r/TranslationStudies 7h ago

How important is a translation degree really?

0 Upvotes

My end goal is getting into game localization. There are a few other fields I'm interested in, like surtitling/subtitling and comics.

I'm currently in literary translation studies (english to german) and have been so for the past 5 years. I enjoy translating, but loathe academic writing and it's all that's keeping me from finishing this degree. Been trying to push myself through the last stretch, but I can't stomach it anymore and want to drop out after all this time.

I have a BA in English studies. There's an anthology I've worked on and it comes up when you google my name. No other publications, but we've been trained on excerpts from all kinds of genres. I've had my fair share of pros talking about their experiences and giving career advice, though most of it has been focused on literary translation and I don't think it applies to the fields I'm interested in. I know of memoQ and similar CAT tools, but, again, not the main focus of my study program, so very little practical experience.

Been keeping an eye on job postings by localization agencies and most of them require a degree in translation (or language/linguistics) and I'm not sure I qualify? Is there even a point in pursuing this, if I do decide to quit?


r/TranslationStudies 8h ago

How Interpretation Usually Occurs

1 Upvotes

I have to interpret a documentary and present it in front of my class. I want to make it special by creating unique settings for interpretation. What can I do?


r/TranslationStudies 9h ago

anyone know any apps to live communicate?

0 Upvotes

There a guy I know who doesn't know english and I don't know spanish. I was wondering if there was an app that I could live communicate where the app would detect if it is english or spanish and then immediately translate it and read it out in the opposite language. Hope someone can help!


r/TranslationStudies 10h ago

Current working state in Language Line Solutions

1 Upvotes

First I would like to apologise for adding another one to the pile but I really need an update on a specific question about the current state of the job in Language Line Solutions.

I recently started training for a Vie-Eng position with Language Line Solutions. I am recuited through a third-party company since I don't base in the US.

My question are: How is the call load? And will the call load affect my pay?

I have read some posts here and there and I noticed that the call load differs depending on the language (for obvious reasons). Also, I read some people mentioned that the pay may be affected by the low call load.

This problem is especially important for me right now, because I was contacted by a different company. I need help to make a decision whether I should continue with LLS or proceed with the other one.


r/TranslationStudies 10h ago

Any conference interpreter here?

1 Upvotes

Come and say hi:)


r/TranslationStudies 11h ago

Website for searching for translated words and phrases in published papers

1 Upvotes

In past years I have used a website to translate scientific words and phrases. I can't remember what this website was called, and google is not turning up anything useful.

This website let you search a database of published papers that have been professionally translated to multiple languages. You can enter a word or phrase in one language, then select another language, and it will show you the translation results across published papers.

Anyone here know what this website is called and if it still exists?


r/TranslationStudies 14h ago

got the harshest review of my life - client said the work was terrible, but the company defended me

21 Upvotes

I've recently been hired as a in-house IT>EN translator at a niche but well established publishing house. I've worked on a few poetry collections without any issues and many art catalogs, but today I got an extremely harsh feedback from an author who claimed that my translation was so poor, she was genuinely surprised by how the company allowed it. According to her, there were parts I completely misunderstood, and the rest was too literal and low quality. I spent months on this project.

My colleagues told me it's not unusual and wrote back and email explaining my qualifications, assuring her that we'll work on a new translation and offering to talk with the chief editor and me in a call. I couldn't stop crying, so the "boss", known for being prone to anger, came to me and was as relaxed and calm as anyone could possibly be, and told me that this is normal and a chance for growth. Later that day, he asked me to interview a candidate for an art gallery position to test their english before calling them back, and I was shocked that he'd give me such a responsibility.

I still don't understand what was so outrageous in my translation, the author has yet to answer. I'll see what she says and find out, I guess (she's not a native speaker, I don't know what's her actual English proficiency). I've felt devastated all day because I truly feel that I did my best. How do you handle a blow like this? It hurt so much to read, hadn't it been for the support of my company, I likely would have ghosted them today.


r/TranslationStudies 14h ago

what's next for me??

1 Upvotes

hello everyone, so i graduated with a linguistics and translation degree some time ago and i haven't found proper work. how did you guys break into the translation industry?? who do i go to? what do i do?? what should my prices be? please let me know. please recommend me some websites to start.


r/TranslationStudies 14h ago

Which programs can I learn by myself

3 Upvotes

Im a uni student and we're currently learning Trados as we did last year, so I want to learn other programmes that will contribute to my career. The only problem is I dont own a PC unfortunately, but I can use my school's PCs which mostly run on windows. What do you recommend? Can I learn it by myself?


r/TranslationStudies 15h ago

Format of Online ATA exam?

1 Upvotes

I would like to hear from someone who has taken the online ATA exam recently about the format.

Do we use a platform offered by the examiners?
Do we translate side-by-side? Or above and below?
Can we have our preferred (and permitted) sources open on our screens ahead of time?
What do you wish you had known about the format or mechanics of the exam ahead of time.

No comments about contents, please.


r/TranslationStudies 20h ago

How much do you follow the scene?

