| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Poll: Do you translate for a living? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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I retired from my "day" job in 2006, but I'm still translating. Financially I could live without freelancing, but my psyche would suffer enormously. Health permitting I don’t think I’ll ever retire for good…
| | | | Edward Potter 
Spain
Local time: 19:44
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
+ ...
I translate for a living. I make myself highly available to my clients.
When I outsource to other translators, the ones who are almost always available get first crack.
| | | | | Once Upon A Time... | Mar 17, 2022 |
...I worked full-time, mostly in-house, as a FR>EN translator of a Canadian newspaper, starting the same year I graduated from college. After that, I have only worked freelance, starting with the American Society for Metals as a translator from Spanish and French, after which I did my first book translation, from French. Between 1980 and 1983, I worked as a Spanish and French tutor for a student that ended up at Stanford University, and for one of the local public high schools in Cuyahoga County... See more ...I worked full-time, mostly in-house, as a FR>EN translator of a Canadian newspaper, starting the same year I graduated from college. After that, I have only worked freelance, starting with the American Society for Metals as a translator from Spanish and French, after which I did my first book translation, from French. Between 1980 and 1983, I worked as a Spanish and French tutor for a student that ended up at Stanford University, and for one of the local public high schools in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. At that same time, I was teaching Spanish, French, English, and Psychology, and Literature in Translation at a private high school. After that, I ended up working at a large medical facility, starting in 1990, occasionally as a Spanish/English interpreter, where I had great benefits and was able to pay even more FICA taxes into the Social Security system than I already had up to that point. Because of my Social Security, which I have been collecting for several years now, I can be very picky about who and what agencies I work for as a translator; so no, I no longer do translation for a living, because I don't have to. I'm now taking the time to do things that are good for me instead of worrying about everybody else's needs all of the time. New management took over at the medical facility after several years of my working there and made it impossible for many of us to get our work done in a way that could appease its demands. Fed up and burned out, I decided to take a big risk in the fall of 1997; I quit that job, even though the income from it was a sure thing. I was only 45 at the time, seventeen years before I was even able to collect Social Security. I then re-honed my translation skills several hours a day, 7 days a week, for several months, mostly in the library on the campus of Oberlin College. Best decision I ever made—ranks way up there in my top 5. I have no regrets whatsoever about leaving a conventional job behind, since translation has enriched my life in so many ways that I consider much more important.
[Edited at 2022-03-17 00:58 GMT]
[Edited at 2022-03-17 01:01 GMT]
[Edited at 2022-03-17 01:05 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Gurkan Kokce
Türkiye
Local time: 20:44
English to Turkish
+ ...
| Not for a living now | Mar 17, 2022 |
I would like to finish my "job" and begin my "dream" but still it doesn't give me enough to live on.
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I've not had any other job since 1999. My own portion of rents from two flats that the household owns doesn't even reach 10% of my gross translation income. Money earned from financial assets has always been close to insignificant.
Long live brick and mortar.
Philippe
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:44
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Philippe Etienne wrote:
Long live brick(s) and mortar.
Philippe
Long life to those who inherit nothing, live from their work and nothing else. And may they not leave anything to anyone else.
Yes, I translate for a living. Is there any other reason for doing it? Of course, I also enjoy doing it. Work is very satisfying when it's interesting and when you do a good job.
[Edited at 2022-03-17 08:40 GMT]
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My Premier League football career and escort work are really just a distraction
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| I translate to live | Mar 17, 2022 |
I now have my old-age pension to fall back on, and it pays the basics.
The Danes have a saying: ´You can neither live on it nor die of it´. There are in fact people who live on their Danish state pension, and they have what they need, but it can be tight if you want to travel, invite guests, go to a museum, give someone a present, or do many of the things that make life fun.
It can also be a problem if sudden large expenses come up, like needing new glasses or a new fridge. ... See more I now have my old-age pension to fall back on, and it pays the basics.
The Danes have a saying: ´You can neither live on it nor die of it´. There are in fact people who live on their Danish state pension, and they have what they need, but it can be tight if you want to travel, invite guests, go to a museum, give someone a present, or do many of the things that make life fun.
It can also be a problem if sudden large expenses come up, like needing new glasses or a new fridge. Many people have an additional private pension, but I have not saved much there.
So I still translate to be able to afford more than just the bare necessities, but I can afford to be choosy about what I take on. And before anyone calls it translating for pocket-money, I get taxed on my earnings... I live in the country with the world's highest taxes! So if I am not offered reasonable rates for translation, I tell the client I prefer to spend my time on other things!
[Edited at 2022-03-17 10:06 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Mario Freitas
Brazil
Local time: 14:44
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
I only translate for a living. I tried other positions for 20 years, all at manager level in big companies, and they all look like garbage now. I should have become a full-time translator a lot earlier than I did.
[Edited at 2022-03-18 00:20 GMT]
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Translation has been my main source of income for more than 50 years. Currently, what I earn from translation is supplemented by a pension from my full-time translation job. I also receive a small amount of Social Security income -- again, based on my employment as a translator.
| | | | | For a living... and for fun | Mar 18, 2022 |
I translate for a living (although I was hit hard by the corona crisis).
I like to translate novels or essays I enjoy reading, just for the fun of it.
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I translate because I love translating, I love the stuff I normally translate but I also translate for a living. I would hate to earn my living by doing something I don't love or like doing. I love translating almost anything connected with art though I do not like all the periods-whether it is for a museum or art gallery or the provenance of a painting, etc, or videos/podcasts for the EU, it's usually so varied that I do not get bored.
| | | | Kay Denney
France
Local time: 19:44
French to English
It's my main source of income, although the little flat we used to live in is now rented out, so there's that income too. Which incidentally gets four different taxes levied on it, so it's not nearly as lucrative as the tenant thinks!
I also do a bit of teaching here and there, but mainly to get out of the house and talking to other people, so I stopped that when it all went virtual two years ago and now I have too much translation work to be able to fit it in.
| | | | | I work only because I love it | Mar 18, 2022 |
I have family inheritance which allows me ample dividends to live on but I would die without work.
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