Translation - art & business » Getting established »
Is ES>EN worth it or should I stick to PT?
Thread poster: drake be
drake be
drake be
United States
Jan 8, 2020

Hello all,

This is an account that I've made to test-drive ProZ. I'm currently a college student in the US and who has always had a passion for languages. I took an interpretation course at my university and received some very encouraging feedback from my professors. I'm now exploring a career in translation/interpretation. My specialty would probably be science/medicine/public health since I have an academic background in those fields.

My A is English (US). My B is Fre... See more
Hello all,

This is an account that I've made to test-drive ProZ. I'm currently a college student in the US and who has always had a passion for languages. I took an interpretation course at my university and received some very encouraging feedback from my professors. I'm now exploring a career in translation/interpretation. My specialty would probably be science/medicine/public health since I have an academic background in those fields.

My A is English (US). My B is French (France). And I'm thinking about developing Portuguese or Spanish as a C. I've been studying both independently and have roughly the same proficiency and interest in both.

From what I can see, Spanish to English is very high in-demand — but also very competitive and many professionals come from hispanophone families. Portuguese to English, on the other hand, is a smaller market with an even smaller number of native speakers who study the language.

*All else being equal, would you say that I'd have better career prospects as one of many SP>EN interpreters/translators in a larger market? Or should I stick to Portuguese to have less competition for less work?*

I am looking for any opinions, pieces of advice or even other language pairs (into English) that could be beneficial to a career in language services.

Best,
Drake ▲ Collapse
 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 08:06
Member (2008)
Italian to English
The specialism - not the language pair Jan 8, 2020

What matters is your specialism - not your language pair. In a busy market such as ES-EN you need to differentiate yourself from the others by offering particular expertise in a narrowly-defined sector. Make a niche for yourself and the work will come.


[Edited at 2020-01-08 09:02 GMT]

Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Fiona Grace Peterson
expressisverbis
Jorge Payan
 
Kay Denney
Kay Denney  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 09:06
French to English
. Jan 8, 2020

SP-EN is indeed a very popular language pair, in terms of volume of work and number of translators.
I agree with Tom that the way to stand out in such pairs is to have a specialist subject. You'll need that for FR-EN too, as a similarly crowded pair.

Speaking as a former PM, I was always on the lookout for translators with at least two source languages. I would call on translators every day for FR-EN and only very rarely would need someone for PT-EN. So I liked having someone... See more
SP-EN is indeed a very popular language pair, in terms of volume of work and number of translators.
I agree with Tom that the way to stand out in such pairs is to have a specialist subject. You'll need that for FR-EN too, as a similarly crowded pair.

Speaking as a former PM, I was always on the lookout for translators with at least two source languages. I would call on translators every day for FR-EN and only very rarely would need someone for PT-EN. So I liked having someone who could do both. I would be familiar with the quality of their work in FR-EN and could readily trust them with PT-EN. It was a whole lot more comfortable than having to find someone new, especially given that I don't speak PT and thus couldn't check the translation for accuracy.
You'll probably find that you need to specialise less in PT. Meaning that you'll be asked to translate a weirder, wider range of subjects. ▲ Collapse


Jorge Payan
 


To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator:

Moderator(s) of this forum
Jorge Rodrigues[Call to this topic]
Rita Pang[Call to this topic]
James Heppe-Smith[Call to this topic]

You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request »

Is ES>EN worth it or should I stick to PT?







Anycount & Translation Office 3000
Translation Office 3000

Translation Office 3000 is an advanced accounting tool for freelance translators and small agencies. TO3000 easily and seamlessly integrates with the business life of professional freelance translators.

More info »
Protemos translation business management system
Create your account in minutes, and start working! 3-month trial for agencies, and free for freelancers!

The system lets you keep client/vendor database, with contacts and rates, manage projects and assign jobs to vendors, issue invoices, track payments, store and manage project files, generate business reports on turnover profit per client/manager etc.

More info »