Learn How to Be a Translator

Learn How to Be a Translator

Working as a translator can be a very fulfilling career. Depending on how your career develops, you will meet interesting people and work on exciting projects that help people communicate with each other. Although it may seem challenging, learning how to become a translator is really not difficult. Mostly it entails practicing the process, learning the tools, and getting work at a translator. The primary step, learning the language, should have already been completed by you. You will need to know the language fluently. Therefore, you should do what you can to learn the ins and out of all the languages that you know so that you are easily able to communicate between them.

Even if you have a college degree, you may want to take a certification course that will award you a certificate when you complete it. These courses will often take you step by step through the process of getting started as a translator and managing your projects. This will give you a great head start in the industry as well as help you avoid the mistakes that other translators have made when they were first starting out. Try to find an online course which will provide you with greater flexibility when it comes to completing the class work. Additionally, having the certification will make you appear more professional.

As a translator, you will need a variety of tools to help you perform your work especially if you are translating text. You should own a computer with a word processing program. Other tools include a fax machine, language dictionaries (both online and offline), a telephone to speak to customers and business contacts, a place for you to do your work that is quiet, and access to the internet. These tools will assist you in transcribing the languages between each other as well as manage your business.

The most important thing you can do when learning how to be a translator is to practice. Take every opportunity you can to practice the languages you know individually as well as translating between them until you become an expert. If you have to, do pro bono work to get the hang of the work. Additionally, doing free work for people will get your name out there. When you do quality work, people will recommend your services to others. This can form the basis of a very successful business if you choose to be a freelance translator rather than work for a company.

-By Adriana Tassini

The following Translator Q & A is part of our Translator FAQ Series.Question:Answer: Learn more:Tags: