I just stumbled on your channel accidentally but as they say 'I was looking for copper but found gold'. I'm just starting a career as a translator and I'm super scared and lost because I've just graduated this year I don't have a single idea how people find their first work, experience and make first money but at least I have motivation to dig into it. You gave me hope that it's manageable and that it could be done, although with much effort and extra miles to go. Thank you a lot for your content, it casts light on freelance and gives motivation to go on.
Welcome to the channel and thanks for the kind words. There is a bunch of videos on here about starting out, positioning yourself, niching down, writing CVs, invoicing etc. You should find what you're looking for :)
It did. It shone a light on some stuff that I could be doing, and reinforced what I was already doing. Unfortunately, my language pair (Brazilian Portuguese - English) is not that sought out, and most certificates are paid (and man the dollar is ridiculously expensive as of right now in BR). But, I'm going to keep working on my degree on translation, and I'm posting videos on my channel (slowly) with Portuguese Subs. Might include English ones too. Thank you very much for taking the time for making this video. Do you think making these subs will be of help to my career? (I'll send the portuguese subs to it when I get to it c: )
My motto is "Nessuno nasce imparato" ( none borns with all knowledge inside), as we say in Italy, but you can gain experience with perseverance.Good content!
Ciao! So che questo commento è di un anno fa, ma volevo chiederti come sta andando il tuo percorso da traduttrice? Io sto solo iniziando ad approcciarmi al mondo dei traduttori freelance.
Thank you Adrian. This is very precious content for all us, the beginners. Sure, we have not experience, but we are motivated and we have everyone a potential to making use and advance. These sites open a lot of opportunities have a first experience. All professional translators were beginners one day. Sorry, my English is basic. I am looking for my first job Spanish ~ French. Thanks a lot.
1:50 - 2:25 "So you go for another office job that you don't like" As someone who applied for an office job because I didn't have the confidence to translate and is now quitting that horrid office job to start freelance translation career... I feel very attacked 😂
Thank you so much for putting these videos out there! I couldn't and probably won't finish my Master's degree for mental health reasons and I've now been stuck in this phase where I am so scared of actually starting the job. I see my former classmates gain experience and have their first jobs and I'm very happy for them, but it kind of seems out of reach for me. I'm translating game mods a bit on my own because it's a topic I'm very comfortable with, but even there I'm very hard on myself. Your videos really help me realise I can actually do it and I have many ways to try and get started (especially at this time of the year haha)!!
Hi Ioanis, sorry to hear that. Mental health problems are brutal, especially as their are so invisible to the outside. Yeah you definitely have multiple ways to succeed in this business, I know plenty of translators who specialise in gaming :)
Thank you for the tips, Adrian! I really look forward to your videos. Once again this was the encouragement and perspective I needed. As I've been joining volunteer translation platforms like TWB, I've been having a really hard time finding any projects to work on. My language pair is FR>EN, which is pretty common, so I'm sure projects get snatched up quickly. It's been kind of discouraging because most resources I've found suggest these websites to get experience. I appreciate you always offering new and creative ideas, like the Wikipedia articles. I had never heard of that! :)
Hi Annika, thanks for your comment. Yes, FR-EN is very popular in the area of charity translation, so for you it's probably better to look for something more specific. First thing that comes to mind is looking up website of tourist destinations in France and Belgium, see if they have their website already in EN, if not, translate it and send it to them :) that's what I'd do for sure.
