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How much money do you freelancers earn?
Thread poster: vieleFragen
Pee Eff (X)
Pee Eff (X)
Germany
Local time: 14:47
English to German
+ ...
Don't study a language just because of money... Feb 16, 2005

vieleFragen wrote:

WOW! Thanks for all your answers..I didnt think Id get that many in such a short time. Anyways I just started studying business management (one year ago) but I'm really not too sure if that's what I want to do in life. Actually I just started studying that, because I wanted to do something where I could use foreign languages and I was planning to take up chinese or japanese, anyways. I know Chinese and Japanese are A LOT harder to learn than english or french (I'm a german native speaker), but well I really like studying languages and I'm still young so I figured learning japanese for example would be a good idea if I want to be a translator and think I can learn it in a couple of years (if I study pretty much every day and go to japan for a while, too), because I heared that translators with language pairs like japanese or chinese or korean or whatever do earn (a lot) more money than those who translate from german to english for example. Anyways, I know I'd have to start as an inhouse-translator and can't expect to be perfect in any area of expertise right after graduating from college.

I'd really like to know how much higher the rates for japanese-german translators are than those for french-german / english-german for example...and if there's enough work for such an exotic language (I thought japanese is somewhat exotic, but there should still be enough work because..well japanese is the second biggest economy in the world...almost the same thing goes for chinese at least in my imagination).

Maybe you can tell me something about the rates and the market in general for japanese translations Marco? I see you work from Japan though. Is that because it's harder to get work from italy than when you're in japan?

But then again one of the reasons why I think translating would be a a real nice job is because (like other people have mentioned already) you can work from home..and while you're traveling...thus you should also have a good chance aquiring work over the internet...right (or wrong) ?

Besides I think...let's say I do finish my business management studies but then after working for quite some time (where I'd have further possibilities to improve my japanese...hopefully even on the job) I realize that type of job (the business job) isn't for me I could still switch professions and become a (freelance) translator for japanese-german (besides I could have saved some money by then and wouldn't have to worry about the amount of work I get when starting...).

I hope I can get some more input from you guys


Hi!

I don't think one should study a language like Japanese because you might achieve higher translation rates. A language like Japanese requires A LOT of commitment and stamina to become fluent, written as well as spoken, and to be able to perfectly understand complicated technical or legal texts. If you are into Japanese, if you are REALLY and personally interested in Japanese culture, people and way of living, then go for it. If not it's not worth it and you'd be better off chosing something that really interests you. Potential rates in a language pair is simply not enough of a reason!

People always tend to forget that while the nominal rates for "exotic" languages like Japanese, Chinese or Arabic might be higher than those of "standard" languages like English, Spanish or French it is also more time consuming to work with those exotic languages. I'm not so sure if you still earn that much more if you take the actual working time as a basis for comparison.

And don't overestimate the market for Japanese-German translations! There might be a couple of companies that need in-house translators in that language pair, but I imagine they are very rare. The majority of texts that come from Japan and need translation into German are first translated into English and the German translation is done from English - sometimes you notice that but mostly you don't. Translations into and out of English are still by far the strongest pair in Germany and that won't change any time soon!

However, don't lose your enthusiasm and do something that you really like! If you are already studying Business Administration, maybe your Uni offers a specialization in "Kultur-BWL"? That would seem like a good combination to me and a way to become a translator with a strong specializiation in economics OR a manager with a strong specialization in languages.

Best of luck!
Pat


 
Alison Schwitzgebel
Alison Schwitzgebel
France
Local time: 14:47
German to English
+ ...
Don't forget the business Feb 16, 2005

vieleFragen wrote:
Besides I think...let's say I do finish my business management studies but then after working for quite some time (where I'd have further possibilities to improve my japanese...hopefully even on the job) I realize that type of job (the business job) isn't for me I could still switch professions and become a (freelance) translator for japanese-german (besides I could have saved some money by then and wouldn't have to worry about the amount of work I get when starting...).



Don't forget that working freelance as a translator IS a business job. You have to know about accounts, taxes, IT, marketing, sales, a bit of contract law... In short - you're the boss of your own business (as well as having to translate)

I'll never forget when I was working on a HUGE translation for a big bank, and was having problems sending the completed translation back to them (because of their e-mail set-up). I ended up talking to their IT department, and the guy recommened a specific compression program. I asked him where I could get it, and he told me I should ask my IT department - to which I replied that I AM my own IT department!!

I also totally agree with what my colleagues have said: don't get into translation for the money. Do it because you love it. Otherwise it's a long, hard slog.

A lot of great translators are "Quereinsteiger" - coming into the profession after working for years in a different role. Having that kind of background means you understand a lot more about what you are translating (assuming that you worked in your chosen specialist area before moving into translation).

