So, the first complete year in translation has come to an
end – a chance to take stock of what I’ve learned and achieved and what my aims
are for 2013.
Specialising
Expecting to translate mostly from French and German, it
comes as no surprise that 40% of my work over the last six months has been in
German, but what is surprising is that 30% was in Spanish and 20% in French.
French was the first foreign language I learned and Spanish the third, so
reversing the expectation that I might lose my Spanish proficiency is
fantastic. The remaining 9% of my work was in Dutch, even managing to sneak in my
first professional translation from Catalan.
Over the last 18 months, I’ve found that my talents lie in
marketing translations, so I’m delighted that 21% of my translations have been
in that field, with 19% nautical, 17% business, another 17% technical, 14%
legal and the rest a mix of education, sport, finance and medical, amongst
others. Do forgive the vast generalisation of fields. Experienced translators
would not usually boast about such a diverse spectrum of subjects, as we all
know that specialising is the key. As a relative newbie, however, I find it
useful to gain experience in as many fields as possible, so that I can find what
I enjoy doing most.
Interacting
At the end of 2011, I started using Twitter properly. I
reactivated my dormant account, with only 50 or so followers at the time, and
have since been following other translators, agencies and other people of
linguistic interest to try to get a feel for the industry. I’ve met and engaged
with colleagues, many of whom have been kind enough to help contribute to my
blog. It’s fair to say I’ve stepped up the scope of my posts, making them more
relevant and in-depth – from series about my time living in Toulouse and Alicante to articles asking native speakers of various tongues "Do we respect our own languages?". By far, the most successful and shared post was the
two-part "Mastering without a Master’s" in which six translators revealed their
experiences on going into translation with or without a postgraduate
qualification, with an analysis on whether a post-grad is needed for the
profession.
I’ve also met up with other translators in person in Northumberland
and at the Language Show in London, some of whom I had been conversing with
beforehand on Twitter. This was also a great event in terms of
translation-related seminars on freelancing and using social media.
Branding
There is something about branding myself that I feel
uncomfortable with. I’m an in-house translator, not a freelancer, so have I
really got anything to market? Well, yes. Language
Man was created when I started looking for a translator job in my final
year of my degree. In an attempt to stand out from the crowd, I posted an
extended version of my CV on my website, highlighted my skills and experience,
went into my history with each of my working languages and started blogging
about linguistic issues. But it worked, with my employers specifically
mentioning the value of the website when I was hired.
It seemed a shame to drop this persona/image/front –
whatever you want to call it – that I had created, so I didn’t. Nevertheless, a
couple of months ago, I felt the need for change. Language Man seemed a bit
wide-reaching; as much as I’d like to, I don’t speak every language in the
world. It also came across slightly over-confident. So now I’m much happier having
re-branded as lloydtranslates, in
line with the branding of many freelance translators.
Synopsis
All in all, I’ve had a rather successful year from a
professional point of view. In 2013, I’ll be applying to join the ITI and keeping
up with CPD, through ITI workshops and eCPD webinars. I’ll also be continuing
to use Facebook, Twitter and my blog to keep in tune with the world of
translation, and look forward to sharing news and ideas with you all.
