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Succeeding as a freelance translator
David Charlston
2013
Introduction
• 1. Our experience of multiligualism • 2. A Multi-Purpose Metaphor • 3. Surveying the field of opportunities
• 4. Business practice and the translator’s voice • 5. The text as a frozen social space • 6. Translation theory as an end in itself
Our experience of multilingualism and interlingual communication
• Brigitta Busch: “We are all multilingual”
• Write notes on your experiences:
– languages you have learned formally
– dialects, regional varieties in your experience
• Tell you neighbour what you have written
• What distinguishes a freelancer?
A Multi-Purpose Metaphor
Surveying the field of opportunities
• How can you make money out of interlingual skills? – Full-time employment
– Working for agencies/companies
– Direct clients
• Identifying demand in the market
• Tailoring your situation and skills to meet demand
• Curriculum vitae: writing and dissemination
Business practice and the translator’s voice
• Judging and interacting with prospective clients
– Small UK Translation Agent
– Large US Translation Agent
– My invoice
– Certification
Small UK Agent’s Webpage
Large US Agent’s Webpage
The text as a frozen social space
• Find out as much as you can about the participants and processes surrounding the text
• Analyse and research the text in detail until you know who is saying what to whom and why
• Translate, read and re-read the text from several different perspectives
Translation theory as an end in itself
• Disadvantages
– Isolation, vulnerability
• Advantages
– Independence, flexibility, learning
• Understanding yourself as a multilingual participant in a multilingual world
• Acting and responding creatively to a changing environment
Freelance translation as an inter-perspectival, participatory activity
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