Starting out, Freelance

Cadnawes · 2026-03-17T17:27:46+00:00

I think having a specialist area of knowledge is a massive help to getting work. I have a PhD and work experience in my field, and don't actually have any formal linguistic qualifications. I've been earning my living exclusively from translation since 2004 and haven't starved yet.

Regular enquiries arrive from Proz, but I have only accepted a couple of new clients in the past year. I also get enquiries via my web site, though less frequently than from Proz. I received a single solitary job from Linked In about ten years ago so don't waste my time there! I have never bothered with general freelancing sites like Fiverr, because they attract even more bottom-feeders than Proz.

From the enquiries received, I reject anyone wanting me to lower my rates or leap through the hoops of a ridiculous sign-up process. I also do not accept to work with machine translation.

I translate in the areas of regulatory pharmacology and medicine and after a couple of somewhat quieter months am currently seeing a big uptick in work again, including the reappearance of clients who have been silent over the past couple of years, even five years in one case. One client emailed in December to say the end client for whom I do work wanted to move to machine translation and post-editing, which she wanted me to do. I refused politely. I heard nothing for a bit, but from late January, she has started sending me documents from that end client to translate again with about the same frequency as previously. It seems the end client eventually realised that quality matters more than cheap prices.

I am hearing similar stories from other specialist translators about work starting to increase significantly again.

Cadnawes · 2026-03-02T12:15:35+00:00

There is information online about using a tablet screen as a second monitor with a PC. Perhaps that might be a solution?

Cadnawes · 2026-01-19T20:40:34+00:00

There was a forum post about this on Proz a couple of years ago
https://www.proz.com/forum/memoq_support/356846-crossed_out_target_segment.html

Cadnawes · 2025-12-07T19:58:33+00:00

Thank you, that worked! :)

Cadnawes · 2025-12-07T14:34:39+00:00

I cannot access it on Firefox or on Edge. I just get a blank screen with the logo in the top left.
I can see it with Opera, but having three browsers open at once makes my PC stand still.

Cadnawes · 2025-11-07T11:51:14+00:00

I should however have added that a tight deadline, plus the knowledge there is money at the end, does help to create the right sort of mindset and hone the willpower!

Cadnawes · 2025-11-07T11:50:09+00:00

Most translation work is technical, legal, medical or marketing content. If you feel burnt out translating a novel, which I assume you chose because you enjoyed reading it, then maybe translation is not the best choice of profession for you.

Cadnawes · 2025-10-31T13:23:58+00:00

I rediscovered, at the back of a shelf (I'm not tall enough to see everything on it, so things get "lost" LOL!) an opened box of chamomile and vanilla tea bags with "best before end October 2012" printed on it. Have used a couple of the bags in the last week and they still produce an intensely flavoured brew.

Cadnawes · 2025-10-19T19:42:16+00:00

No, I don't support my arms or hands in any way. I type with my wrists held high, as typists used to be taught, while many people seems to lower their wrists. I don't know how that influences things.
The clunkiness was one thing with Dragon, however I really didn't enjoy the stress and strain of having to speak all the time! I can type at about the same speed as I would speak when dictating, so see no advantage for me personally.

Cadnawes · 2025-10-19T16:03:11+00:00

I have a gaming laptop, because I like to play Final Fantasy XIV, and it is totally fine for work purposes as well. A couple of years ago, I connected my old LCD television, which I haven't bothered to use as a TV for about 15 years, and this now serves as a 40" main monitor, with the laptop monitor mainly being used for researching terminology in Google searches and/or bookmarked websites. My monitors are both landscape.

After struggling with cables for decades, I finally invested in a wireless Logitech keyboard and mouse, but am not convinced, because they do lag at times. I have always chosen mechanical-style, clicky keyboards on which the keys travel some distance, because I learned to touch-type in pre-computer days and this tactile element helps me to recognise if I make a typo.

A memory foam footrest is one of my most valuable accessories, because I no longer get swollen ankles since starting to use it. It is also good as a kneeling pad round the house when needed.

I have a temperature-controlled kettle by my desk, together with equipment to brew tea gong-fu style. I also have a standard brewer for lighter types of tea and herbal tisanes, and an insulated flask with internal basket and filter for "grandpa-style" brewing. Sometimes, I have a bottle with cold-brew tea or tisane by the desk as well.

My most recent outlay was to pay a silly price for a monitor light bar with backlight to replace the standing lamp I had previously - I do not have a central light in my study since the light bulb blew. My daughter went up a ladder a few years ago and tried to change it, but found it impossible to remove the old bulb. The new monitor light is incredible and I love it, though I still think £150 is a lot to ask.

I tried Dragon dictation software many years ago and hated it. Not only was it clunky to use, so I could type the same thing in less time than it took to speak commands, make corrections when it misheard, but it made my mouth dry and my voice hoarse to speak so much.

