Comments on: Seven things I love about being a freelance translator

By: 10 regole e i 7 perchè 7 dell’essere un traduttore freelance… « CSLT – Centro Servizi Linguistici Tigullio

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:37:03 +0000

[...] I 7 vantaggi dell’essere traduttori freelance Categories: Uncategorized Commenti (0) Trackback (0) Lascia un commento Trackback [...]

By: Todd S.

Todd S. — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 20:55:23 +0000

So well put! Thanks for being a translator to my feelings, no pun intended.

By: Ryan Ginstrom

Ryan Ginstrom — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 12:14:55 +0000

@Benny

Thanks for the comment. I looked at your blog — you seem to have turned translation into an interesting life. Let us know how the Esperanto goes.

@Chiara

That’s so cool that you blogged about my post in Italian — thanks! Unfortunately I don’t read Italian very well, but to anyone who does, check out Chiara’s blog: “vale la pena di darci un’occhiata” (to borrow your phrase )

@Conor

I agree, there’s definitely a certain personality type that’s suited to a career as a freelance translator. For those of us who fit, it’s a great life.

I agree with your added benefits as well. It’s great to live in Okinawa and work for Tokyo clients. The ability to fire clients is nice, too. Even if you don’t use the option, it’s great to know it’s there.

I try to avoid burnout by not working myself to death. It can be tempting to put in insane hours when the more you work, the more you earn; but I decided I’d rather live comfortably in good health than live extravagantly and croak at 50.

By: Conor McAuley

Conor McAuley — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 14:20:55 +0000

Great blog! I agree with all of the points. I think you need a certain psychological profile to be a freelance translator: self-motivated; able to handle the stress of deadlines and income worries (at times, August with French clients is slow); able to handle the isolation; be multiskilled (doing everything from marketing to handling complaints to billing to tax returns), and so on.

A couple more points: unlimited worldwide client base (in my combination, anyway); the option of “firing” clients is always quite agreeable — bad/late payers, finicky ones, ones that don’t put their foot down with end clients and end up passing on crazy deadlines to you, etc.

Apparently burn-out happens at some point, but as long as you love your work (which is my case, how many people can say that?), burn-out won’t last long and won’t be permanent.

By: Chiara

Chiara — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 10:53:44 +0000

Hi, I guess you don’t know Italian, so I’m here just to tell you that I’ve quoted your post on my blog saying it’s really interesting. ^^
I hope one day I’ll be able to enjoy these 7 things too (now I’m a little more than a student)!

By: 10 regole e 7 consolazioni « Traduzioni e altre storie

10 regole e 7 consolazioni « Traduzioni e altre storie — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 09:14:37 +0000

[...] I 7 vantaggi dell’essere traduttori freelance [...]

By: Benny Lewis

Benny Lewis — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 19:13:06 +0000

Excellent post!! Thanks @Corinne for referring this page!!
@Ryan you’ve got a new subscriber – excellent blog!
I agree with each point! For me personally, the income is excellent because of earning a normal wage in Euro but (like you) living in cheaper places. I’m currently taking my job with me on the road as I travel to the world’s coolest places
As well as your points (and Judy’s) one big thing for me is job satisfaction. I graduated an Electronic Engineer, but for most of the last 6 years travelling I’ve done random jobs, some of which were great fun, but anyone could do them really. Now I only translate engineering related documents, which is quite specialized and usually interesting. I feel a sense of achievement when I email off the final document.
Also like @Gururaj I have so much more free time, which can be invested in personal projects (I like to make multilingual travel documentary videos for my blog for example). What can I say – it’s the best job I’ve ever had

By: If you want to feel good about your job « Thoughts On Translation

If you want to feel good about your job « Thoughts On Translation — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 18:24:08 +0000

[...] 22, 2008 by Corinne McKay …click on over to Ryan Ginstrom’s post entitled “Seven things I love about being a freelance translator.” Bravo to Ryan for [...]

By: Corinne McKay

Corinne McKay — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 04:30:12 +0000

Ryan, you are so right about all of these! I agree completely on the income front; while I hear many people complain about how impoverished freelancers area and how hard it is to make a living, I earn more than double what I did at my previous full time job (OK, that was teaching high school, not exactly investment banking!) and I generally work a lot less. And I think it’s true that for better or worse, many successful freelancers enjoy being in charge and being self-directed. My husband and I are both freelancers and that is what allowed us to make a similar move to you, from Boston to Colorado, where we are happier, much less stressed and enjoying life!

By: Gururaj

Gururaj — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 02:54:12 +0000

All seven points were spot on! I would add one more – being a freelance translator helps you take up hobbies you always wanted to but never had the time. Since becoming one about 18 years ago, I am actively pursuing: a) competitive swimming (Masters’ competitions); b) Yoga; c) growing an assortment of vegetables; d) playing the keyboard; and e) blogging