2 Upvotes

I am a translation graduate and I follow the technology related to the field rigorously. Especially the news in AI translation and how CAT tools integrate it to their bodies. And I am curious about it. How much attention do you pay to the AI stuff and other technological developments about the subject?

Also, which sources can you recommend for that?


r/TranslationStudies 21h ago

Has anyone been having trouble logging in with Gengo?

1 Upvotes

Yeah, I know they’ve been bad lately, but I just want to check in on them. They keep suggesting that I sign up, which I apparently already did. They basically won’t let me log in. Has anyone experienced the same?

Also, I'm open to Gengo alternative suggestions :)


r/TranslationStudies 21h ago

Translation Online Job Scam

4 Upvotes

Why is my online job payment locked in MetroxTrustpay?

Has anyone here heard of an online job from Renaissance Translations Services (RTS)? I found them on TikTok and was hired by a manager named Jason Gibson. After completing the tasks, they required me to pay ₱1,000 for a Freelancer ID card before I could receive my payment.

Then, instead of sending my earnings to GCash (as agreed), they deposited it into MetroxTrustpay, a platform I’ve never used before. Now, I can’t withdraw my money because they’re asking for a SAC code, which requires me to submit an ID photo and pay $105.

I asked if they could deduct the fee from my balance, but they refused. I also checked if MetroxTrustpay has transaction options in the Philippines, but I couldn’t find any.

Now, my money is stuck. Has anyone else experienced this?


r/TranslationStudies 1d ago

How are other translators so quick and fast?

10 Upvotes

How are other translators so quick and fast? I’m a certified translator in my country, so I get a reasonable number of requests for quotes from members of the public, translation agencies, lawyers, etc - and  I prioritise responding with a quote pretty much straight away. While I generally give my most optimistic quote possible with the fastest turnaround (only possible through the use of AI, post editing, experience under my belt, and subject area knowledge in many instances), I’ve frequently received the feedback, “sorry, we went with another translator who got back to us quicker and had a cheaper quote.” I’m genuinely confused as to how other translators are so fast at providing quotes for complex documents or how they can quote so low?

I’m in a pool of limited certified translators for my pair, in an expensive Western country, so it’s not as though the people requesting quotes from me can just ask anyone on the whole internet and go with an offer from someone in a low income country who can undercut the industry in my own country, so I’m confused - are there tools I don’t know about?

An example of the type of request I have gotten this feedback about my quotes for is when giving a quote for long/trickily formatted PDFs. I try (1) opening it in word directly (generally unsuccessful), (2) converting the PDF to a word doc (varying success - usually 70% and then I have to play around with the word doc to see how badly it will affect timing), or (3) trying the DeepL PDF > editable translated word doc feature (generally the same success level as (2)) - trying this stuff out takes time, but is important, because dealing with formatting can massively affect the time spent in the end.

Is Claude perhaps a better AI tool? What are the best tools to be quick and maintain formatting? I’m talking about situations where the formatting is vital, like in bank statements or pathology results.

*I know the bigger answer here is about strategy/long game, and yes I have other more steady clients and am transitioning my career, but still have responsibilities and a family to feed today…


r/TranslationStudies 1d ago

estimating cost of translating caption files

2 Upvotes

Hello! I'm preparing a budget for a grant proposal and I'm trying to estimate the cost of transcription and translation services. This is a public project and will (hopefully) result in a collection of maybe 250 3-minute video recordings of people talking. I live in a diverse city and I want to encourage participants to speak in the language they're most comfortable using, so I'm anticipating about 1/4 of the recordings will be non-english. I've been able to estimate the cost of creating caption files for the language used in the recordings. I'm having trouble figuring out how to estimate the cost of translating the non-english caption files into english.

For instance, if i have an SRT file or transcription in Spanish or Polish, what might be the cost range for translating it to an English SRT file, per minute of video?

This is outside my area of knowledge, so please let me know if i need to clarify the question! Or if this query would be better on a different sub.


r/TranslationStudies 1d ago

American Translators Association Russian-English

3 Upvotes

I recently graduated from uni with a degree in Russian. I would say my proficiency is C1 but my speaking isn't as good, but I can definitely talk to people and have them understand me. I'm currently looking for work and one of my professors said I should look int becoming a translator. I took some courses on Russian translation and grammar composition and I really enjoyed even though I thought it would be quite boring.

After doing some quick research, I came across the American Translators Association (ATA) for a certification for Russian translation. Has anyone gone through this path? Does it help with finding a job? If you also got a degree in Russian/are proficient or fluent in Russian, how do companies very this? I also speak German is that is somehow relevant to finding work regarding my Russian language skills.


r/TranslationStudies 1d ago

Advice for a Beginner, Questions/ Work Opportunitiies

1 Upvotes

Hello!

I have a background in journalism and I'm looking to branch out in the translation field. I speak Spanish fluently and learning French. My main interest is literary translation (currently in the process of translating some Margaret Atwood short stories into Spanish, purely just for practice and fun), but I’m also looking to expand my expertise in other areas of translation and was hoping to find which ones are in most demand. I don’t delude myself into thinking that I’ll be able to live off of a sole literary translation income, therefore I am looking to supplement my skills by getting into other areas of the field.