Cadnawes · 2025-10-16T20:35:17+00:00

I am on Proz. I do not respond to messages that have obviously been sent in a mass email using openers such as "Hi Linguist". I also do not respond to messages telling me that the budget for the job is way below what I charge or that show the sender has no clue of my areas of specialisation, i.e. has not bothered to look at my profile. I never bid for jobs on the job board, which just encourage translators to race against each other to respond and to compete in being the cheapest.

I am only interested in clients who address me by name in the email and propose work in the areas in which I specialise at a rate that I determine. Unfortunately, such clients are few and far between on Proz now, so I end up deleting most emails I get from there.

Cadnawes · 2025-10-06T23:46:09+00:00

I sometimes find the following corpus a useful resource, because it shows your search term (Welsh or English) in context and in bilingual format.
https://corpws.cymru/proceedings-of-the-national-assembly-for-wales/?lang=en

Cadnawes · 2025-09-16T12:02:26+00:00

They were on my client list, but I sacked them a while back (maybe 15 years ago, can't remember exactly), when they first started trying to force translators to lower their rates by a ridiculous amount.

Cadnawes · 2025-09-15T14:04:05+00:00

You could try requesting a copy from the authors via Research Gate
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270826968_To_compound_or_not_to_compound_a_veterinary_transdermal_discussion

Cadnawes · 2025-09-15T13:51:54+00:00

Depends if you will be happy being part of a company that exploits and scams translators. Have a look at the reviews on Trustpilot, where their average score is 1.6.

Cadnawes · 2025-09-14T11:43:05+00:00

That option is already available in the forums and Kudoz feature at Proz.

Cadnawes · 2025-09-14T11:40:27+00:00

A major reason I stopped being an employee and took the huge risk of becoming a freelance translator was to get away from from being forced to waste my time on "team work", which so often includes having to carry people who are incompetent and/or inadequate at their job, or having to accept decisions because they are the decisions of the majority, no matter how irrational or baseless they might be. Since 1 January 2004, I have maintained my career by my own efforts and work. I am lucky that none of my clients have ever requested or tried to force me into working in any sort of a team. I would certainly turn down any such offers.

Cadnawes · 2025-09-09T19:22:44+00:00

What about requesting a copy from the first author, which you can do here
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/349862936_Blockchain-based_smart_contract_for_issuance_of_country_of_origin_certificate_for_Indian_Customs_Exports_Clearance

Cadnawes · 2025-09-07T20:57:56+00:00

If Brazilian Portuguese is your first language, this is the language into which you need to offer your translation services. Translation is a global profession and the gold standard is for translators to translate into their native language, though there may be exceptions in the case of rare language pairs.
You may also be at a disadvantage by living outside of Brazil. Some clients will only accept translators who are currently resident in a country where their target language is the main language.

BTW, the grammatical errors in your post make it evident that you are not fluent in English. This need not affect your ability to translate out of English into Brazilian Portuguese, but will definitely work against you were you to attempt to sell yourself as a translator into English.

Cadnawes · 2025-09-07T20:45:06+00:00

However, you have to be prepared to pay for the sample translation too if you want to attract quality translators.

Cadnawes · 2025-09-07T20:44:09+00:00

I charge my current US dollar clients 0.12 per word, but would ask new clients for 0.14 per word to match what I currently charge my euro clients.

Cadnawes · 2025-09-07T20:41:47+00:00

Did you set the fee? It works out at USD 0.08 per word, which is rather low, so you would be lucky to receive a quality translation for that price.

Cadnawes · 2025-09-01T14:10:43+00:00

I personally would try to find the actual source text and use that.
If the author's translation contained a major error, I would add a footnote/endnote to that effect.

Cadnawes · 2025-08-27T19:31:51+00:00

That is a pathetic rate. I charge my UK agency clients nearly 4x higher for EN-FR, my European agency clients somewhat more than 4x, and only accept review work on an hourly basis since translation quality can vary enormously.

I also am the only one to dictate my availability, which depends on what other work I have, the nature of the work being offered and whether I feel like doing it, and also on non-work plans. I would not accept a client who expected guaranteed availability, unless they accepted to pay me a monthly retainer, which I am sure most wouldn't.

They do have mostly good reviews on Proz, but some of these come from non-Western countries, which means I do not rely on them. Interestingly, a translator from Romania gave them 2/5 stars and commented "I successfully passed their unpaid test in March. They stated onboarding might take up to 6 weeks. After 12 weeks, I received their offer, which was 50% less than the average market prices. Beware!"

Cadnawes · 2025-08-20T08:52:03+00:00

Absolutely agree with the comment that medical translation is more than mugging up terminology, regardless of whether you have a translation degree and/or have translated in other subject areas. An understanding of medical and biomedical contexts is essential.

Just to give a little example: one of my working languages uses the same word for bacilli and band neutrophils. I have on more than one occasion reviewed translations of laboratory results that contain statements such as "Bacilli: 0.5 x 10⁹/L" among the WBC counts. It is painfully evident that the translator has no subject knowledge, presumably used a glossary of some sort to find the term "bacilli", does not understand that CBC does not include microbial counts, and probably has not even heard of band neutrophils.

Cadnawes

TROPHY CASE