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I have been thinking about increasing my income with some online translation work. Have any of you got any experience with this? I see a lot of places advertised, but wonder at the same time how many of them are scams. Obviously, I don't want to waste my time or energy. Have you got any suggestions?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi, I am new to the forum os of I say something out of place please correct me.

I don't know where you live but to work as a translator, at least here in Europe, you need some sort of authorisation from the government of the country where you live, otherwise your translation won't have any legal validity...

I know that because I lived allover Europe and every time I moved I had to make some "official translator" translate my Academic degrees and I had to waste a lot of money on something that I could have perfectly done it myself  :sad:

The only thing I wanted to say is that the idea isn't bad but its applicability in practice could be difficult...

Cheers

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You could try out either Fiverr or Odesk so you'd at least have the advantage of seeing feedback and ratings for employers, but for this type of job, I imagine there is tons of competition though I'm sure it's very possible to work your way in and build up a reputation.

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You could try out either Fiverr or Odesk so you'd at least have the advantage of seeing feedback and ratings for employers, but for this type of job, I imagine there is tons of competition though I'm sure it's very possible to work your way in and build up a reputation.

Websites like this are probably your best bet, but it's incredibly hard to start earning money. Many translators are perfectly fine with selling their services for a few dollars. With the reputation and rating they have, the customers have no intention of "risking" and paying someone without a rating to do the job.

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Legit online translation jobs are rare, and when they are there they don't pay so well most of the time. I'm trying to get an online translation job as well, found a legit place, but it's hard to get it!  They don't have vacancies open, so it's better to find other places.  I don't know many tho, not many that are legit atleast, but the net is plagued with a lot scams.  Best of luck!

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I think if you're looking for a job as an online-translator, you can sign up on Odesk or Elance. They've got a huge list of home-based job openings one of which is for online translator. I've never tried applying for the same position but I did worked at Odesk and Elance before and it's very convenient when it comes to looking for job, interacting with possible employers and of course the payment system.

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Hi, I am new to the forum os of I say something out of place please correct me.

I don't know where you live but to work as a translator, at least here in Europe, you need some sort of authorisation from the government of the country where you live, otherwise your translation won't have any legal validity...

I know that because I lived allover Europe and every time I moved I had to make some "official translator" translate my Academic degrees and I had to waste a lot of money on something that I could have perfectly done it myself  :sad:

The only thing I wanted to say is that the idea isn't bad but its applicability in practice could be difficult...

Cheers

Thank you very much for your the information. I will investigate my options further. At the moment I am in the middle of completing a course that will enable me to get closer to my goal of becoming a freelance  translator, online and otherwise.

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I think if you're looking for a job as an online-translator, you can sign up on Odesk or Elance. They've got a huge list of home-based job openings one of which is for online translator. I've never tried applying for the same position but I did worked at Odesk and Elance before and it's very convenient when it comes to looking for job, interacting with possible employers and of course the payment system.

Thank you very much, snowfairy, I will have a look at odesk. I don't know about Elance. I think it is only open to residents of the USA. I will check it out. I will be looking for some quality work. There are places that require high quality translations, but they don't like paying for it. That's why I am currently doing a course to get a degree, so that I can charge appropriate fees for my efforts.

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Online translation jobs that are legit and that actually pay you a decent wage are rare. I looked into a few years ago, and came up with nothing. My mom also looked into it and got nothing. One time a friend of hers recommended a site. I forgot the name. My mom signed up but didn't receive any good offers for the work required. So, she left the site. And her friend eventually went on to do something else.

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Elance, as far as I know, is not US only.

I've also been trying to scrap some bucks working from home, and I've had no luck with translation work...

I'm thinking about giving it another shot. I'll post some feedback when I do.

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Have you looked into Amazon's mturk program? I'm not sure if you can do it in your country or not. If you can, the translation HITs definitely pay much more than menial task HITs. I do know that you'll probably have to take a few qualification tests to prove your fluency, but it might be a good place to start!

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ThisMoi, I didn't know there were translation HITs on mturk, that makes me even sadder about the fact that I can't use the site from Italy!

