purpose.

I just moved in to the UK on a dependant visa, the only job offer I got was a basic customer experience one, asking me to work for more than 48 hours. Denied obviously.

When I ask people for advice, I feel like they either downplay my intelligence, choices or straight up pity me. I don't have shit to show for a career at 25.

I feel so hopeless. I don't know what to do. Will I ever have a career?

I am a non-English-speaking law student in a civil-law country. Currently I want to improve my English legal vocabulary but not sure where to start. I have Black Law Dict, Professional English In Use Law with me but really want to speed up. My English proficiency is B2-C1. Which textbooks, materials should I follow to enhance my capacity? Thank you

I'm continually taken aback by how low their standards are. They're populating targets with what looks like garbage from Google Translate 10 years ago that has no consistency and is wrong a lot of the time. There no coordination. No terminology management. No explanations given. A few simple instructions to keep everyone on the same page would save a lot of time. I've seen reports from their staff in clinical research that says the company is a nightmare to work for, only worried about the bottom line and treating staff with contempt. I wonder if PMs in the translation department are getting squeezed the same way?

Most people I've seen that have 10+ years of experience can't translate for sh*t, yet they talk down to me like they've got some kind of authority. My dude, if you were as good as you claim, you wouldn't be beggi... I mean "translating" for 0.0099/word.

And like, you may see translation as a career, but to me it is so toxic that I'm investing every penny I make in hope that someday I can finally pivot towards something else. And this is coming from someone who hasn't had a month below $3k for 4 years and a half. My translations aren't perfect, but like, who cares? I'm what most would consider a bottom feeder, mostly working for low paying agencies. Why would I bother making quality translations for agencies that don't give a damn about me? I'm just a number in their giant pool of translators. I could die tomorrow, and be replaced by a cheaper translator the next hour.

Last year I paid myself close to $40k. This year I'm already at $25k so far, with several agencies still owing me more than 5k. My translations are average, but I'm ballin... at least compared to a lot of people in the industry. I could stop working now and still receive a $2k salary for more than a year if I wanted to.

In 2023 I made more than 50k.

So yeah, I'm sleep deprived and ruining my own health, but at the end of the day, I'm so done with this industry and these stupid incompetent PMs that I feel it's a small price to pay in order to finally be free of this lifestyle, if that makes sense.

Whatever some of you may say, people in this industry are miserable. Just taking a look at LinkedIn makes me want to die. And to be fair I feel like it's also partially due to the freelancer lifestyle.

Like we aren't meant to stay indoors sitting at a chair for 10 hours every day. Especially with how big of a toll stress and anxiety take on mental health. I'd probably feel (slightly) more contented with my life if I wasn't worrying about job security or money every damn second.

Another thing: I truly am happy for those who can afford to decline a job because they've got dozens of high paying clients lined up. But please, don't pretend that it's achievable by everyone. If it were, you wouldn't be where you are. So when you see people like me busting their a*s off for pennies, it's not because we want to. Some bad translators probably don't have a choice because they suck, but the majority of people just didn't get the same opportunities as you. There's also only so much volume to go around in some language pairs. Like, to me it's crazy when someone is shocked seeing others work for 0.02/word. What do you expect? I haven't seen a company offer me more than 0.05, like ever. So idk who y'all work for (feel free to share), but if you're just here to gatekeep, which I understand btw, just don't bother lecturing me/us on how we are devaluing our work blah blah blah.

At the end of the day, it's just another job to some, and we do what we gotta do.

TLDR: Companies don't care about you. If you genuinely enjoy it, more power to you, but don't be surprised when most just see it as a job. The goal is to make as much money as we can while doing the strict minimum.

As a side note, my highest month ever was 14k (euros) during my first year. Agencies ain't exploiting me. I'm exploiting them.