Asking for feedback about my path to become a translator
Thread poster: Sara Iamonte (X)
Sara Iamonte (X)
Sara Iamonte (X)  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:59
English to Italian
+ ...
Apr 7, 2015

Hello there,

I have been reading this forum for the last few days and I find it very interesting and full of useful information.
This is my first post and I would like to ask you some good advice.

I am an Italian native speaker based in Edinburgh studying towards an Honours Degree in Combined Social Sciences with the Open University. I have been living in Edinburgh for 4 years and I have been studying part-time with the OU for 3 years now. On top of my studies, I
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Hello there,

I have been reading this forum for the last few days and I find it very interesting and full of useful information.
This is my first post and I would like to ask you some good advice.

I am an Italian native speaker based in Edinburgh studying towards an Honours Degree in Combined Social Sciences with the Open University. I have been living in Edinburgh for 4 years and I have been studying part-time with the OU for 3 years now. On top of my studies, I work full-time as a Multilingual Communicator in a global leader outsourcing company. I work in English, Italian and Spanish and I specialize in Financial and Technical support. Occasionally, I do translate some manuals from English to Italian and, on a daily basis, I translate technical information from English to Italian that I need to send to customer in the form of emails.

I want to start a career in translation and I was planning to do an MA in Translation Studies once I graduate. However, since I understand you need a lot of practice to become a good translator and since I cannot wait to start this career, I have started translating past exam papers of the DipTrans that I am planning to sit next January and I enrolled with a preparatory course to the DipTrans which is starting in 2 weeks. This distance learning course is offered from the City of London University and will last 2 months. I am very excited about this course because I will be able to get my translations assessed and I cannot wait to receive some feedback. In fact, translating on my own in order to build practice, raised already plenty of questions about translation techniques, etc.

My plan is translating a document on a daily basis in order to become confident with translation and hopefully, once passed the DipTrans (this year or next), I would like to start working for some agencies. I am also planning on taking proz.com training sessions on CAT tools and legal translation since I would like to learn how to translate certificates.

I thank you for reading my post and I thank you in advance for any advice or feedback you have in regard to my path to become a good translator.

Sara Iamonte
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Tiffany Hardy
Tiffany Hardy  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 14:59
Spanish to English
Think specialization Apr 7, 2015

I think you're on the right track. Obviously the more experience you get even while you are still studying, the better, provided you are prepared to take on those projects.

I would also think at this point about specialization. You may want to consider minoring in an area of study that is in high demand in the translation world, such as business, marketing, computer science, etc. Business and marketing would be particularly helpful since, not only would you be gaining expertise in
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I think you're on the right track. Obviously the more experience you get even while you are still studying, the better, provided you are prepared to take on those projects.

I would also think at this point about specialization. You may want to consider minoring in an area of study that is in high demand in the translation world, such as business, marketing, computer science, etc. Business and marketing would be particularly helpful since, not only would you be gaining expertise in a certain area, you would also learn a great deal about how to run your own business as a freelance translator. Although what you enjoy should drive this decision, you should also be realistic about what types of translations are and will be in high demand.

Best of luck.
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Sarah Bouachacha
Sarah Bouachacha  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 14:59
English to French
+ ...
Good luck Apr 7, 2015

Hi Sara,

as you are living in the UK, above is this links, they are regularly looking for linguist people, even, they specify as ideal candidate native english, you can get in touch with them.
With your profile, it is a very good o
... See more
Hi Sara,

as you are living in the UK, above is this links, they are regularly looking for linguist people, even, they specify as ideal candidate native english, you can get in touch with them.
With your profile, it is a very good opportunity till you graduate.

http://www.linguistsdirect.com/german_spanish_italian_or_french_translation_co_ordinator_job_buckinghamshire_750.php

And should you intend to run your own business, I've newly discovered this book "the entrepreneurial Linguist, the business school approach to freelance translation", for example.

Hope that will help.


Kind regards

Sarah
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XXXphxxx (X)
XXXphxxx (X)  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:59
Portuguese to English
+ ...
CIoL Apr 8, 2015

You seem to be doing all the right things. I would recommend joining the Chartered Institute of Linguists. I think they have student rates. It would give you access to their forum where you could get good advice from fellow peers in the UK and will also give you a listing in their public directory.

 
Sara Iamonte (X)
Sara Iamonte (X)  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:59
English to Italian
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thank you Apr 8, 2015

Thank you a lot to you all for the time dedicated, it is precious advice.

I have applied for the Translation Coordinator job, so fingers crossed.

Let's go back to translate now:)

Have a great day

Sara


 


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Asking for feedback about my path to become a translator






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