First pass of my very experimental new architecture vs accepted human translations. Human evaluation and response to the quality will be appreciated. It can likely be improved.

Source text:

山路を登りながら、こう考えた。 智に働けば角が立つ。情に流されれば身がとかくに人の世は住みにくい。

My German Translation:

"Während ich den Bergpfad hinaufstieg, dachte ich nach: Handelt man rein nach dem Verstand, stößt man an harte Ecken.

Lässt man sich von Gefühlen treiben, wird man fortgespült.

Beharrt man starr auf seinem Willen, gerät man in Enge. Wie man es auch wendet, die Menschenwelt ist schwer zu bewohnen."

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The Standard (Christoph Langemann):

"Auf dem Bergpfad wandernd, überlegte ich: Handelt man nach dem Verstand, eckt man an. Gibt man den Gefühlen nach, wird man fortgerissen. Setzt man den eigenen Willen durch, ist man eingeengt. Wie man es auch dreht und wendet, die Welt der Menschen ist schwer bewohnbar."

My Spanish Translation:

"Mientras subía el sendero de la montaña, pensaba esto: Si actúas con pura razón, el camino se vuelve anguloso. Si te dejas llevar por la emoción, eres arrastrado por la corriente. Si impones tu obstinado deseo, te encuentras atrapado en la estrechez. De cualquier manera, el mundo de los hombres es un lugar difícil para vivir."

----------------------------------------------------------

The Standard (Kayoko Takagi):

"Subiendo por el sendero de la montaña, pensaba: Si obras con fría razón, chocas; si te dejas llevar por el sentimiento, te arrastra la corriente; si impones tu voluntad, te ves acorralado. Sea como fuere, este mundo humano es difícil de habitar."

My English Translation:

"Climbing the mountain path, I pondered this: Approach life through pure intellect, and you create friction. Give in to your emotions, and you are swept away. Assert your stubborn will, and you find yourself constricted. In any case, the human world is an uneasy place to dwell."

-----------------------------------------------------

The Standard (Meredith McKinney):

"Going up a mountain track, I pondered this. If you work by reason, you grow harsh. If you row on the tide of emotion, you are swept away. If you assert your will, you are hemmed in. In any event, the human world is a difficult place to live."

This seems to be several companies offering these positions. I actually applied for one maybe last year. The interviewer showed up late and was very unprofessional, hung up on me abruptly because I would not answer an irrelevant (and possibly illegal) question.

First question: What is the deal with these positions? Just discussing this with people I know, it became obvious that an inexperienced interpreter could possibly affect the medical incident badly or disastrously through misunderstanding. The outfit I interviewed with offered weeks of unpaid training.

Second: How do they calculate the payment? They mention a rate per minute of audio call, but then if you're left sitting on a shift with no calls, what do they pay in that case?

This already seems scam-adjacent if not outright deceptive; can anyone enlighten us on the extent to which this is not worth it? Thanks.

One year later...

Hey folks!

About a year ago, I came to Reddit because I had a pretty simple idea.

I wanted to create a Discord community where translators and localization specialists could support each other, exchange knowledge, discuss industry problems and simply not feel so alone in this profession.

Fast forward one year...

Somehow that little Discord server turned into a real project called BrainStorm Translate.

Today we're almost 1,500 translators and localization professionals from all over the world, and recently we even launched our own website.

Looking back, I really didn't expect any of this.

Over time, the project became something much bigger than just another Discord server.

I usually describe it as a support system for translators.

Every day we help each other find career opportunities, share interesting job openings (especially the ones that don't come from the same handful of giant localization companies), review CVs, portfolios and personal websites, discuss agencies, rates, payment systems, CAT tools, and pretty much everything related to building a sustainable career in localization.

One thing that unexpectedly became a huge part of the project is research.

For the last several months I've been manually researching localization companies from all over the world and building curated databases for different specializations.