Hi Adrian, new subscriber here! Found your channel over the weekend. You've given me the motivation to look into giving this a go. I don't have specific translation experience but in past and my current full-time job, I am the go to person for any Dutch translation. Also my work experience includes speaking with and writing to Dutch client at all levels. You’ve given me the inspiration to do something with my language skills. Will watch your imposter video too, as this is the reason I haven't started yet 😅
Thank you for your tips! However, I would like to comment on one thing; ''Translating youtube videos''. I got a negative answer from a translator working in the business for 22 years, she said it didn't matter. She said it was probably not beeing viewed as an experience, but I personally feel it is a good idea to do that. TH-cam is made of creators that have their own ideas of what content should be out there, viewed by everyone. If the TH-cam channel isn't a professional one ( Think Bbc, 60 minutes, etc) that has a formal language, translating a persons language with an dialect could be beneficial experience, worth mentioning. Translating an British persons TH-cam content from Birmingham can be an experience 😀 Anyway, I love your channel! Discovered it today. I'm taking small steps against the translation world, starting small, gaining more experience everyday. I'm looking at language studies at the nearby Uni's here, hopefully I can join this or next semester.
Hi Layla, sorry, I mustve missed your comment. This all depends on how you sell it. Of course you wouldn't say to a potential client that you did some voluntary translations for a friend or a creator, but if you say that you did specialist subtitles for an expert in a specific field, it sounds much better ;) the beginning is all about selling yourself properly, remember that. Everything you worked on is experience, doesn't matter whether it was paid, highvalue jobs or not.
If you don't mined i want to ask a question. An audiovisual translation course instructor told me and my colleagues not to add any volunteer based translation work as a experience in the portfolio. He said it would be a sign that we are unprofessional translator. He told us to write sth like " I done various translation projects from Turkish to Arabic." ! What do you think about that? Personally, I would like to add them, but i'm confused. finally, Thank you! your videos are helpful and full of possitivity
Hi Salma, I strongly disagree with that statement :) I don't think it looks unprofessional at all, on the contrary , it looks like you did everything you can to build a portfolio and to get better. I would always add everything you've done.
Hello Adrian! I'm a new subscriber here and I absolutely love your videos-they are very helpful and motivational. I'm wondering if you're still accepting translation subtitling for your TH-cam videos. Please let me know😄
Hi Gracia, so nice, thank you very much! I haven't been able to offer this lately, but there has just been some new development and someone working for me will take over this task now. So you can send an email to freelanceverse@gmail.com and hopefully you will get a reply there.
Hi Adrian, I'm a new subscriber here and I find your videos super helpful. Do you also work as an interpreter? Do you post any content on Interpretation as well? Thanks
Hi Adrian, I recently subscribed and am loving your videos. Just a question... I cannot find the links you've put up below. Would you perhaps know what the reason for this would be? Thanks so much, hope you can shed some light.
I am an Arabophone and I have a Phd in English language studies. I master Standard Arabic, French and English. I completed some courses in translation from English into Arabic and I currently teach English. I am thinking about working as a freelance translator. Do you think I have the potentials to start? And if yes, what's the first step?
Hi Adrian. Sorry for my maybe very stupid question, but I have no experience with subtitles yet. So, to gain said experience, if my favorite channel would supply the needed files, what tool would I use, to make these subtitles then? Thx, B :)
No stupid questions here at all :) you could work with Subtitle Edit for example, that's what I do. Or you can simply open the file in a text editor like Notepad and replace the text there line by line
Hello, thank you very much for sharing all this valuable information and advices. Please could you make a video about technicality. I would like to do online translations but I am afraid that apart from the lack of experience I don't have enough knowledge for using the right platforms (not only Word or Office, but also website or video editing etc.) and I have no idea what are the usual requirement from online companies, like do they expect you to do this part of the job?
Hi there, that's a good idea, thank you. I added it to the list. Realistically, you don't need to be a computer geek to be translator, but you are expected to use the basic Office tools such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc. The job specific tools like CAT tools (memoQ, SDL, Memsource etc.) as well as Subtitling Tools (Subtitle Edit, AegiSub etc.) you will learn on the job while working. You will have to put some time in to learn these things, but they are not too hard if you grew up with devices like most of us did. Video editing is not really part of the job of a language service provider. But if you also want to make TH-cam videos, then you'll have to learn it :) I use Shotcut and I just learnt it by myself while working on this channel. Nowadays, everything can be selftaught, just need to put in the work.
Hello! Thank you so much for this video. I am sure this would help many people. I am currently learning the German language (level B2) and am yet to receive a certificate. However I have been volunteering to translate course era videos from EN to DE. Would that be a good start to gain experience? Thank you.
Hello. Do you know if Translators without borders (or anyone else) offers a feedback on a volunteer's translation through editing and profreading? I am asking because it would mean a lot to someone to see what their mistakes are and improve their translation skills.
Hi Adrian, I am a native polish speaker. I would like to become a English-Polish translator. Do you think there is a need for translators in my language? How to choose a niche as a specialization in translation?
Hi Przemyslaw! Oh yes, there is most certainly a demand for Polish translators. I have many of them in my network :) Finding your niche is not easy, for most people it comes naturally with time. I wouldn't force yourself into a niche, just start out as a generalist and see what kind of jobs you get. I happened to work with a couple of sports retailers and really enjoy sports, so sports became one of my specializations, but it just happened. My other one, the IT one, was more preplanned, I knew that this is something I'm passionate about so I steered my MSc into that direction.
@@Freelanceverse Thanks! Recently I've been thinking about 3 niches: Marketing (because I'm a former seo specialist), IT (because I recently did web design) and Sports (because I've been interested in sports since I was a kid)
@Freelanceverse - Adrian Probst Okay, although I don't get why permission? Everywhere else it is called experience, i.e., to get a job one needs experience, but to have experience, one needs a job, I'm not arguing, just chatting. Good video 👍
I understand no worries :) this is the definition: The permission paradox is an example of a catch-22: a logic loop that's inescapable if you play by the rules. You can't succeed because you're not qualified, and you're not qualified because nobody will give you permission to try.
hi Adrian! thanks for all the advices!! which one is the best course you'd recommend? I'm bilingual i speak Spanish and English but i don't have any certificates nor experience, I'm literally just starting 😬
Hi Sandra, I added some links in the description to the courses, have you seen that? I haven't taken any of them myself, so you would just need to check out reviews and see which one works best for you. In the end, I don't think it matters a lot which one you do.
Hello, do you know if you are allowed to volunteer for TWB if you are still a student, so not a professional translator ? I am still doing my BA degree in Japanese Studies, but I'd like to gain experience as a translator somehow, and I was thinking about volunteering for TWB but I am not sure I'd be allowed to translate documents for them.
I just stumbled on your channel accidentally but as they say 'I was looking for copper but found gold'. I'm just starting a career as a translator and I'm super scared and lost because I've just graduated this year I don't have a single idea how people find their first work, experience and make first money but at least I have motivation to dig into it. You gave me hope that it's manageable and that it could be done, although with much effort and extra miles to go.
Thank you a lot for your content, it casts light on freelance and gives motivation to go on.
Welcome to the channel and thanks for the kind words. There is a bunch of videos on here about starting out, positioning yourself, niching down, writing CVs, invoicing etc. You should find what you're looking for :)
Shoutout to Alisson Martins for inspiring this week's video. Hope it helps you :)
It did. It shone a light on some stuff that I could be doing, and reinforced what I was already doing. Unfortunately, my language pair (Brazilian Portuguese - English) is not that sought out, and most certificates are paid (and man the dollar is ridiculously expensive as of right now in BR). But, I'm going to keep working on my degree on translation, and I'm posting videos on my channel (slowly) with Portuguese Subs. Might include English ones too.
Thank you very much for taking the time for making this video. Do you think making these subs will be of help to my career? (I'll send the portuguese subs to it when I get to it c: )
My motto is "Nessuno nasce imparato" ( none borns with all knowledge inside), as we say in Italy, but you can gain experience with perseverance.Good content!
Well said!
Is that latin ?
@@abhinavchauhan7864 no, it's Italian
@@Holly698 thank you for your reply
Ciao! So che questo commento è di un anno fa, ma volevo chiederti come sta andando il tuo percorso da traduttrice? Io sto solo iniziando ad approcciarmi al mondo dei traduttori freelance.
