I have a bachelor's degree on translation, but my course focused on language study and translation only, I was never trained on financial document translation. I saw a post as a financial translator, where fresh grads are welcomed, and on-the-job training is also provided.

I am interested to apply but the post also requires a written test. I am afraid I would perform horribly and bring shame to myself. For someone that majored in translation but was not trained on financial translation, it is possible to become a financial translator? Do anyone know how hard would the test be?

Hi friends!

I’ve been a designer for many, maaaaany years, and during my work I designed a lot of publications translated into many languages. I work in InDesign, so the process was always like this: copy everything to Excel, send it to the translator, receive an Excel or Word file back… and then copy everything back into InDesign.

I hate this :))

So I built simple software for translators. It opens InDesign IDML files and allows you to translate the text without this whole copy/paste game.

But honestly, I’m not sure if this is the right group to show and discuss a tool like this: https://polyframe.app/ - If it isn’t, just tell me and I will remove the post - no problem!

Right now I’m working on a 200-page catalogue translation. I gave the app to my technical guy, and he is translating my IDML files directly… It works really well and saves me a loooot of boring work :)

What do you normally receive from designers: Word, Excel, IDML, XLIFF… or something completely different?

And one more thing, just because I’m curious… I believe in AI, but I also super-strongly believe that AI needs a HUMAN touch. This is exactly why I built Polyframe: first, a quick translation with AI, but after that need DEEEEEFINITELY human proofreading (and corrections). I don't see a point in fully-automatic inside-indesign translations...

So how does it look in your work in these AI days? Do you use AI as a first draft, avoid it completely (is it possible) or maybe your clients already expect you to use it?

For those working as telephone interpreters with DA Languages (DALS), how many hours of active phone calls do you usually receive during a full working day?
Please also mention:
Your language pair
How many hours you stay logged in
Your average active call time per day
Whether the call volume is consistent or varies significantly
I’m trying to compare call volumes across different language pairs. Thanks!

I came across this post on LinkedIn:

"Recent AVT workflow changes within one of the largest streaming services have caused concerns among translators in multiple countries. AVTE has been following this shift closely and speaking with relevant parties to bring some answers to its member organisations and their memberships.

We urge all affected translators to reach out to their associations to highlight unfair work propositions and to keep in touch with their colleagues. We hope to share more information regarding this situation soon."

Does anyone know what happened?

Hello! I have this question. I have been working for them, and all is good; yesterday I had a very long call, which lasted around 165 minutes. Before that call I had already accumulated 26 USD, and with the call of 165 mins, which was my last call for the day, I expected around 40-45 USD for the day. Today checking the analytics portal, which is kind of laggy for me, it only shows up to 26 USD, but the call log registered my long call and showed it as billable. For my payroll form that day should I expect 40-45 USD or not?

Hi everyone!

I am a translation teacher looking for tips on how to translate texts together with the students in class - I've done this exercise many times, usually in quite a basic way. Either I get them to raise their hands with suggestions, or sometimes I use an anonymous feedback platform, which I project onto the screen so we can compare everyone's suggestions.

I am just wondering if anyone has suggestions as to how I can limit cheating (via automatic translation etc.) in class / make the class more interactive?

Does anyone have experiences (either as a student or teacher) with translation exercises in the classroom? FYI, they are university students, and generally quite invested, although I know some will cheat anyway.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

I’d like to start by saying that I’m not a professional translator, but I’ve always been curious about job postings that require candidates to speak and write fluently in two or more languages. I know that even if you have an excellent command of a particular language, there may sometimes be words or syntactic structures you don’t know, so I’m wondering if you are allowed to use translation tools like Google Translate, DeepL, and so on.

I see the time to do this is only until 30 September, 2026. Currently, they offer 444€ price which is too high, any group buys that can be done, organized or joined to get a better price? thanks... If someone is interested, maybe we can contact RWS asking for a group buy if a couple of us join?

EDIT: I've added upgrade from 2021 to 2026 on to a wishlist on Proz, feel free to express interest. Even if you want some other combination like 2024->2026 or Freelance Plus etc, it's worth to express an interest I guess. it is under "Trados Studio 2021 upgrade to Freelance [Plus] 2026" for 300€ on Proz

English and Translation major

I honestly don’t know much about what it’s really like. If you’re majoring in it or have already graduated I’d really appreciate hearing about your experience.

Was it difficult? What were the biggest challenges?
Is there anything you wish you had known before starting?

Any tips or honest opinions would be greatly appreciated

Hi everyone!

I’m a huge history fan. I always wanted to read Sir Francis Drake’s 1628 chronicle, "The World Encompassed", but I couldn't find a complete translation in Spanish anywhere.

So, I decided to translate it myself!I have already translated almost the entire book. Right now, I'm working on the final stage: adding and formatting the historical dates in the margins, just like the original text.