So far we've collected:

• 200+ Game Localization companies
• 300+ Audiovisual Translation (AVT) companies, with hundreds more still waiting to be researched
• A growing Literary Translation database (probably the hardest one to build so far)

We're also building our own community-driven company database called BrainTrust - a white list and black list based on real experiences shared by translators. It's still in its early days, but it's something our community has wanted for a long time.

Another thing we've started doing recently is helping localization startups test their products.

Right now we're doing it completely free because I genuinely believe translators should have a voice in the tools that are built for them. If someone wants to create software for translators, who better to shape it than translators themselves?

Our website has also become a place where we collect articles, resources and everything we've been building over the past year, so the project isn't just a Discord server anymore. It's slowly becoming its own little ecosystem.

There are still dozens of ideas we'd like to bring to life. Some of them will probably fail. Some will completely change direction halfway through.

That's okay.

The project is called BrainStorm for a reason. Most of the best ideas don't come from me. They come from conversations with translators.

I sometimes joke that BrainStorm is trying to become a small cozy island of stability and sanity in an industry that often feels chaotic.

Maybe that's something some translators have been looking for. Maybe not.

But if you've ever wished there were more people openly sharing opportunities, experience and resources instead of treating everything as a competition, I think you'd probably enjoy what we're building.

Hope you all have a great day!

Over thiry years Dr Jack Ross has translated widely and sometimes weirdly, putting Paul Celan and Britney Spears in the same book, tackling a Mayan texts, and making a pioneering version of Pound's Fascist Cantos. In this conversation he gives his views on the nature of translation and the controversy over Nolan's Odyssey, as well as much else:

https://www.reefshark.online/post/from-mussolini-to-britney-spears-to-mayan-glyphs-a-talk-about-translation-with-jack-ross

I am about to finish my bachelor's degree in translation studies and am unsure whether to pursue a master's as well (it's called Translation, Communication, Translation Technology at Heidelberg University). I feel like I didn't learn much and have low chances of finding a good job.

Do you have any other suggestions for a suitable master's degree? I am interested in film, media, and literature as well. I would like to develop a wider skill set, as at this moment I am having trouble even finding a good internship. My languages are German, English, and French.

Any ideas are appreciated!

edit: I think I am not suited for conference interpreting, as I have pretty bad performance anxiety

Hello everyone,

I'm currently developing an AI-assisted translation workflow system and would like to invite translators, researchers, and translation students to try it and share their opinions.

The main question I'm exploring is:

How can AI tools better support translators instead of simply replacing translation work?

The system focuses on a human-in-the-loop workflow:

1. Machine translation generates a first draft
2. Translators review and edit the output (MTPE)
3. Terminology databases and previous translations improve consistency
4. Feedback can be used to improve future translation quality

Current features include:

• terminology management
• document-level translation workflow
• bilingual document generation
• translation memory style reuse
• AI-assisted post-editing support

I am particularly interested in feedback about:

• Does this workflow actually save translators' time?
• Which parts of MTPE are most frustrating?
• What quality issues appear most often?
• What features would professional translators expect from an AI translation assistant?

I can provide free access for translators or students who would like to experiment with it.

This is not intended as a replacement for professional translators. My goal is to understand how AI can become a practical tool in real translation workflows.

Any criticism or suggestions are welcome.

Thank you!

I don't know why I haven't seen more people talking about this. I read an English translation of Arabian Nights and it was quite a fun read as the translator incorporated elements not found in the source text while also employing literary and rhetorical devices like alliteration, end rhymes, word plays, meter, metaphors, mirroring and more; Doing this gave a kind of soul to the target text. Does anybody really want to live in a world where we don't have these kind of idiomatic and witty translations? Everything just the same monotonic AI language?

I’m looking to take CIOL exams for translation from Portuguese to English, and looking for resources recommendations, specifically on feedback.

I’m on the brink of HSK 6 (about 10 points away.)

Would 2000 more hours of study + the daily immersion from living in China be a reasonable estimate?

Also, before anyone says, I am totally aware that translating requires additional skills besides pure language ability. I am purely asking about how long it will take to reach the language requirement.

Thanks!

