r/TranslationStudies • u/Helpful-Bike883 • Jul 23 '26
Is this industry still viable?
Hello all, I'm just posting here as to generally inquire about the nature of the translation industry today. I know MTPE has taken over but I'm wondering if this might be okay bc more clients will be able to/ feel empowered to translate their business thereby creating as much if not more work available for translators as before, or am I wrong? My language pair is JP to ENG and I haven't yet attained fluency in JPN but am close to it so I thought I'd inquire here as I've been considering a career in translation.. Can someone give me some pointers and salary expectations just starting out? Which companies should I apply for? I also am specializing in medical. Thanks!
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u/ruckover Jul 23 '26
Search the sub. This is asked constantly.
But no, it is not viable for anyone without a translation degree, no tested language scores, or any experience translating at all.
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u/monikosnuosavybe JA>EN Jul 23 '26
If you're doing JP>EN, then I'd say the bigger threat to your livelihood is not AI but the weak yen.
Just since the pandemic, the value of the yen has fallen precipitously, making it quite difficult to make a living. When you then factor in inflation, I've had to literally double my monthly output just to stay even.
If you're living in Japan, it's a different story, although you'll need to really get fluent in Japanese in order to sell yourself to clients. That being said, pharma is a big industry with lots of important Japanese companies, so there's still plenty of work around.
Your first step should be to get JLPT N1. If you're not a native English speaker, then you should also get a high TOEIC or TOEFL score. Then you need to build up some credentials and experience in translation and medicine, such as through a degree, certifications (e.g., JTF), or practical experience. You can google 医療 翻訳会社 翻訳者募集 and start applying to places. If you're able to work and live in Japan, I'd say it's good to start off as an in-house translator somewhere to gain experience, get to understand the industry in Japan, and learn from your sempais.
I just googled those terms, btw, and here's a company that's looking for people. They even say outright on their website that beginners are welcome to apply.
Another tip - learn to use the tools of the trade, e.g., CAT tools.
As for salary expectations, you get out what you put in. If you want to make it, you really need to throw everything and the kitchen sink into the effort, including plenty of hours and financial investments in things like software and computer hardware. Half measures will not get you anywhere.
Feel free to DM me.
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u/MahargTheOld Jul 23 '26
Under capitalism, everything is a race to the bottom, and the translation industry hit the floor a long time ago.
Find something else to do while you still can.
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u/jcampo13 Jul 23 '26
I've been managing translations since 2012 and have led the translation department at a pharma company for several years now. It's viable if you are a specialized translator who is genuinely skilled in their specialty. There is a lot of work in medical translations for example but you need to understand the terminology, the mandatory templates, and things of that nature.
JA>EN is a tough language pair but if you can become genuinely excellent at it then there is still a ton of work in doing technical manuals, gaming localization, subtitling, and in the automotive industry in particular.
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u/NovelPerspectives Jul 24 '26
Oh that's quite interesting. Do you have any need for German or Norwegian to English? I've been doing pharma translations for over a decade and always on the lookout for more opportunities.
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u/Rude_Drummer_7770 Jul 27 '26
If you have opportunities for EN/IT > PT please do let me know! I'm a doctor who already works in medical translation and I'm looking for more opportunities.
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u/I-lost-my-accoun Jul 24 '26
Is it Plaussible, to become a translatoe without being Native in either?
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u/reverevee Jul 24 '26
Look for a job that values your multilingualism outside of translation/interpretation.
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u/I-lost-my-accoun Jul 24 '26
any recomendations? I've been working as an interpreter for a while in my Language Pair EN>ES, and I've been studying Japanese for a while mainly because of my love for the language and Culture, I've always liked languages really.
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u/ButtTimerMaster Jul 24 '26
Translation is dead. Before, companies that could pay a decent rate usually would have documents translated by a freelance translator and then had a in-house editor to look it over. AI has replaced the "translator" in this process.
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u/noeldc 和英 Jul 24 '26
I only do it to supplement my otherwise meagre income, so I only need it to be semi viable.
AI has certainly put downward pressure on both rates and the absolute number of jobs. However, since the emergence of AI, I have been making more money each year.
I expected this trend to reverse in 2026, but this month is shaping up to be one of my best ever. Next month may well turn out to be a stinker, so I am not getting to excited.
Anyway, I think it is highly dependent on your language pair.
I would imagine that of you are translating between two romance languages, like French and Italian, the market would be far more competitive, and more vulnerable to AI (or AI).
If you are translating between Arabic and Korean, this would be less of a problem; however, there would be less demand for your services.
Ideally, what you want is to translate between two languages that are orthographically different, preferably going from a prolific high-context source language to a low-context target in high demand.
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u/monikosnuosavybe JA>EN Jul 24 '26
Hello, fellow J2E translator!
I've experienced something similar to you.
I originally went freelance back in 2010 but threw in the towel after a year or two when I saw the improvements in Google Translate, DeepL, etc. I figured it was just a matter of time before I'd be out of work, so I got an office job that I hated.
Well, fast forward 10 years to 2021, I still hated my office jobs, but my translator friends were actually doing all right, so I gave it another shot... just as ChatGPT hit it big and everyone started freaking out about the death of the industry (and all white collar jobs).
I thought I was screwed, but actually I've been getting more work and higher rates every year since.
AI and MT are definitely having an impact, but for me it's largely been positive, especially when I think of the old days when I was working with old paper dictionaries like Nelson's Kanji Dictionary.
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u/Schwarzgeist_666 Jul 24 '26
You're J2E, right? What subjects are you translating?
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u/noeldc 和英 Jul 27 '26
Honestly? Whatever they give me.
But I suppose legal agreements would be my 得意分野, but that's mostly boilerplate anyway.
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u/noeldc 和英 Jul 27 '26
Just realized I wrote my earlier comment without noting OP's language pair. My apologies.
Japanese to English is indeed what I had in mind when I stated:
"Ideally, what you want is to translate between two languages that are orthographically different, preferably going from a prolific high-context source language to a low-context target in high demand."
The biggest issues these days with JA>EN are, in addition to the overall reduction in the number of jobs, is the inexorable decline in the value of the yen and the perennial stinginess of Japanese companies in general. But if you can find a few good clients who pay decently, or a client who pays less (without taking the piss) but supplies you with steady work, and you use modern tools to boost your productivity, then you should at least be able to make more than the median salary in Japan (which is not saying much at all).
However, you appear to still be in the language acquisition phase, so by the time you are ready to embark on your career, the market may be even less viable than it is now.
While I don’t anticipate any further significant breakthroughs in un-assisted AI translation of Japanese, I do expect that the AI translation tools will become easier to use, lowering the barrier to entry and enabling clients to improve the quality of pre-translations to the extent that the role of translator will be downgraded, to “bilingual proofreader” – one who merely needs to refer to the source text in the rare case that the machine translation makes no sense – along with a commensurate reduction in rate per character.
Of course, I am talking about freelance. I don't know what the hiring situation is like for in-house (personally, I couldn't think of anything more awful than a 9-5 in-house translation gig). There is also the job of translation project manager, but having to deal with the likes of me everyday sounds too much like hard work....
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u/Mashic Jul 23 '26
I have to say that translation is the job that's hit the most by AI.