I'd like feedback on my Hub: Starting a Career as an On-line Translator

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   dacklinposted 9 years ago

   Hi Hubbers,
   
   I'd like some help with passing the Quality Assessment Process. Will you please give feedback on my Hub Starting a Career as an On-line Translator (must be signed in to view). What can I do to improve? Thanks!
   
   First I was told that I should remove a link, I did that and then they declined it with no reason why.

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      theraggededgeposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      The link is still there. Your hub will be viewed as overly promotional. Presumably that's your own site? Oh I checked - you are answering comments so it is your own (that's a horrible pop-up you have there). HubPages is not a place for promoting your business anymore.
      
      The hub is okay, though it ends on quite a negative note. Doesn't feel very encouraging but I can't quite explain why.
      
      Unless you intend on writing interesting and helpful articles, HP is probably not the right platform for you.

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2. 81

   WriteAngledposted 9 years ago

   As someone who has been a successful full-time freelance translator since the start of 2004, I consider myself qualified to comment.
   
   You are not providing any solid advice, presumably trying to get people to buy your book instead. There are numerous web resources for translators, including job sites, some better, some worse. You do not mention a single one. You also do not mention CAT tools, which are pretty well mandatory in most fields of translation.
   
   You are factually inaccurate in speaking of needing an "understanding" of the target language. Now that the translation industry is globalised, all respectable agencies insist that the translator is a native speaker of the target language. Some will only consider translators who live in the country where the target language is spoken. The only exceptions are for extremely rare language combinations and/or very obscure technical areas when it is impossible to find anyone meeting those criteria.
   
   Finally, your comments on payment are laughable!
   You say:
   "What can I make as a Work-at-Home Translator?
   This varies greatly based on experience and field. The many people I have talked to say that an initial goal of $10-$12 per hour is realistic."
   
   When I first started moonlighting with translation work in 2001, I was already earning at least three times that amount. Since then, I have increased my rates by more than the rate of inflation on several occasions. To suggest people undercut the currently accepted translation rates by that amount is ludicrous. Anyone who takes your advice will find themselves working for the worst, most unprofessional, bottom-feeding agencies!

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   dacklinposted 9 years ago

   First of all, its not my book.  I was just told it was a good book.  I have no financial interest in the book.
   Second, I had a link to a whole list of sites for translators and was told to remove it.
   I specfically said EXCELLENT understanding of the target language, as a translator you should have been able to see that extra word.
   Also, I never suggested that people undercut currently accepted rates.  The rates I quoted were for people just starting out on feelance sites in order to gain feedback and ratings.
   
   I was under the impression that these forums were for constructive criticism, not angry ravings.  Next time get your facts straight before you start making accusations.

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      WriteAngledposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      You said: "First of all, its not my book.  I was just told it was a good book.  I have no financial interest in the book.
      Second, I had a link to a whole list of sites for translators and was told to remove it."
      
      My comment: "Told it was a good book"... so you have not read it?
      Also, you would need to discuss specific sites individually and say why they are useful, not link to a list of sites.
      
      You said: "I specfically said EXCELLENT understanding of the target language, as a translator you should have been able to see that extra word."
      
      My comment: I can see all your words, and I am telling you that the accepted norm these days is for the translator to be a NATIVE SPEAKER of the language. "Excellent" understanding of the target language by a non-native speaker of that language is not good enough. I see this regularly when I am asked to review and correct translations.
      
      You said: "Also, I never suggested that people undercut currently accepted rates.  The rates I quoted were for people just starting out on feelance sites in order to gain feedback and ratings."
      
      My comment: Well, I never undersold myself from the word go, never bothered about "feedback" nor "ratings", nor did I use dodgy freelance sites like fiverr or elance, but instead created a profile on a fairly reputable site for translators, where I set my rates to match the median rates for my language pairs. I had my first client within days, who came back for more very quickly. Others followed soon after. I dithered for three years whether to leave my full-time (non-translator job), but then did some calculations and found I could easily match my salary or more, so went full-time freelance. The rates you suggest would not make it worth my while to turn on the computer! Anyone with the least competence as a translator should from the start be charging about $40/hour for editing/proofing or $120 per 1000 words translation.
      
      You said: "I was under the impression that these forums were for constructive criticism, not angry ravings.  Next time get your facts straight before you start making accusations."
      
      My comment: My facts are totally straight and I am speaking from 15 years unbroken experience as a translator, of which 12 years are as a full-time freelance, during which I am earning well over the average wage for the region where I live. If anyone is raving, it is you in your response to my daring to say that your hub gives no useful information whatsoever.
      I'm wondering whether you are even a translator at all...

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         calculus-geometryposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         You're wasting your time arguing.  Look at his profile, there's a link to his website and it's about making money online. Looking at a few pages of his site it appears to repeat the same hoary advice about making money online that's been circulating since 2009. Medical coding. Taking surveys. Writing on Hubpages, lol.
         
         That should tell you all you need to know about his online translation expertise.

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            marylen34posted 9 years agoin reply to this

            hi there, I am new to hugpages, I thought, we are allowed to post a link to our website? it looks like I have one in my profile page., just curious. thanks

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   Jesse Drzalposted 9 years ago

   dacklin, just a quick word of friendly advice..don't get upset if you ask for advice in the forums and do not like what you hear. People are going to give their honest feelings, unfiltered. And really, that's not a bad thing. Use it to your advantage.

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   dacklinposted 9 years ago

   I was expecting constructive criticism, not attacks.  I thought it would be fun to post some stuff here.  I have no desire to make money from hub pages, nor from my own site.  Most sites like these have people who honestly want to help others, not pounce on them and attack their work.  I won't be bothering with this forum anymore.  I have better things to do with my time.
   
   By the way, the hub was approved with no changes to the content so all of your suggestions were useless.
   
   Theraggededge, thank you for your advice.  I will keep that in mind in the future.
   
   Jesse, thank you for your comment, I will keep that in mind.  I jus assumed people on this site would b more professional and mature.
   
   Calculus, my site is still just starting, I haven't been ranked it with Google yet.  The content is just filler to get the pages organized.  If you don't like it stay away.
   
   Don't bother throwing anymore messages to my as I won't return to the forums

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      psycheskinnerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      That was construstive, and expert, criticism.
      
      And this is a for profit site, nothing wrong with being here to make money.  This is, however, something wrong with offering advice that, no matter how nicely meant, is flawed because you are not actually an practising expert on the subject.  I suggest you correct it as advised by someone who is.

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      calculus-geometryposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Just out of curiosity, if you don't actually work from home as a translator, why are you writing an article about how to do it?  HP is moving away from articles written by people who have no expertise or experience in the topics they are writing about. Read the latest announcement about spinning off new sites with hand-picked articles.  Non-experts are doomed. I have nothing against you and your website that gives people outdated and generic advice about how to make money online, just passing along info that might prevent you from wasting your time here..
      
      By the way, your article is published, but it isn't featured.  That means HP puts a meta tag in the header that tells search engines not to index it. 
      
      ho-hum carry on.

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