| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Poll: Is there anything you regret not having done as a translator and feel it's now too late to do it? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Is there anything you regret not having done as a translator and feel it's now too late to do it?".
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| | | | Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 22:25
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
+ ...
For some reason I always seem to have taken the right decisions during my freelancing career until this day, so no regrets whatsoever. The future is uncertain, but it always has been. People seem to forget that.
| | | | | Je ne regrette rien... | Oct 3 |
I don't have regrets about my translation career as I've been lucky enough to earn my way since graduating around 20 years ago now (eeek, time really does fly). I would liked to have started charging more earlier, but at the time it simply wasn't possible. I'm charging around double what I did when I first started, but I think that's more to do with the country I'm now in, Germany, rather than anything else. I love Spain to bits, but I think I'd still be forced to charge lower rates if I were st... See more I don't have regrets about my translation career as I've been lucky enough to earn my way since graduating around 20 years ago now (eeek, time really does fly). I would liked to have started charging more earlier, but at the time it simply wasn't possible. I'm charging around double what I did when I first started, but I think that's more to do with the country I'm now in, Germany, rather than anything else. I love Spain to bits, but I think I'd still be forced to charge lower rates if I were still there. I'm still rather shocked that freelancers in Spain have to pay what is it now, 300 euros per month?
I do feel sorry for the ones just graduating now.
[Edited at 2024-10-03 09:02 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Liena Vijupe 
Latvia
Local time: 23:25
Member (2014)
French to Latvian
+ ...
What could possibly be too late for a translator, other than nobody needing human translations anymore or just not being able to translate something you really wanted to?
I don't do regrets, but if I'd absolutely have to I would regret starting too early and focusing too much on distant future. When I was in high school it seemed unwise to choose short-term careers, back then good education was still supposed to last for life. Now I am glad I had it, but I would also rather have had... See more What could possibly be too late for a translator, other than nobody needing human translations anymore or just not being able to translate something you really wanted to?
I don't do regrets, but if I'd absolutely have to I would regret starting too early and focusing too much on distant future. When I was in high school it seemed unwise to choose short-term careers, back then good education was still supposed to last for life. Now I am glad I had it, but I would also rather have had a fascinating career as a dancer or figure skater instead of rotting away at my desk while being gradually replaced by machines and bottom feeders. Yes, I have experience and connections that have been built for years, but I could still be almost exactly where I am even if I only started now. ▲ Collapse
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Dan Lucas
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:25
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
| Bit of a strange question | Oct 3 |
I mean, the hierarchy of the translation business is pretty flat from a freelancer’s point of view, right? You don't start out as a Junior Translator, then become a Translator then progress to being a Senior Translator, do you? You do the job, hopefully find it reasonably satisfying, and you make money, or not. That's pretty much it.
Regards,
Dan
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Dan Lucas wrote:
I mean, the hierarchy of the translation business is pretty flat from a freelancer’s point of view, right? You don't start out as a Junior Translator, then become a Translator then progress to being a Senior Translator, do you? You do the job, hopefully find it reasonably satisfying, and you make money, or not. That's pretty much it.
Regards,
Dan
You’re right from the freelancer’s point of view, but being a staff translator is quite a different story: in the EU, I started as LA8 (junior translator) and 20 years later was LA5 (senior translator)…
| | | | | Bucking the trend... | Oct 3 |
... of posters on a flawless trajectory, sure I do.
I regret not diversifying (in terms both of a broader translation client base and of developing a completely separate income stream) and while perhaps it's not too late, I do feel that have left it later than is ideal.
This is "regret" in the sense of knowing I'd do it differently if I had my time again, not in the sense of sobbing myself to sleep every night.
| | | | Lingua 5B
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 22:25
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida wrote:
Dan Lucas wrote:
I mean, the hierarchy of the translation business is pretty flat from a freelancer’s point of view, right? You don't start out as a Junior Translator, then become a Translator then progress to being a Senior Translator, do you? You do the job, hopefully find it reasonably satisfying, and you make money, or not. That's pretty much it.
Regards,
Dan
You’re right from the freelancer’s point of view, but being a staff translator is quite a different story: in the EU, I started as LA8 (junior translator) and 20 years later was LA5 (senior translator)…
Same at UN, there are contract levels, I was first G/L level and then later on P (professional).
But at EU/UN in-house posts people can actually see and hear each other in person, on a daily basis. They are not anybodies and everybodies hidden behind the screen.
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Baran Keki
Türkiye
Local time: 00:25
Member
English to Turkish
ADIE Translations wrote:
I love Spain to bits, but I think I'd still be forced to charge lower rates if I were still there. I'm still rather shocked that freelancers in Spain have to pay what is it now, 300 euros per month?
[Edited at 2024-10-03 09:02 GMT]
So you'd charge even lower rates if you were in Honduras, but extortionate rates if you were in Monaco or Luxembourg? This really puts things in perspective. I got to gtfo of Turkey or pretend that I'm living in Luxembourg.
