What Does a Teenage Translator do?
A translator will translate pieces of writing for a website or company from one language to another. Most likely, you’ll be working for a website that needs their content translated into another language to suit more customers. So, you will be handed a piece of writing, and then you will have to translate it into another language without losing any meaning. Your translation must be extremely accurate, and not have any errors. Since you will be working with 2 languages at once, it’s good to be fluent in both languages and to know a couple of other languages to maximize the amount of jobs you can find and take on.
How Much Does a Teenage Translator Get Paid?
As a translator just getting started, you can expect to earn just right around $10-$15 per hour. The biggest issue with becoming a translator is that you might not know a second language to translate. If you don’t know a language to translate, then you must learn a language to be able to become a translator. Learning a language takes a lot of time and will take a lot of work. And you can’t just have some knowledge of the language; you need to completely master the language. If you already know a second language, this will not be a big problem for you, but if you don’t, you’ll have to learn one. Even though it is a time-consuming activity, it will be worth it. In the future, knowing a second language will be great for your resume.
How Can I Get Started as a Teenage Translator?
- Before you begin, you’ll want to learn the language that you want to translate, if you haven’t already. It may seem like this will take a long time to learn a language, but with some dedicated time every day, you can learn the language you want to translate. To be a professional translator, you must be completely fluent in both languages that you are translating. A good way to learn a new language is to take electives in your middle school or high school and pay as much attention as possible. Another good idea is to download an app called Duolingo. Duolingo has many language courses available that have mini-courses to make learning more efficient and more enjoyable for everyone. Use Duolingo as much as possible for 6-12 months to perfect your understanding of the language you are translating and the language that you are translating to.
- Now that you’ve gotten education, you’ll want to get your certification that you know the language. You can do this Duolingo Language Certification. These official certifications can be uploaded onto your online profile that will be shown in the next step. A certification proves that you actually have complete knowledge of the language. You can also do other tests to validate your understanding, but for most companies this will be enough.
- Once you’ve gotten your certification, you can now find a job. The best way for translators is to become a freelancer. To become a freelancer, you can create an account on Upwork. Upwork is a place where there are websites in need of translators and on yhe website you can find jobs, apply to the jobs, and also get paid. Upwork also has tests that you can take to test your subject proficiency, which will automatically be saved into your profile. Next, find a job and apply. If you don’t land your first few jobs, don’t be discouraged and keep trying.
- Congrats, you’re officially a teenage translator. It may have taken you a long time to learn a language, but now you have a certification in another language too. Not only will this help you be a translator, but it can raise your wage in the future as well. Learning a language will benefit you in the future, and it is going to be smooth sailing from now on. But you must bear with the harsh times, and you’ll have a great career.
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Helpful Resources
- Upwork.com: This is the website you can use to find translation jobs once you’ve completed your certifications.
- DuoLingo: This is the phone app you can use to train yourself and better understand the specific language you want to focus on.