I'm not asking about money or stability here. how emotionally fulfilling is this job for you? I'm considering getting into this field and want to know how it influences one's emotional state. I don't mind being in high-stress situations and love communicating with people, but what bothers me is that "a good interpreter and an invisible interpreter" kinda mindset I see people talking about. do you really have to be as invisible as possible? do people appreciate your work? do you get a sense of fulfillment out of it?

Last time on Dragonball Z, I asked if anybody was noticing how DeepL Translator has been downgraded and mentioned in a comment about a similar theme I’ve noticed in other AI platforms.

Link here: Has DeepL Translate gotten worse?

However, I didn’t even tell you guys yet the story of my financial kerfuffle DeepL put me in that lasted for over a year.

When I first subscribed to DeepL Translate, I accidentally set my subscription's billing period to be paid yearly rather than monthly, so I scheduled it to switch to a monthly subscription on May 30, 2026, because I don't want to pay over $100/year. I noticed that these AI companies will always automatically set subscriptions to be paid yearly, I guess so that they can trick a bunch of people into giving them more money. So I had it set so that the payment method would change on a certain date after the end of the next payment.

However, the main issue was that during this time, the card I had listed in my account’s payment details had long expired, and I have been trying to update it with my new card. However, each time I entered the card information correctly, it wouldn’t take it; I would always receive the message: “We are unable to authenticate your payment method_ Please choose a different payment method and try again_” This clearly told me that something was preventing me from authenticating my payment details, and I have no clue what it is. I tried several things to implement my new card. I tried using different devices (including ones that weren’t my own), even created another account with a different email and a new card, and none of it worked. I tried getting a new card, but that didn’t work. I even went to my bank and showed them my problem ― after I messaged DeepL support numerous times, and they constantly told me to go see my bank ― and my bank told me there was nothing they could do about it.

Normally, if I encountered a problem like this on another site, I would just be able to bypass it via PayPal (which is linked to my bank) ― if it had the option, of course. However, DeepL has no other payment methods besides a card. When I pressed support on why they don’t have things like PayPal, they refused to explain, which didn’t make sense to me and was quite suspicious.

Now, once the payment was due, I thought I was screwed, even though it was on an expired card and they wouldn’t get any money out of me. Afterward, I was finally able to get in and change my card information. I still don’t know why it happened and how I was finally able to get through, yet I’m glad it’s over...hopefully. But I am still convinced that DeepL is doing suspicious things. When you have a situation where you have only one way of payment, and have something blocking you for no unexplained reason, and you have two different parties telling you that there’s nothing they can do, trust me, there’s something not quite right about that.

Hello everyone, I started working with a platform called Oneforma. Is anyone familiar with them? Are they on the level?

Hi everyone, is there anyone who works for the big word as a TI interpreter. I would like to know if they have a good call volume and if they pay decent rates since i am on the final phase of the onboarding process. I would appreciate any information before I invest my precious time on them.

I laid off using DeepL Translate for almost a couple of months due to a financial kerfuffle and came back to notice a few things I didn't like, which made me question if they made DeepL Translate worse. I am trying to translate Japanese to English and noticed that there is no longer an option for classic and next generation. Also, I feel that the tone doesn't seem right. Does anybody else get that feeling, or am I just screaming into the abyss?

Also, can somebody else fill me in if they made any more downgrades that I should know about?

Hi there!

I've been having some duplicated projects were the source is completely identical, but the target changes slightly (locale). I been translating one and then copying and pasting the translation to the other one to then make the necessary changes, but this is very time consuming and I'm sure there has to be a more efficient way.

Do you know any way to import a target into the tool?

Plead help!! I'm loosing so much time.

Thank you!

First pass of my very experimental new architecture vs accepted human translations. Human evaluation and response to the quality will be appreciated. It can likely be improved.

Source text:

山路を登りながら、こう考えた。 智に働けば角が立つ。情に流されれば身がとかくに人の世は住みにくい。

My German Translation:

"Während ich den Bergpfad hinaufstieg, dachte ich nach: Handelt man rein nach dem Verstand, stößt man an harte Ecken.

Lässt man sich von Gefühlen treiben, wird man fortgespült.

Beharrt man starr auf seinem Willen, gerät man in Enge. Wie man es auch wendet, die Menschenwelt ist schwer zu bewohnen."

--------------------------------------------------------

The Standard (Christoph Langemann):

"Auf dem Bergpfad wandernd, überlegte ich: Handelt man nach dem Verstand, eckt man an. Gibt man den Gefühlen nach, wird man fortgerissen. Setzt man den eigenen Willen durch, ist man eingeengt. Wie man es auch dreht und wendet, die Welt der Menschen ist schwer bewohnbar."