Best,

Alison


 
Pablo Roufogalis (X)
Pablo Roufogalis (X)
Colombia
Local time: 08:47
English to Spanish
Differente heads Feb 16, 2005

Business management and translations seem to be two completely opposite career paths and I believe they require completely different talents.

I think you need to make a decision on what you want to do/be in life.

If you have people skills, I'd go for management.


 
Sophie Marette
Sophie Marette  Identity Verified
Local time: 13:47
English to French
+ ...
Not easy Feb 16, 2005

Hi!
I am an ex-secondary school teacher and definitely prefer working as a freelance teacher and translator now. I have been freelance for a few years but since 2004, I've really tried to teach privately less and do more translation, but you have to be very good at marketing and looking out for jobs.

It is not easy because agencies don't pay much or some people expect you to work for almost nothing, which I refuse. Again, it depends on the person or company, I might work on a
... See more
Hi!
I am an ex-secondary school teacher and definitely prefer working as a freelance teacher and translator now. I have been freelance for a few years but since 2004, I've really tried to teach privately less and do more translation, but you have to be very good at marketing and looking out for jobs.

It is not easy because agencies don't pay much or some people expect you to work for almost nothing, which I refuse. Again, it depends on the person or company, I might work on a project for free because it will look good on my CV and lead to other things.

You want to know tarifs, they can vary so much!! You can ask a lot of money for urgent translations.

Luck also plays a bit part and who you know is very important. I've often got translation work from the people I was teaching French to, or my students' parents. Everything can help. Internet knowledge is also crucial, and machine translation (it seems).

I will finish with 'Quand on veut, on peut', that's my motto, and what keeps me going! It takes years, but if you really love this job and the freedom it gives you, it is worth it!

Bonne chance!



[Edited at 2005-02-16 16:14]

[Edited at 2005-02-16 16:16]
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Parrot
Parrot  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 14:47
Spanish to English
+ ...
I'd say you pretty much get what you deserve Feb 16, 2005

Been watching this thread for some time before jumping in, and what I can say is, when you consider in-house translation and find a post that fits in with your qualifications, you're either earning slightly more already or breaking even with the offer.

A big difference is the one-vs.-many bosses set-up (I refer to clients, since you're your own boss). You have to be more organized as a freelancer - even when you work in your pyjamas - so as to keep up with the deadlines of someone w
... See more
Been watching this thread for some time before jumping in, and what I can say is, when you consider in-house translation and find a post that fits in with your qualifications, you're either earning slightly more already or breaking even with the offer.

A big difference is the one-vs.-many bosses set-up (I refer to clients, since you're your own boss). You have to be more organized as a freelancer - even when you work in your pyjamas - so as to keep up with the deadlines of someone who doesn't know what your other clients asked for. In that sense it can be more stressing.

You mention "times when you hardly have any work at all" - once your cash flow forecasts have covered that part, you'll be happy for all the free time you have. It's not cost-free either, since what other time will you have to improve your services? We don't get to be IT specialists sleeping every chance we get: we also bone up on our subject matter. We go into language refreshing and recycling. That pays, but it also costs.

The more source languages you work from, the better your chances and the faster you go, that's true. In this connection, if you compare freelance income with equally high-level-qualification job offers (EU, UN, IMF, WB, etc.), there comes a time when the decision to go freelance evens off. Though I still don't know by how much such professional salary ranges may be exceeded.

Not that it matters much if you're happy and self-sufficient.
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vieleFragen
vieleFragen
Local time: 14:47
English
TOPIC STARTER
Oops little mistake Feb 17, 2005

(My bad I posted this in the wrong thread:)

Well, Im really interested in learning japanese and I'll do it no matter what type of career I choose to pursue. But then again, like s.o said already, I'm really worried about the size of the Japanese-German market and about the role the japanese language will play in a decade or two... how can I find out about the size of the Japanese-German market and whether most translations are translated into english and not into japanese? I guess I
... See more
(My bad I posted this in the wrong thread:)

Well, Im really interested in learning japanese and I'll do it no matter what type of career I choose to pursue. But then again, like s.o said already, I'm really worried about the size of the Japanese-German market and about the role the japanese language will play in a decade or two... how can I find out about the size of the Japanese-German market and whether most translations are translated into english and not into japanese? I guess I'll just have to find some J-->G translators and ask them, right?
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ONIONs
ONIONs
Mexico
How much money do you freelancers earn? Nov 16, 2020

I live in Mexico. We have game developers have higher salaries than hotel or restaurant owners. I also invest part of the funds in trading in the binomo app, and keep another part in cryptocurrency.

 
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