How to Become a Translator Archives - 행복한 번역가 배움터

How to Use Google Voice Recognition for Translating

I’ve been waiting for a Korean language dictation program to come out. I used a Korean voice recognition program which I don’t even remember the name of now 10 or more years ago, but I stopped using it because the program couldn’t keep up with my computer’s specifications. There are…

The Biggest Obstacles to Becoming a Freelance Translator

The title of this section is a little negative, but I kept it because it hints at the point I want to make. What do you think? What are the biggest obstacles to becoming a freelance translator? Foreign language skills? Native language skills? Experience and knowledge? Personal connections?…

How to Get Out of a Slump

A majority of the people that know me envy my job (all of them do, actually). It’s not that these people are envious because they have a great interest in my work or have a thorough knowledge of how I work. My guess is that the fact I don’t have…

Translation Industry Jargon Every Translator Should Know

As I write, concepts I need to introduce keep popping up and new concepts emerge that need explanation. Knowing all the translation industry jargon is not necessary and most of the terms are self-explanatory. However, some terms need clear understanding to avoid miscommunication on your part. For convenience’ sake, I’ve…

Two Practical Steps to Get Translating Jobs

Through one of my earlier posts (Translation Market: Where It is and Why This is a Good Time to Be a Translator), we’ve learned about the structure of the online translation market, why it’s structured that way, and what such a structure means for translators. In this post, we will…

Translation Market: Where It Is and Why This Is a Good Time to Be a Translator

Where on Earth Is the Translation Market? Continuous translation work is crucial to becoming a translator. This means seeking out and meeting clients. After that, you must form a contract with your clients, do the work, send your work to your clients, make and send an invoice, and then receive…

How to Become a Translator: What You Really Need to Know

Being a translator is awesome! Thanks to globalization and the Internet (and other technological advances such as CAT tools), translators today have many new opportunities and can enjoy a degree of freedom and wealth that was not even thinkable until now. I myself enjoy my work and am proud of…

Some of the Top Freelance Websites for Translators

ProZ and TranslatorsCafe are the only two marketplace businesses that I’ve introduced in detail so far. (If you have not read it, click Two Practical Steps to Get Translating Jobs.) But of course, those two are definitely not the only marketplace businesses. In fact, there are quite a lot. Not…

Stop Being Chased by Time: How to Live a Life Unbound by a Hectic Schedule

We were all taught… no, brainwashed… that a busy person was a capable person. That being busy is a good thing. That being busy is sexy. That by contrast, not being busy was because you had nothing to do due to your incapability, or that you were just being lazy even though you…

Learning a Foreign Language for Translation

I’m sure there are many theories and methods about how to learn a foreign language. Everybody has different circumstances and the current skill levels will vary by person, so although there’s not one best method that will work for everyone, I want to share a little bit from my own experiences…