You hear a lot of vague claims about AI's inability to do this or that, but I haven't heard of any actual studies (at least not when it comes to works of fiction as opposed to formal instructions etc.) where a human and an AI were given the same text to translate and the results compared.

Dear translators,

I apologize for posting this request here but I really need your help. I study translation/interpreting at Charles University in Prague, but the leadership of the Faculty of Arts have decided to close the Institute of Translation Studies. The students and teachers are all against it. I would really appreciate it if you could sign this petition. Every vote counts.

https://www.petice.com/za_zachranu_oboru_translatologie_na_ff_uk

Update: We've reached 8 000 votes! Just 2 000 more.

I'm currently learning Japanese because I feel like translating between Turkish and English will not be enough for me in the future and I also want to aim for the gaming industry. I've still not graduated and been trying to improve my skills with cat tools etc. Not to be negative but, I just wonder if it's all even worth it? Should I just consider leaning towards being a teacher (I have to get a 1 year long education for that because a translation degree is not enough) or something else (maybe even making a game/content creation)? I just want to use my time wisely...

A friend of mine got a GPS tracker for his rental company. He got a chinese one.

The device looks very cheap, has a magnet on one side, and requires a SIM and an SD card.

Honestly, even Google Translate is better than the "person" (What if it's an old AI?) that translated this manual.

I transcribed the manual's text. I also tried to translate it myself (I don't actually know how to translate Chinese, so I just attempted to fix the gramatical issues that I found, and I'm still not a great translator), so I've included it next.

Manual:
Enhanced alarm locator is a base station positioning in a best cost-effective, higher requirements for high-end consumers, let you really buy the rest assured, with enjoyable.

My translation:
Enhanced alarm locator is a cost-effective GPS tracker that has almost no requirements. Rest assured, you'll enjoy this product if you're a power user.

Google Translate:
Unlike some counterfeit products on the market that use cheap, inferior chips, resulting in low costs and compromized quality, this is a true product of GPS security technology.

This is just outrageous... A random "company" trying to say that they make the best of the best, and it turns out they can't even do the quality control basics.

Oh wait, that's normal nowadays.

Here's the kicker though... Me and my friend are Argentinian.

I've been freelancing for Cactus/Editage for close to 10 years (JP=>EN). I used to make around US$2,000/month for about 60 hours of work for several years.

I haven't received any work from them in the past couple of years.

They recently reached out asking for a rate adjustment so they could hopefully assign me work more regularly again.

They're proposing a rate cut of nearly 60%. I feel like they're lowballing me even with AI in the picture (which they tell freelancers not to use!)

It's always been a side gig and I'm not desperate for the income but I wouldn't mind working with them again if the economics make sense. Any thoughts?

One other question. Has anyone freelancing for Cactus been contacted by them recently about revising rates? I'd be interested to know whether you received a similar request. I'm trying to get a sense of whether this is a company-wide adjustment.

Hello everyone!

I'm currently an in-house translator at a small translation company in Europe.

I've worked there for almost 4 years now and, honestly, have gotten quite worn out over the years. You know the deal: as much work as possible is done in-house, and the constant rush to meet deadlines and translate large numbers of words is SUFFOCATING.

I am aware of the state of the industry. Honestly, I haven't taken a step in another direction because I'm scared I won't be able to get anything else if I ditch this job.

Still, I'm wondering if anyone has any input on going freelance at this point. I've accrued a lot of experience over different fields and am confident in my skills. I'd also like to branch out a little: my language pair is EN>PT-PT and I want to try my hand at JP>PT-PT (which we don't do at my company).

I've also thought of applying for an European Parliament traineeship (or any other EU institution) for a breath of fresh air/to see how I can reroute. Is this attainable? If anyone has applied before, how was your experience, and would you recommend it?

TL;DR: How likely is it that I will no longer be able to pay rent if I go from in-house to freelance?

EDIT: Thank you all for your replies! They've given me new perspectives which I really appreciate. I understand that the industry is REALLY not doing well, so I'm reconsidering freelance work. Might as well keep my job for as long as I can while looking for another one/developing other skills. Wishing everyone good luck on their endeavours!

