Freelance translation is a growing profession today. However, succeeding in this industry isn’t as easy as it may appear. You’re required to have the right knowledge, skills and be someone who works very hard. Remember that translation is a difficult skill that requires a lot of patience and effort. Freelance translating is a highly rewarding profession provided that you understand what’s expected of you. Below are some top qualities that a good freelance translator should possess:
- Passion for different languages
If you want to become a great online translator, you must have a passion for different languages. Lack of passion for other languages will destroy your overall output and quality. If you’ve got passion, you can quickly learn more and more languages.
- Research skills
A good freelance translator should be ready and willing to engage in research. Remember that learning a different language isn’t something that you’ll know overnight. You must spend time trying to understand various aspects. Although most clients provide some notes for guidance to the online translators, you should perform extra research so that you can translate the work accurately and with the required quality.
- Good interpersonal skills
A great freelance translator should have excellent communication skills. A translator is also a communicator. You should therefore have positive interactions with all your clients so that you can build your reputation. Remember that poor relationship can harm your brand, and that’s why being polite and friendly is recommended.
- Self-discipline
In other words, this means being able to control yourself in terms of how you work and meet your deadlines. Freelance jobs for translators don’t have a clocking in and out like many other jobs. A great online translator should have a schedule and stick to it.
- Native speaker
To become a high quality and consistent online translator, you don’t only need to study a language. A non native language speaker may face difficulty when conveying a message, for instance, regional dialects, slang words. This generally affects the final output.
- Ability to say no
In essence, this is a quality that a good freelance translator should possess, especially in instances where the work given seems to be complicated. The ability to say no comes handy with the project management skills. Don’t be just after money because you’ll end destroying your reputation. Never take too much work that will make you miss the deadline. Also, a lot of work can lead to a poor quality translation.
- Specialization
If you want to become a successful freelance translator, it’s essential to specialize in a particular field. Choose your specialization depending on your area of interest and passion. If you specialize in a specific field, you’ll learn more and become more proficient in translation. For instance, if you have an interest in the medical field, you’ll understand the working of a human body, diseases, pharmaceutical products which you can translate to other languages accurately and without any difficulties.
In conclusion, these are the top qualities that a good freelance translator should possess. If you want connections to worldwide clients, consider using the The Online Publishers TOP platform.
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