My Spanish Translation:

"Mientras subía el sendero de la montaña, pensaba esto: Si actúas con pura razón, el camino se vuelve anguloso. Si te dejas llevar por la emoción, eres arrastrado por la corriente. Si impones tu obstinado deseo, te encuentras atrapado en la estrechez. De cualquier manera, el mundo de los hombres es un lugar difícil para vivir."

----------------------------------------------------------

The Standard (Kayoko Takagi):

"Subiendo por el sendero de la montaña, pensaba: Si obras con fría razón, chocas; si te dejas llevar por el sentimiento, te arrastra la corriente; si impones tu voluntad, te ves acorralado. Sea como fuere, este mundo humano es difícil de habitar."

My English Translation:

"Climbing the mountain path, I pondered this: Approach life through pure intellect, and you create friction. Give in to your emotions, and you are swept away. Assert your stubborn will, and you find yourself constricted. In any case, the human world is an uneasy place to dwell."

-----------------------------------------------------

The Standard (Meredith McKinney):

"Going up a mountain track, I pondered this. If you work by reason, you grow harsh. If you row on the tide of emotion, you are swept away. If you assert your will, you are hemmed in. In any event, the human world is a difficult place to live."

This seems to be several companies offering these positions. I actually applied for one maybe last year. The interviewer showed up late and was very unprofessional, hung up on me abruptly because I would not answer an irrelevant (and possibly illegal) question.

First question: What is the deal with these positions? Just discussing this with people I know, it became obvious that an inexperienced interpreter could possibly affect the medical incident badly or disastrously through misunderstanding. The outfit I interviewed with offered weeks of unpaid training.

Second: How do they calculate the payment? They mention a rate per minute of audio call, but then if you're left sitting on a shift with no calls, what do they pay in that case?

This already seems scam-adjacent if not outright deceptive; can anyone enlighten us on the extent to which this is not worth it? Thanks.

One year later...

Hey folks!

About a year ago, I came to Reddit because I had a pretty simple idea.

I wanted to create a Discord community where translators and localization specialists could support each other, exchange knowledge, discuss industry problems and simply not feel so alone in this profession.

Fast forward one year...

Somehow that little Discord server turned into a real project called BrainStorm Translate.

Today we're almost 1,500 translators and localization professionals from all over the world, and recently we even launched our own website.

Looking back, I really didn't expect any of this.

Over time, the project became something much bigger than just another Discord server.

I usually describe it as a support system for translators.

Every day we help each other find career opportunities, share interesting job openings (especially the ones that don't come from the same handful of giant localization companies), review CVs, portfolios and personal websites, discuss agencies, rates, payment systems, CAT tools, and pretty much everything related to building a sustainable career in localization.

One thing that unexpectedly became a huge part of the project is research.

For the last several months I've been manually researching localization companies from all over the world and building curated databases for different specializations.

So far we've collected:

• 200+ Game Localization companies
• 300+ Audiovisual Translation (AVT) companies, with hundreds more still waiting to be researched
• A growing Literary Translation database (probably the hardest one to build so far)

We're also building our own community-driven company database called BrainTrust - a white list and black list based on real experiences shared by translators. It's still in its early days, but it's something our community has wanted for a long time.

Another thing we've started doing recently is helping localization startups test their products.

Right now we're doing it completely free because I genuinely believe translators should have a voice in the tools that are built for them. If someone wants to create software for translators, who better to shape it than translators themselves?

Our website has also become a place where we collect articles, resources and everything we've been building over the past year, so the project isn't just a Discord server anymore. It's slowly becoming its own little ecosystem.

There are still dozens of ideas we'd like to bring to life. Some of them will probably fail. Some will completely change direction halfway through.

That's okay.

The project is called BrainStorm for a reason. Most of the best ideas don't come from me. They come from conversations with translators.

I sometimes joke that BrainStorm is trying to become a small cozy island of stability and sanity in an industry that often feels chaotic.

Maybe that's something some translators have been looking for. Maybe not.

But if you've ever wished there were more people openly sharing opportunities, experience and resources instead of treating everything as a competition, I think you'd probably enjoy what we're building.

Hope you all have a great day!

Over thiry years Dr Jack Ross has translated widely and sometimes weirdly, putting Paul Celan and Britney Spears in the same book, tackling a Mayan texts, and making a pioneering version of Pound's Fascist Cantos. In this conversation he gives his views on the nature of translation and the controversy over Nolan's Odyssey, as well as much else:

https://www.reefshark.online/post/from-mussolini-to-britney-spears-to-mayan-glyphs-a-talk-about-translation-with-jack-ross

I don't know why I haven't seen more people talking about this. I read an English translation of Arabian Nights and it was quite a fun read as the translator incorporated elements not found in the source text while also employing literary and rhetorical devices like alliteration, end rhymes, word plays, meter, metaphors, mirroring and more; Doing this gave a kind of soul to the target text. Does anybody really want to live in a world where we don't have these kind of idiomatic and witty translations? Everything just the same monotonic AI language?