I want to be a part-time English translator. How should I start?

Sharp tools make good work. It is suggested that he take the CATTI 2 translation certificate before taking a part-time job, so as to sharpen the knife and not miss the woodcutter.

Generally speaking, professional translation must meet at least the following conditions or equivalent to the following translation level:

MTI (Master of Translation) +CATTI 2 (Second-level Translation Certificate of Ministry of Personnel)+more than 2 million words of translation experience.

In the above situation, the monthly income is generally more than 8000 yuan; The corresponding unit price is 80- 100 yuan/thousand Chinese.

Professional intermediate translators generally have been engaged in professional translation for more than 5 years, with translation experience of about 5 million, which is lower than the level of full-time translation for 3-4 years after graduation from master of translation. In this case, the monthly income is generally around 12000. For example, my current level is probably such income (work place: Ji 'an County, Jiangxi Province, work nature: English translation (freelance translation));

Let's talk about the unit price you care about first:

Only CATTI 2 or those who barely pass the exam are generally classified as primary professional translators, and the unit price is 80- 100 yuan/thousand words (this is the price received from the translation company, and if it is a direct customer, the unit price is generally doubled);

If the above requirements for intermediate translation are met, the unit price in Japanese translation is generally11kloc-0/30 yuan/thousands of Chinese, which doubles the market price of direct customers;

At present, the unit price given to me by the cooperative translation company is about: English translation 180-200 yuan/Qianzi, Chinese translation 120- 150 yuan/Qianzi. On this basis, direct customers should increase the price or double it, and the hourly income of normal translation for one day ranges from 60-80 yuan.

The translation market is mixed, and the level of translators is mixed, so the unit price in the market is relatively normal, ranging from 30 to 2000 words. These prices have been done by some people, and high-end people can rarely do it, and the unit price is also very high. Basically, one word is more expensive, and the gap is very large. Some translators have no manuscripts at all, so it is difficult to survive. Some have high translation level and fast translation speed. The monthly income is basically stable above 15000 or even above 20000. Do a good job. If you want to earn a high income as a translator, you have no choice but to improve your competitiveness and translation level, and then raise the unit price!

One more thing, study the commonly used translation software of online translation platforms such as Trados, WordFast, Passolo, Tag Editor and SDLX. This era is the information age, and you can improve the efficiency and effect of translation with the help of artificial intelligence and databases. As a basic quality of professional translation, if you don't master it well, you will soon be eliminated. Unless your translation level is already very high, you only need to do more than 1000 words every day, you can get considerable income and have a normal career.

Of course, if you just want to get some pocket money, forget what I said above. It's hard and slow to do translation with this mentality. It is not worth the loss to spend a lot of time in exchange for meager income and delay your work and career. If you really want to be a translator, sharpening your knife and cutting wood by mistake, I suggest you lay a good foundation first, take the CATTI 2 exam seriously, and then learn the translation software, the professional terms and background knowledge of the direction you want to conquer (law, machinery, chemical industry, IT, geology, medicine, materials, military, etc. );