Thank you Adrian. This is very precious content for all us, the beginners. Sure, we have not experience, but we are motivated and we have everyone a potential to making use and advance. These sites open a lot of opportunities have a first experience. All professional translators were beginners one day. Sorry, my English is basic. I am looking for my first job Spanish ~ French. Thanks a lot.
Merci beaucoup, Olivia!! Bonne chance :)
Portuguese Subtitles by Alisson Martins :) thanks so much
Hi i'm Brazilian, how can I work like her in subtitles or as a translator? Thanks ❤️
If youd like to subtitle one of my vids for practice, send an email to freelanceverse@gmail.com
@@Freelanceverse Hi Adrian, may I ask if this is a paid opportunity?
It is not, no.
1:50 - 2:25
"So you go for another office job that you don't like"
As someone who applied for an office job because I didn't have the confidence to translate and is now quitting that horrid office job to start freelance translation career... I feel very attacked 😂
😂😂😂 No attacking intended, it simply is a reality check for many lol. Thanks for your comment, i`m very happy for you!
the amount of hardwork you put in is commendable .
Thank you so much for putting these videos out there!
I couldn't and probably won't finish my Master's degree for mental health reasons and I've now been stuck in this phase where I am so scared of actually starting the job.
I see my former classmates gain experience and have their first jobs and I'm very happy for them, but it kind of seems out of reach for me.
I'm translating game mods a bit on my own because it's a topic I'm very comfortable with, but even there I'm very hard on myself.
Your videos really help me realise I can actually do it and I have many ways to try and get started (especially at this time of the year haha)!!
Hi Ioanis, sorry to hear that. Mental health problems are brutal, especially as their are so invisible to the outside. Yeah you definitely have multiple ways to succeed in this business, I know plenty of translators who specialise in gaming :)
I can't thank you enough, I was so lost and this is extremely helpful. Thanks!
So happy to hear this!! :)
Thank you for the tips, Adrian! I really look forward to your videos. Once again this was the encouragement and perspective I needed.
As I've been joining volunteer translation platforms like TWB, I've been having a really hard time finding any projects to work on. My language pair is FR>EN, which is pretty common, so I'm sure projects get snatched up quickly. It's been kind of discouraging because most resources I've found suggest these websites to get experience. I appreciate you always offering new and creative ideas, like the Wikipedia articles. I had never heard of that! :)
Hi Annika, thanks for your comment. Yes, FR-EN is very popular in the area of charity translation, so for you it's probably better to look for something more specific. First thing that comes to mind is looking up website of tourist destinations in France and Belgium, see if they have their website already in EN, if not, translate it and send it to them :) that's what I'd do for sure.
@@Freelanceverse love that idea! Thank you:)
Awesome video! I just found out about your channel and I really like what you do!
Awesome! Thank you!
Adrian, you motivate me to reach my goals. Thanks so much for helping others!!
💙💙💙
Amazing tips! Thank you so much.
♥️
Hi Adrian, new subscriber here! Found your channel over the weekend. You've given me the motivation to look into giving this a go. I don't have specific translation experience but in past and my current full-time job, I am the go to person for any Dutch translation. Also my work experience includes speaking with and writing to Dutch client at all levels. You’ve given me the inspiration to do something with my language skills. Will watch your imposter video too, as this is the reason I haven't started yet 😅
Thank you Adrian, this was very helpful!
Glad you enjoyed it :)
Thank you!
Thank you, Adrian!
♥️♥️♥️
I found it very inspiring, thank you
Thanks so much :)
thank you so much adrian ❤
Thanks for watching, Shredder :)
Tökéletes videó! Ügyes vagy! 👏
köszönöm szépen :)
This was so helpful! I have a 2 year goal….and a lot of it involves free or cheap translation services
Glad it was helpful
Thank you for your tips! However, I would like to comment on one thing;
''Translating youtube videos''.