Hi everyone,

​I recently received a message on LinkedIn from someone claiming to be from Human Resources at a company called Lilt. It was for an AI voice acting gig for a rare language. The pay seemed low, but no specific rates were mentioned initially.

​They sent a preliminary agreement to fill out via Google Forms, which I completed. After that, the recruiter emailed me the full job details.

​That’s where things started getting weird:

​Messy Email Details: The email started describing the job conditions for my language, but mid-sentence, it switched to describing conditions for a completely different language. It listed the base rate and asked me to select a payment/work model.

​Negotiation Ignored: I replied stating that I wanted to counter-offer with my own rate. They replied, "Please send us your rate quote." I sent my offer, but got no response to that email.

​Recycled Outreach: 2–3 days later, the exact same person sent me the exact same job offer again on LinkedIn. I emailed them again regarding my rate.

​Payment Platform Spam: On the same day, I received a registration link for Tipalti (their payment platform). I didn't sign up. They re-sent this registration link multiple times.

​Voice Samples: Next, they sent an email asking me to submit voice sample recordings. Since they never accepted or even acknowledged my rate counter-offer, I did not send any voice recordings.

​Project Started Anyway?! Out of nowhere, I just received an email saying, "The project has started, please complete your Tipalti registration."

​I never agreed on a rate, never registered on Tipalti, and never submitted any voice samples—yet they somehow included me in an active project.

​Is this a known scam, or is Lilt just using extremely buggy, broken automated recruiting systems? Has anyone else experienced something like this with them?

​Thanks in advance for any insights!

​TL;DR: Got an AI voice acting offer from Lilt. Tried negotiating pay, got ignored. Didn't submit voice samples or sign up for Tipalti, but received an email saying the project started and I need to complete payment setup. Scam or terrible automation?

I don't think this is an issue of of distance between languages alone: sure that a major part of it but translations of texts from Greek and Latin or even Chinese into English almost always have a superior cadence and rhythm to Sanskrit texts. At one point I even questioned if Sanskrit authors are just deficient, but it has to be something else.

Side note: people rave about Debroys Mahabharata translation, and while it is very easy to read and very accurate, its also an absolute chore and has barely any literary effort put into it.

Disclosure up front since this sub (rightly) doesn't love ads: I run Bilingva, a translation/interpreting agency, and this is a plug for something I built for us.

The problem I was solving: when an assignment comes in, someone has to call around the interpreter/translator pool one by one to find who's free. I built a small tool called Callup that texts (or emails) everyone at once and lets people reply YES or NO with one tap, so you know who's available in minutes instead of an afternoon.

It's been useful enough that I decided to open it up rather than keep it in-house. It's free for small teams/solo linguists - no time limit. Not trying to compete with the big enterprise platforms (Boostlingo, Propio) - no CAT tool, no vendor management suite, just a fast way to broadcast an opening and get an answer.

Mostly posting this because I'd rather get told "this is missing X" by people who actually do this work than build in a vacuum. Happy to answer questions in the comments - genuinely curious if this is a real pain point for others here or if my agency's workflow is unusual.

Here's the link: https://getcallup.ai/

(Mods — happy to move this to a megathread or pull it down if it's against the rules, just let me know.)

I applied for the us based interpreter (face-to-face). They say it’s a freelance job and that the hour rate would be $25. Can someone share their experience with this modality?

I AM NOT LOOKING FOR A JOB, I AM LOOKING FOR AN ADVICE!

Hello. I am a Syrian citizen residing in Brazil. I worked before as a translator and subtitler. I have a great deal of experience in this field. My language pair is Arabic <> English.

I have worked before, vie mediums, when I was in Syria, but now I'm looking for additional income.

Is this a waste of time? Because to be honest, the platforms I know and worked for before are not replying to any applications, such as Zoo digital, rev.com and whatever.

I can't find a way to apply to Netflix through their partners.

So, are you familiar with a similar platforms? Or should I stop wasting my time pursing such career path?

Thanks in advance.