| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Poll: Are you happy as a language professional? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Are you happy as a language professional?".
This poll was originally submitted by Murad AWAD. View the poll results »
| | | | Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 11:06
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
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Professionally, I couldn't be happier. I adore my work and I enjoy the ultimate freedom you have as a freelancer. It's one of the reasons why I am prepared to adapt to the changing translation environment. If I will live through the near end of human translation, then I at least want to be among the last survivors.
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 11:06
Spanish to English
+ ...
At my age, I'd be silly if I wasn't. I just wish I was better at the admin side of things.
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My “employer” loves me and I love what I do. Anyway, I've reached a point in my working life where I only take work that makes me happy. As long as I am healthy enough and my clients, old and new, keep coming for more, I’ll continue working on what I love…
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First and foremost, I love working as a human translator. However, this is also part of my daily struggle nowadays - while I absolutely do not object to reviewing and editing human translations, it feels downright degrading to edit the raw output of a machine translation engine, which - let's be honest - leaves A LOT to be desired in most cases. Granted, they rarely, if ever, produce misspellings, but the intricacies of a machine translation going haywire over one short hiccup and then producing... See more First and foremost, I love working as a human translator. However, this is also part of my daily struggle nowadays - while I absolutely do not object to reviewing and editing human translations, it feels downright degrading to edit the raw output of a machine translation engine, which - let's be honest - leaves A LOT to be desired in most cases. Granted, they rarely, if ever, produce misspellings, but the intricacies of a machine translation going haywire over one short hiccup and then producing complete gibberish because of that are absolutely not worthy of the deductions clients have come to expect from us. Also, yes, DeepL is awesome for the few languages it supports, but most clients use inferior engines for whatever reasons. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Thomas Lof
Local time: 11:06
Member (2020)
English to Dutch
+ ...
| MT and AI are killing | Nov 10, 2023 |
I have stopped working for MT and MTPE jobs with technical translations. It's beyond any reasonable quality. And quite some agencies support those full hearted and dare to offer you a fee of 2 eu-cts per word. And MTPE takes so much more time than a flesh-and-blood translation. And I discover that certain environment even steal your style and wording and present them as high fuzzies...How to kill a business... Even Proz supports these developments by asking money for 'seminars' how to cope with ... See more I have stopped working for MT and MTPE jobs with technical translations. It's beyond any reasonable quality. And quite some agencies support those full hearted and dare to offer you a fee of 2 eu-cts per word. And MTPE takes so much more time than a flesh-and-blood translation. And I discover that certain environment even steal your style and wording and present them as high fuzzies...How to kill a business... Even Proz supports these developments by asking money for 'seminars' how to cope with it. Stop these developments! ▲ Collapse
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Not sure how to interpret this.
Not as happy as I am when not being a language professional.
Not as happy as I used to be.
Not as happy as I would be if things were better than they are.
Not as happy as I should be, thanks to niggling worries about the impact of MT and AI.
Not as happy as I might be as a football player or a secret agent.
But mostly happy.
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Thomas Lof wrote:
Even Proz supports these developments by asking money for 'seminars' how to cope with it. Stop these developments!
It's not like ProZ has been on "our" side in the past years. Those pitiful rates you will find in job postings more often than not? ProZ lets them slide with the "justification" that they are not there to moderate rates. Meanwhile, TranslatorsCafe will remove anything below USD 0.05/word (if reported of course), no questions asked.
[Edited at 2023-11-10 14:24 GMT]
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| Define happy | Nov 10, 2023 |
I'm interested in hearing great stories from people who for whatever reason seem to just be having the best of times: love what they do and earn an above average income to enjoy their life or at least feed and/or raise a family without any problems.
Let's hear it
I'm not so much interested in hobby or part-time translators who have no problem providing translations for rates that are absolutely low and unprofessional.
But I'm sure there aren't any around at all?!
<... See more I'm interested in hearing great stories from people who for whatever reason seem to just be having the best of times: love what they do and earn an above average income to enjoy their life or at least feed and/or raise a family without any problems.
Let's hear it
I'm not so much interested in hobby or part-time translators who have no problem providing translations for rates that are absolutely low and unprofessional.
But I'm sure there aren't any around at all?!
[Edited at 2023-11-10 18:06 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Not great but a story | Nov 10, 2023 |
Bernhard Sulzer wrote:
I'm interested in hearing great stories from people who for whatever reason seem to just be having the best of times: love what they do and earn an above average income to enjoy their life or at least feed and/or raise a family without any problems.
Let's hear it
I can't give you a "great" story, but I have every reason to be happy with my job:
- I enjoy translating and have no lack of work
- Pay is good
- I receive a pension, so work is optional
- I translate IT>EN, which puts me at an (undeserved) advantage: since I only (97%) work with direct clients, where would my clients turn to if they didn't want to work with me? How would they find someone else, without going to a non-native speaker or trying pot-luck with an agency? There are IT>EN translators out there - many better than me - but how would my clients find them? An Italian working in Italy has a really tough time, far tougher than anything I have to face.
I live in a country that I love, I eat and drink as well as any Italian, I live by the sea in a town that (with Agrigento) is considered to have the best climate in Italy, and I go swimming every day of the year. Translating allowed me to raise a family - my son is coming down tomorrow, bringing not just two bicycles, for me and my wife, but also his wife and our grandson... I could go on, but life is good and I wouldn't change it, even though I'm certainly not rich and problems do arise. I also realise that I'm very lucky, a) for what I've got, b) for the undeserved advantages life has given me, and c) for the fact that I won't be around when the profession dies off almost entirely.
Simon
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I am very happy as a language professional. Because I love this profession. It gives me immense joy and satisfaction.
| | | | Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 11:06
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
+ ...
Bernhard Sulzer wrote:
I'm not so much interested in hobby or part-time translators who have no problem providing translations for rates that are absolutely low and unprofessional.
But I'm sure there aren't any around at all?!
[Edited at 2023-11-10 18:06 GMT]
I think it would be a good idea if Proz members would be forced to mention in their profile if they work parttime (after their 'normal' job) or fulltime. They are different worlds that just can't be compared, with completely different dynamics.
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Lieven Malaise wrote:
I think it would be a good idea if Proz members would be forced to mention in their profile if they work parttime (after their 'normal' job) or fulltime. They are different worlds that just can't be compared, with completely different dynamics.
Why?
| | | | Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 11:06
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
+ ...
Christopher Schröder wrote:
Why?
For the sake of relevant discussions and relevant polls. For example, if you are discussing low or high rates with someone, that only would be relevant if you are both in the same situation (parttime or fulltime). I would never start or intervene in a discussion about rates if I would now for certain that a person doesn't work fulltime, like I do. Different worlds, useless discussions. The same applies to polls. Depending on the subject, they are already half worthless, just because of the simple fact that they are answered both by parttimers and fulltimers.
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Lieven Malaise wrote:
Christopher Schröder wrote:
Why?
For the sake of relevant discussions and relevant polls. For example, if you are discussing low or high rates with someone, that only would be relevant if you are both in the same situation (parttime or fulltime). I would never start or intervene in a discussion about rates if I would now for certain that a person doesn't work fulltime, like I do. Different worlds, useless discussions. The same applies to polls. Depending on the subject, they are already half worthless, just because of the simple fact that they are answered both by parttimers and fulltimers.
OK. I understand your point but there’s no reason why part-timers should be less professional or serious, or their views any less relevant. We’re all different.
Troublesome as their existence might be to some, bottom feeders have a right to be here too, surely?
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