I got a negative answer from a translator working in the business for 22 years, she said it didn't matter. She said it was probably not beeing viewed as an experience, but I personally feel it is a good idea to do that. TH-cam is made of creators that have their own ideas of what content should be out there, viewed by everyone. If the TH-cam channel isn't a professional one ( Think Bbc, 60 minutes, etc) that has a formal language, translating a persons language with an dialect could be beneficial experience, worth mentioning. Translating an British persons TH-cam content from Birmingham can be an experience 😀
Anyway, I love your channel! Discovered it today. I'm taking small steps against the translation world, starting small, gaining more experience everyday. I'm looking at language studies at the nearby Uni's here, hopefully I can join this or next semester.
Hi Layla, sorry, I mustve missed your comment. This all depends on how you sell it. Of course you wouldn't say to a potential client that you did some voluntary translations for a friend or a creator, but if you say that you did specialist subtitles for an expert in a specific field, it sounds much better ;) the beginning is all about selling yourself properly, remember that. Everything you worked on is experience, doesn't matter whether it was paid, highvalue jobs or not.
Awesome video👏👏👏
Thank you 👍
The location 😆, love it.
lol :D I'm traveling a lot haha
If you don't mined i want to ask a question. An audiovisual translation course instructor told me and my colleagues not to add any volunteer based translation work as a experience in the portfolio. He said it would be a sign that we are unprofessional translator. He told us to write sth like " I done various translation projects from Turkish to Arabic." !
What do you think about that?
Personally, I would like to add them, but i'm confused.
finally, Thank you! your videos are helpful and full of possitivity
Hi Salma, I strongly disagree with that statement :) I don't think it looks unprofessional at all, on the contrary , it looks like you did everything you can to build a portfolio and to get better. I would always add everything you've done.
@@Freelanceverse What a relief to hear that. I'll add them thanks to you.
Thanks for the video :) can you make a new video about how to avoid getting scammed by frauds and make strong connections with people or companies
Sure, I'll add it to the list :)
Hello Adrian! I'm a new subscriber here and I absolutely love your videos-they are very helpful and motivational. I'm wondering if you're still accepting translation subtitling for your TH-cam videos. Please let me know😄
Hi Gracia, so nice, thank you very much! I haven't been able to offer this lately, but there has just been some new development and someone working for me will take over this task now. So you can send an email to freelanceverse@gmail.com and hopefully you will get a reply there.
Hi Adrian, I'm a new subscriber here and I find your videos super helpful. Do you also work as an interpreter? Do you post any content on Interpretation as well?
Thanks
Thanks for being here Belén!! :) i don't work as an interpreter, no, but I will soon have an interview with one on the channel :) stay tuned
Hi Adrian, I recently subscribed and am loving your videos. Just a question... I cannot find the links you've put up below. Would you perhaps know what the reason for this would be? Thanks so much, hope you can shed some light.
Hi Maria, in the video description you can't see them?? They should be there, I just checked. Are you watching on mobile or desktop?
@@Freelanceverse I am watching on my laptop.
Then I don't know what the problem could be.
I don't know either. Hopefully I'll somehow be able to figure it out. If yes, I'll let you know. Thanks for trying to help.
Hi Adrian, I'm happy to say I found the links.... they're in the description box and they appear if one clicks "show more".
I am an Arabophone and I have a Phd in English language studies. I master Standard Arabic, French and English. I completed some courses in translation from English into Arabic and I currently teach English. I am thinking about working as a freelance translator. Do you think I have the potentials to start? And if yes, what's the first step?
Hi Adrian. Sorry for my maybe very stupid question, but I have no experience with subtitles yet. So, to gain said experience, if my favorite channel would supply the needed files, what tool would I use, to make these subtitles then? Thx, B :)
No stupid questions here at all :) you could work with Subtitle Edit for example, that's what I do. Or you can simply open the file in a text editor like Notepad and replace the text there line by line
Hello, thank you very much for sharing all this valuable information and advices. Please could you make a video about technicality. I would like to do online translations but I am afraid that apart from the lack of experience I don't have enough knowledge for using the right platforms (not only Word or Office, but also website or video editing etc.) and I have no idea what are the usual requirement from online companies, like do they expect you to do this part of the job?
Hi there, that's a good idea, thank you. I added it to the list. Realistically, you don't need to be a computer geek to be translator, but you are expected to use the basic Office tools such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc. The job specific tools like CAT tools (memoQ, SDL, Memsource etc.) as well as Subtitling Tools (Subtitle Edit, AegiSub etc.) you will learn on the job while working. You will have to put some time in to learn these things, but they are not too hard if you grew up with devices like most of us did. Video editing is not really part of the job of a language service provider. But if you also want to make TH-cam videos, then you'll have to learn it :) I use Shotcut and I just learnt it by myself while working on this channel. Nowadays, everything can be selftaught, just need to put in the work.
@@Freelanceverse Thank you very much for taking your time to answer! :D That is so helpful and encouraging!
Hello! Thank you so much for this video. I am sure this would help many people. I am currently learning the German language (level B2) and am yet to receive a certificate. However I have been volunteering to translate course era videos from EN to DE. Would that be a good start to gain experience?
Thank you.
Sounds like you're doing the right things. Also check out my videos on the 40 translation platforms to sign up to.
@@Freelanceverse Sure. Thank you so much once again for your videos. It's of such great help to many !
I always feel young and confident. Haha happy to hear motivational talks.
Hello. Do you know if Translators without borders (or anyone else) offers a feedback on a volunteer's translation through editing and profreading? I am asking because it would mean a lot to someone to see what their mistakes are and improve their translation skills.
Hi there, as far as I know, they dont offer feedback organically, but you can ask for it.
Hi Adrian, I am a native polish speaker.
I would like to become a English-Polish translator. Do you think there is a need for translators in my language? How to choose a niche as a specialization in translation?
Hi Przemyslaw! Oh yes, there is most certainly a demand for Polish translators. I have many of them in my network :) Finding your niche is not easy, for most people it comes naturally with time. I wouldn't force yourself into a niche, just start out as a generalist and see what kind of jobs you get. I happened to work with a couple of sports retailers and really enjoy sports, so sports became one of my specializations, but it just happened. My other one, the IT one, was more preplanned, I knew that this is something I'm passionate about so I steered my MSc into that direction.
@@Freelanceverse Thanks! Recently I've been thinking about 3 niches: Marketing (because I'm a former seo specialist), IT (because I recently did web design) and Sports (because I've been interested in sports since I was a kid)
@@przemyslawkolber There you go, sounds awesome!! :)
@@Freelanceverse Hey Adrian, a few days ago I sent you a message on email regarding the translation of your videos.
Did you receive it?
Can i translate some ancient religion text and than say look I've translated that 3000 years old text. Would that help me with finding work ?
Of course that can help :) especially if you want to specialize in this area.
@@Freelanceverse thanks for your reply 😀
permission paradox? .... did you mean experience paradox?
No, that's what it's called :)
@Freelanceverse - Adrian Probst Okay, although I don't get why permission? Everywhere else it is called experience, i.e., to get a job one needs experience, but to have experience, one needs a job, I'm not arguing, just chatting. Good video 👍
I understand no worries :) this is the definition: The permission paradox is an example of a catch-22: a logic loop that's inescapable if you play by the rules. You can't succeed because you're not qualified, and you're not qualified because nobody will give you permission to try.
hi Adrian! thanks for all the advices!! which one is the best course you'd recommend? I'm bilingual i speak Spanish and English but i don't have any certificates nor experience, I'm literally just starting 😬
Hi Sandra, I added some links in the description to the courses, have you seen that? I haven't taken any of them myself, so you would just need to check out reviews and see which one works best for you. In the end, I don't think it matters a lot which one you do.
Hello, do you know if you are allowed to volunteer for TWB if you are still a student, so not a professional translator ? I am still doing my BA degree in Japanese Studies, but I'd like to gain experience as a translator somehow, and I was thinking about volunteering for TWB but I am not sure I'd be allowed to translate documents for them.