I just stumbled across this great blog post by Sarah Dillon Translation Services in the archives and I agree wholeheartedly with all points made! Heres an excerpt: Translator mailing lists are full of discussions about low rates, unqualified colleagues, unreasonable clients and unrealistic deadlines. (And when I say discussions, I mean complaints.) Theres nothing wrong with letting off a little steam from time to time, but I usually avoid these kinds of threads like the plague. What more can be gained from yet another indignant rant about how everyone else is doing everything wrong all of the time? [...] I prefer to focus on what other translators do well, to understand the nitty-gritty of their successes so I can think about how I might apply these techniques to how I do things. There are SO many translators who produce good quality work and earn a good living, without recourse to long hours, unethical practices or nervous breakdowns. The problem is we rarely hear about them - and why should we? They are busy doing what they do well and they dont need to blow their own trumpets. If we truly want to raise standards in the industry, these are precisely the kinds of professionals we need to highlight.
Posted on: Fri, 11 Jul 2014 06:56:32 +0000