Khyridan: what you say about legal validity is only true about certain types of translations, you don't always need a certification. In Italy, for example, no one stops you from accepting a freelance job online, and I think the rules in the EU are similar.

I can confirm that Elance is not restricted to the US, I'm on the website and I'm in Europe! The problem with all freelancing sites is that it's very very hard to get those first few positive feedback, you have so many wonderfully experienced competitors for the same position, and getting your first jobs there takes time, patience, effort and luck!

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Aside from trying out for the sites mentioned above, you can also try proz.com, but unfortunately, those companies that contact me always require a CV, so I tell them I'm not a professional translator, but I'm very fluent in both languages. Unfortunately, they don't reply anymore after I tell them that.

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I think it's a matter of demand and supply. If it's a popular language like, say, Spanish, they would rather hire someone with a University degree in language translation. If it's a language that not many people speak, then people would be more willing to hire someone that is just fluent in both languages. If you find something worthwhile, let us know!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well, I think the best thing to do is to browse the web and search for websites that are only in the source language, and that you think that they have potential for being translated into your native language. Then contact the website administrator and propose them to translate their website. Show them how their marketshare could increase by having the website in another language. This would help you to build a more direct relationship with the client.

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I've had a go at this and got nowhere.

I think the general-purpose sites like odesk, freelancer, guru etc. are the worst bet. There are specialised sites like translatorscafe and proz where at least there is a community of actual translators.

I don't have any qualifications beyond fluency in two languages. On the two sites I mentioned you can help translate tricky phrases or words in a help forum and so build some status in the group.

That being said, the only job I ever got out of it was a scammer who wanted a small sample translated first, and then vanished, presumably to collate her set of "small samples" fornher actual client. I shudder to think what that looked like!

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  • 1 month later...

Well, I think the best thing to do is to browse the web and search for websites that are only in the source language, and that you think that they have potential for being translated into your native language. Then contact the website administrator and propose them to translate their website. Show them how their marketshare could increase by having the website in another language. This would help you to build a more direct relationship with the client.

this is a truly awesome suggestion! i couldn't think of a better idea to build your reputation as a translator. i mean if what the others said are to be considered, where certification, credentials are highly esteemed and you have none yet, then i'd say translating a website is a good start. if the website is popular, you'll have instant feedback with your competence as a translator. if website's stats increased after offering an alternative language, then i think it's a good sign that people (from your country/similar-language countries) are using the site.

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If you have to pay a registration fee, then it is a scam. There are many translations jobs if you look on a few websites or google. The translators get good pay but you have got to have experience and you have to be fluent in the language to get the chosen job.

It will not allow you to use a web translator and they will not pay you if it is not accurate.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thank you very much, snowfairy, I will have a look at odesk. I don't know about Elance. I think it is only open to residents of the USA. I will check it out. I will be looking for some quality work. There are places that require high quality translations, but they don't like paying for it. That's why I am currently doing a course to get a degree, so that I can charge appropriate fees for my efforts.

That sounds good! The only challenge on these websites is the competition. It's really hard to get the attention of clients nowadays due to lots of people trying out homebased work. Anyway, goodluck on your course and on your translating job hunting!  :wink: :grin:

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I signed up with Elance and there are a great number of translator jobs but also many people that submit for these. It is worth a try and you do get paid for it, as long as you do not translate via internet, you have got to know the language well.

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Online translation jobs that are not scams or that do not under-pay you are definitely rare.

A lot of the legit sites have come and gone over the years. It's a really unstable market for beginners, in my opinion. My advice is to sign up to an online cafe or forum made specifically for translators. This way you'll keep current on legit sites and jobs. They are also great for tips and stuff.

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I have seen some online advertisements about available translation jobs and when I tried checking some, the sites require upfront payment or fees. I doubt if those are legit sites cause if they are offering jobs, that should be for free or they could deduct the fees in your future earnings.

There are also some translation jobs on freelancing sites like oDesk but have not tried applying to those jobs yet.

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