Poll: For how many years have you been freelancing?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
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Oct 10, 2017

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "For how many years have you been freelancing?".

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Angus Stewart
Angus Stewart  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:13
Member (2011)
French to English
+ ...
6 years Oct 10, 2017

I started translating 6 years ago following a career change and I hope to continue translating well into my twilight years.

 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 22:13
Spanish to English
+ ...
Long enough Oct 10, 2017

Before I got into translation full time, I was a freelance TEFL trainer for several years.

 
Gianluca Marras
Gianluca Marras  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 22:13
English to Italian
15-25 Oct 10, 2017

just started my 16th year

 
Julian Holmes
Julian Holmes  Identity Verified
Japan
Local time: 06:13
Member (2011)
Japanese to English
Over 30 Oct 10, 2017

32, I think, at the last count.
I have enough grey hairs in the beard I'm growing to show for this.

p.s.
Initially, my granddaughter cried profusely whenever she saw the growth on my chin. She's a big three-year-old now and has learnt to tug on it instead of bursting into tears.


 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 21:13
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Freelancing or translating? Oct 10, 2017

I started translating some 40 years ago, first as a freelance (part-time) until 1986, then worked in-house until 2006, when I retired and decided to start freelancing again (full-time). So, I’ve been translating for over 40 years, but my freelance life adds up to about 20 years…

 
Toni Faisal
Toni Faisal  Identity Verified
Indonesia
Local time: 04:13
English to Indonesian
+ ...
started from Q2 of 2014 (proz.com) Oct 10, 2017

But, I started as freelance English private teacher since 2008

 
Mario Chavez (X)
Mario Chavez (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 17:13
English to Spanish
+ ...
Only six years? Oct 10, 2017

Angus Stewart wrote:

I started translating 6 years ago following a career change and I hope to continue translating well into my twilight years.


You're just getting started, Angus! For a young fellow, you'll be translating well after Theresa May is gone from this good earth.




 
Mario Chavez (X)
Mario Chavez (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 17:13
English to Spanish
+ ...
I don't freelance Oct 10, 2017

Technically, I began translating in my teens. I remember pridefully showing a 5-sentence paragraph (translated from Spanish to English) to my English teacher in high school (I was a senior at the time) to let her know that I understood the relationship between the perfect tenses in English, and she dismissed my claim that I had translated. It didn't matter, I had plenty of motivation to go on. That was in 1980 or 1981, I think.

I do not freelance. I have translated part time, pro bo
... See more
Technically, I began translating in my teens. I remember pridefully showing a 5-sentence paragraph (translated from Spanish to English) to my English teacher in high school (I was a senior at the time) to let her know that I understood the relationship between the perfect tenses in English, and she dismissed my claim that I had translated. It didn't matter, I had plenty of motivation to go on. That was in 1980 or 1981, I think.

I do not freelance. I have translated part time, pro bono (for the church I belonged to years ago) and full time, as well as on a project basis over the years. I've read enough articles on freelancing and people's perceptions of the word freelance to persuade me never to use it again.
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Julian Holmes
Julian Holmes  Identity Verified
Japan
Local time: 06:13
Member (2011)
Japanese to English
Agree Oct 10, 2017

Mario Chavez wrote:

I don't freelance...



I'm 'a self-employed translator' and this is what I do for a living. Would you write 'Freelancer' on a government form? The bureaucrats would have a field day asking you to fill in the form again as they tore up what you had written time and time again.


 
R. Alex Jenkins
R. Alex Jenkins  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 18:13
Member (2006)
Portuguese to English
+ ...
10+ Oct 10, 2017

I did my first freelance job in 2003, and went full-time in 2006.

It's been a struggle of ups and downs ever since.


 
Yaotl Altan
Yaotl Altan  Identity Verified
Mexico
Local time: 15:13
Member (2006)
English to Spanish
+ ...
19 Oct 10, 2017

I translate professionally since 1998

 
Muriel Vasconcellos
Muriel Vasconcellos  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 14:13
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
+ ...
30 Oct 11, 2017

Five years moonlighting before I started working as translator for an international organization and 25 years since I decided to say goodbye to my job and become a full-time self-employed translator.

 
Mario Freitas
Mario Freitas  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 18:13
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
30 Oct 11, 2017

But I took a long break from 1991 to 2002, because I lived in a small town, working as a reseller and business owner, which took most of my time and disposition, whre the demand for translation was zero, and where the Internet connection was very bad, so I had no contact with the external world.

 


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Poll: For how many years have you been freelancing?






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