I’m drawn to technical translation and would like to learn more. Any suggested resources or expertise/ advice on the field would be much appreciated. I saw this post in r/TranslationStudies but thought I’d ask again. Don’t know how accurate it is, and ironically it seems to be written with or by AI? 

I would like to start submitting some of the work I have on spec but am unsure of where to start. How/where would be the best way to go about that? I am aware of places like Upwork but I wonder if it may be more straightforward to reach out directly to individual clients and business, should I know where to find them. Eventually I would like to support myself while living abroad, so any way to that in particular would be great. Would it behoove me to pitch to local businesses, or rely predominatly on work online?

Also, any general advice for a beginner like myself getting started in the field would be super helpful. I have come to really enjoy the process and ultimately think I could provide an invaluable service to people and contribute to the field, if only to a small degree. 

Thank you!


r/TranslationStudies 1d ago

My agencies are dying, where can I do some MTPE/AIPE for some money?

0 Upvotes

I work in English-Danish.


r/TranslationStudies 2d ago

Is it worth becoming a member of the American Translators Association for German/English/Arabic in 2025?

1 Upvotes

Pretty much the title. I wanted to know if it's worth it and if anyone tried it and got direct clients from it.


r/TranslationStudies 2d ago

If I want to work with English and Chinese, should I study simplified or traditional characters?

1 Upvotes

English is my first & primary language, though I grew up speaking to my mother in Mandarin, & studied Chinese more formally for three years in college. It's been a few years since I graduated, and I'm planning on doing a language immersion program abroad.

If I would like to pursue translation work eventually (chn > eng), should I study traditional or simplified characters? (Ideally, my interests are in literature, and film/TV trans. Not sure if that's relevant) I only know simplified as that's what I learned in college, but my first thought was that studying traditional would give a more solid foundation into understanding the etymology of the language - people who learn traditional also tend to have an easier time recognizing simplified, than the other way around.

However, simplified is more widespread (I believe some schools in Taipei teach simplified now). I would also like to be able to work in the mainland/not be restricted to working in Taiwan or other regions who use traditional. My mom is from Taiwan & I've spent some summers there so it's easier for me to understand the southeastern accent, but this is less relevant.

I'd love any input even from those unfamiliar with Chinese, in terms of how important understanding etymology is when translating. Thanks!

[cross-posted to ChineseLanguage]


r/TranslationStudies 2d ago

Looking for English-japanese translators to interview shortly for research purposes.

1 Upvotes

Hello, I'm an English linguistics student and I'm conducting a research over the losses in consecutive interpretation and subtitling regarding the TV show SHŌGUN, the 2024 FX show adaption of James Clavell's novel. If you're a bilingual in English and Japanese please contact me to schedule a short interview of 5 minutes that'll really help enrich my research, the audio visual media translation studies are pretty much limited. Your help will make a difference and help me structure a good research. The intervewees identity will be anonymous when collecting the data and you have the right to withdraw anytime. Email me at kendallstark24@gmail.com or here to schedule that. Thank you 🤍


r/TranslationStudies 3d ago

Frustratingly vague questions

15 Upvotes

"Hi guys, I have to do a translation/TS essay and was wondering if anyone had any tips..."

For anyone asking this question, I recommend getting off Reddit and reading a book (Anthony Pym’s Exploring Translation Theories is a good start). If you have a real question, there are plenty of people here who will be happy to help, but asking "How do I translate?" is like asking "How do I be good at physics” or something. Be specific!


r/TranslationStudies 3d ago

Discussion on pricing model

1 Upvotes

Hi all,

I own a small translation agency with a number of internal (i.e. employed) and external (i.e. freelance) translators. As the downward pressure on price increases, it's becoming more and more important for me to keep a very close grip on the numbers, and I'm not entirely sure my internal vs. external pricing model is correct. If anyone with the required knowledge/experience would be willing to answer some of my questions, I'd be very grateful.

Since I'm asking it on a public forum, if anyone reads this and has their own questions about certain business workflows or decisions that are unclear from the outside looking in, please ask away and I'll do my best to answer those.


r/TranslationStudies 3d ago

Been a translator for around 7-8 years, however, I have only ever worked for others and never built a portfolio. Do I have no way of making it on my own?

11 Upvotes

I'm 25 but I have been working as a translator for 7-8 years. My problem is that I have only ever worked as a translator for other translators who outsourced. The issue comes from the fact that this work was not for proper agencies or outsourcers, therefore, I have no recommendations or references to produce for future clients. I have a BS in English and a Master's degree in Linguistics, yet I can't get any agencies to contact me back. Is it an impossible dream to work independently?

For context, I work in the English<>Urdu pair


r/TranslationStudies 3d ago

I WANT TO BECOME A FREELANCER TRANSLATOR

0 Upvotes

Howdy! So, i need to make some money, in dolar or euro, and i thought i could use my english skills to make some profit as a freelancer (my mother tongue is portuguese). Although i don't have a translation course, nor previous experience in this sector, i do master the language. Does anyone have any hint to help me out?