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Baran Keki wrote:
So you'd charge even lower rates if you were in Honduras, but extortionate rates if you were in Monaco or Luxembourg? This really puts things in perspective. I got to gtfo of Turkey or pretend that I'm living in Luxembourg.
I surely think so. It's well known in Germany that those in the east charge less than the west. Someone in Switzerland would charge more than me. Why do you think agencies are sending out work to China and India?
| | | | expressisverbis
Portugal
Local time: 21:25
Member (2015)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
| Location is not a factor to set rates IMHO | Oct 4 |
Baran Keki wrote:
ADIE Translations wrote:
I love Spain to bits, but I think I'd still be forced to charge lower rates if I were still there. I'm still rather shocked that freelancers in Spain have to pay what is it now, 300 euros per month?
[Edited at 2024-10-03 09:02 GMT]
So you'd charge even lower rates if you were in Honduras, but extortionate rates if you were in Monaco or Luxembourg? This really puts things in perspective. I got to gtfo of Turkey or pretend that I'm living in Luxembourg.
I'm in the Iberian Peninsula, Portugal, and I've always charged my rates based mainly on my language pairs and not based on the country I live and where I've worked.
To set rates there are other factors to take into account, complexity of the source text, tight or urgent deadlines, and other additional services such as glossaries, for example.
I agree with Baran - if I understand correctly - if I lived in China or Switzerland I would have to lower or raise my rates based on location?
What do these 300 euros refer to? Social Security?
[Edited at 2024-10-04 09:42 GMT]
[Edited at 2024-10-04 09:51 GMT]
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expressisverbis wrote:
I'm in the Iberian Peninsula, Portugal, and I've always charged my rates based mainly on my language pairs and not based on the country I live and where I've worked.
To set rates there are other factors to take into account, complexity of the source text, tight or urgent deadlines, and other additional services such as glossaries, for example.
I agree with Baran - if I understand correctly - if I lived in China or Switzerland I would have to lower or raise my rates based on location?
What do these 300 euros refer to? Social Security?
[Edited at 2024-10-04 09:42 GMT]
[Edited at 2024-10-04 09:51 GMT]
I understand where you're coming from, but I certainly couldn't live on what I was charging in Spain 20 years ago. I know translators there who haven't raised their rates since they first started. I even remember an agency asking me for my rate and I said 0.05 (luckily a very old rate) and she balked.
I had to raise my rates when I moved to Germany as life in general was more expensive. I find agencies here also pay more than Spanish ones. Swiss translators do charge more, as they should as everything is so much more expensive. That said, if I moved somewhere cheaper, I wouldn't want to reduce my rates!
Yes, it refers to social security. I'm well out of the Spanish system, but I think it's 300 as a minimum, and that's just for the pleasure of being able to issue invoices. If you've not got any clients, you're in a wee bit of a pickle.
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expressisverbis
Portugal
Local time: 21:25
Member (2015)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
ADIE Translations wrote:
Yes, it refers to social security. I'm well out of the Spanish system, but I think it's 300 as a minimum, and that's just for the pleasure of being able to issue invoices. If you've not got any clients, you're in a wee bit of a pickle.
I'm not sure how Spanish social security works, but in Portugal the amount you pay monthly is based on your income, and not 'just for the pleasure of being able to issue invoices'.
Social security also exists not only to collect money from you, but also to support you with sick leave, medical care in public hospitals and health centres, etc.
And I'm not favouring the Portuguese social security and/or tax authority... on the contrary, you pay a lot and it's expensive here, perhaps the same as in Spain.
[Edited at 2024-10-07 14:26 GMT]
| | | | | A bit off topic but replying to you | Oct 7 |
ADIE Translations wrote:
I don't have regrets about my translation career as I've been lucky enough to earn my way since graduating around 20 years ago now (eeek, time really does fly). I would liked to have started charging more earlier, but at the time it simply wasn't possible. I'm charging around double what I did when I first started, but I think that's more to do with the country I'm now in, Germany, rather than anything else. I love Spain to bits, but I think I'd still be forced to charge lower rates if I were still there. I'm still rather shocked that freelancers in Spain have to pay what is it now, 300 euros per month?
I do feel sorry for the ones just graduating now.
Spain was a wonderful country when i moved here 13 years ago, but now it's going down a bad path, new laws that will kill tourism (the most important industry) in many Comunidades. Impossible healthcare, ridiculous pensions, ridicoulous salaries, skyrocketing food prices, infact other than those 300 euros, I have to pay a private health insurance, otherwise I have to wait months (so total is 450),
Things are becoming worse than in Italy, and believeme it is not an easy task.
I do feel sorry for all of us.
[Edited at 2024-10-07 20:42 GMT]
| | | | | Perhaps my post will explain | Oct 7 |
expressisverbis wrote:
Social security also exists not only to collect money from you, but also to support you with sick leave, medical care in public hospitals and health centres, etc.
Exactly but unfortunately it does not work anymore, it was wonderful, but this is the past, at least in the comunidad where I live and pay. BTW I pay more than 300
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