When it comes to looking for a job, knowing a second language is generally a massive bonus and unlocks a lot more opportunities. The same goes for when you’re looking for a side hustle or want to work from home/anywhere.

The most obvious job opportunity is pretty obvious – translation. The ability to convert a complex foreign language into coherent English is an essential skill which, despite the ongoing development of translation software like Google Translate, continues to be essential. Where there is a need, there is also an entrepreneurial opportunity.

If our little guide does not answer all of your questions regarding translation, please hit the reply button to this or any message from us and let us know!

TL;DR

• High demand – there’s a lot of translation work available and a constant need for more translators
• Big money – if you speak the right language, you could charge massive hourly rates.
• Simple entry – there are no special qualifications or certifications required to get into translation.
• Highly skilled – you need to be fully fluent in English and a foreign language to find work.
• Mixed earnings – not all languages have the same earning potential, though almost all can still earn you something
• Monotonous – the job can be fun and engaging, but only if you work in the right niche.

What is Translation?

Hopefully, we shouldn’t have to explain what exactly translation is. You translate text from one language to another – simple as that. However, the more important question to ask is what exactly freelance translation consists of. What kind of work can you hope to find?

As we said above, even with Google Translate getting more and more accurate (or, at the very least, less and less laughably incoherent), there is still a need for professional translators. There are always aspects of language that can’t be directly translated to or from English without the help of a human being. The software has yet to be invented that can spot idioms, slang, turns of phrase and even just basic cultural differences.

Even with the tech improving, the occasional mistake inevitably still slips through and, when you’re trying to write an important legal document or marketing material, little mistakes make a big difference. Who remembers the fiasco of Ford trying to export their their Pinto compact car in South America, only to discover that the word “pinto” is Brazilian slang for ‘small male genitals’? Actually, that happened in the 1970s, so I’d be quite impressed if you do remember it. However, the point remains that, had Google Translate existed at the time, it probably wouldn’t have spotted that error.

It’s worth noting that the amount of work you’ll find as a translator and how much you can expect to be paid for it does depend a lot on the languages you can work in. Latin-based languages like French, German and Spanish are widely enough spoken that translators are extremely easy to find, so income and opportunities are somewhat limited. Similarly, any language that comes from a country where the education system is good enough that most native speakers are also proficient in English will give you limited income as there will be a lot of other translators available.

The best options are languages from countries where there is a lot of economic opportunity (ie. those spoken in wealthy countries) and which use non-Roman characters. Chinese, Japanese and Arabic are great examples, with translators for these languages in extremely high demand and very short supply. Bizarrely, Danish also ranks very highly, despite the fact that it’s a language that’s heavily influenced by German and has only about 6 million speakers. Even if you speak fairly common and popular languages like Spanish, however, you can still find work.

How to Start?

As you might expect, getting started as a professional freelance translator kicks off with learning a second language. Those with mixed parentage or who grew up overseas will have an immediate advantage, but even those who were born and raised in a purely English-speaking environment can study hard enough to achieve the required level of fluency.

And you do need to be fluent. You need to be able to translate non-standard language into something that could be understood by someone who has not grown up with the English language and its various idiosyncrasies (or you need to be able to translate foreign idiosyncrasies into English ones, depending on which direction a given job wants you to work). You therefore need the cultural knowledge behind the language and not just a textbook understanding of the words.

Similarly, you will also need to be able to understand and translate technical terms. Working in a specific niche is important when it comes to finding work. Inevitably, some pay better than others – generally those with a higher amount of specialised language around them. For example, translating legal, medical or engineering documents will naturally pay better than translating travel, lifestyle and celebrity news. A degree in a technical field will not only help with understanding what you’re trying to translate, but also acts as a significant bonus on your resumé when it comes to finding translation work.

There are bodies, such as the ATA (American Translators Association), that can give you a certification and qualification in translation. While this is helpful, it’s not essential – there are plenty of translators who have found work without it. At the end of the day, all you need to do is prove that you can comfortably understand both English and a second language. Having an advanced understanding of a technical subject will serve you far better and a degree in the subject you are working in might actually be more of a essential requirement than the ATA certification.

So, with those essential skills established, you need to start looking for work. Fortunately, as with most freelance careers, there are job marketplaces available for you. ProZ and Translators Cafe are among the best, but you will find a lot of highly skilled and experienced competitors on both of them and it might be hard for you to find work as a beginner. It’s better to start with more general platforms like Fiverr and Upwork. You may be paid considerably less here, but you will more rapidly develop a portfolio of successful projects and satisfied clients, giving you more credibility for your ProZ profile.

Alternatively, you could just cut out the middleman and go straight to the source – attend marketing conferences and network. You’re sure to find companies looking to expand into new markets and desperately needing translators.

With clients located, you need to send a pitch outlining your rate (both for working by the word or by the hour), including a compact but comprehensive summary of your skills and, ideally, examples of past work. It is definitely preferable to charge by the word or the hour and not by the project since this allows you to factor in project creep and prevents your client from adding more work until you are working well beyond the original scope that you estimated your charge for.

From here, it’s simply a case of doing the work and doing it well. You may have to accept a fair few low-paying projects to begin with, until you’ve developed a portfolio. As your experience and reputation grows, you can increase your rates.

Things to consider

As stated above, the main things to consider when it comes to translation work you ability to speak a second language. While being completely bilingual is not essential, those who have it will never lack for work. Learning a foreign language is a big investment of time and effort so, if you don’t already have at least some skill in a second language, it might be worth investigating simpler alternatives when looking for additional revenue streams.

Also as stated above, the second key consideration is that different languages will earn you different amounts of work and income through translation work. Spanish, for example, is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world (only fractionally less common than English) and there are many people who can speak it and English with native fluency. As such, the best you can hope to charge is about $0.10 per word. By contrast, English to Arabic translation pays almost double that – about $0.19, according to the ATA. When it comes to hourly rates, Chinese is the most profitable language to know, with English to Chinese translation earning $74.92 per hour. In short, you will need to set realistic expectations for your earnings, though the amount could fluctuate for all manner of reasons.

Finally, it’s worth remembering that this particular line of work requires basically no creativity and imagination. It can therefore get a little monotonous, especially if you end up getting a lot of work in subjects you have no interest in. This is a small part of why specialising in a niche subject can be a big help (the more important reason being that it can dramatically increase your earnings). If you pick a niche that is both profitable and interesting to you, the work will be a lot easier to bear.

Cost to get started

In theory, it costs nothing but time and effort to get started as a freelance translator. However, that summary assumes that you can already speak a foreign language with the proficiency of a native