Elena Kravichenko, English/German to Ukrainian/Russian translator, tells BeWords more about her thoughts on translation.

Dear readers please feel free to react and discuss/comment on this interview (here on the blog)

1. Could you kindly tell us and our readers about your personal and professional background in a few words? 

I actually started my translator’s and interpreter’s career path when I was about 15 years old. I used to translate excursions for foreign visitors of our town. I also made different translations for my and parents' friends. Though “formally" I started working as a translator in 2006, when I was already a student of the Translation department in a technical university. Since that time I've been working as a communications manager, technical translator, localization QA and technical writer.

2. Tell us please a bit more about your current professional situation and status. What does it feel to be independent and what are the associated advantages and limits?

Currently I'm an in-house translator. I've also been working as an independent translator, and judging from my experience can say that being independent translator is actually a great feeling,  as you realize that you are in charge of yourself, you work the way you like it and the way you think it right, you become more self-organized, as you feel absolute responsibility for yourself. Though what you lack if you are a totally independent  freelance translator is a real, not virtual communication and involvement in the real translation life. Of course, many  independent translators still visit specialized conferences, participate in translation events. But many of them do not, and I think it is not right, as one stops to develop professionally to some extent.  

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Mathieu Marechal, Bewords CEO,  talks about his experience as a Founder and the early stage of development of a platform like Bewords.com.

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The early stage of the development.

The development of the platform was more difficult than we expected. One reason was our low experience, limited budget and wishes to provide everything from the day one of the opening (I must say that we failed in this goal). 

The second reason was that we also had to drive the development of our translation company at the same time…and as we are neither hundreds of people on the team, nor even dozensof collaborators, the load of daily work is far more than 35h per week.  

Many of what are called "details" (I would say hassle…) appeared very quickly. This is the drawback of wishing to do everything by ourselves…due to our limited budget and a bit also by "pride", will of controlling everything and building a strong and real asset (depending on any SAS solution, external code, etc.). 

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Mathieu Marechal, Bewords CEO,  talks about his experience as a Founder and the early stage of development of a platform like Bewords.com

Dear Readers, please fell free to react and discuss/comment on this article (here on the blog)

Genesis.

It is always difficult to identify the very beginning of an idea or innovation. Thinking back to the time when we first started talking and brainstorming about BeWords, I believe that two main observations came to us: the first was the value chain of the translation business. The second was our experience as language service providers (as a translation agency in other words) and the difficulties we had to face everyday for every scattered quotation request, one-shot customers (with limited budgets, etc.).

Let me come back to the first observation: typically, the value chain is organised as follows: Customer  translation agencies independent translators. 

Translation agencies have the capacity, experience and tools to manage multilingual translation projects, deal with multi-format files or data, and to insure the final quality of the translation (by basically providing proofreading carried out by a second translator). Basically it’s a “unique provider” which is capable to help customers in “great need”. 

And they also have the power, tools and processes to market/sell their services and find customers. 

But, and this "but" is according to me the key, two trends that can be observed are: 1 – crowd translation, which is the translation by the fans or the community 2 – Internet and the capacity of a single translator (or any expert), based "where ever he/she likes" to be visible and to be reachable by any prospect (anyone can contact/work with anyone else). 

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Laura Février, French/Portuguese/English to Romannian translator, tells Bewords more about her thoughts on translation.

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1. Could you kindly tell us and our readers about your personal and professional background in a few words?

As I have always had a knack for foreign languages, I studied philology in Bucharest, Romania and in 2004 I started to work as an in-house translator and consultant for culture and education at the Embassy of Portugal in Bucharest. After a while, not being able to choose between my passion for translation and teaching, I decided to take on a job as a teacher of Portuguese at the University of Bucharest (2006-2010), while at the same time working as a freelance translator

2. Tell us please a bit more about your current professional situation and status. What does it feel to be independent and what are the associated advantages and limits?

At present, I am a full-time freelancer, translating from Portuguese, French and English into Romanian. I enjoy the liberty of being able to choose when, how much and with whom to work, although I sometimes wish I had the security and steady workflow of an in-house job. On the other hand, I believe that being independent and well organized allows me to be more flexible and enjoy the time I spend with my family.

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Eniko Jano, English/Italian to Hungarian & Romanian translator, tells Bewords more about his thoughts on translation.

Dear readers please feel free to react and discuss/comment on this interview (here on the blog) 

1. Could you kindly tell us and our readers about your personal and professional background in a few words?

Italian citizen for marriage, Italian residency, 12 years experience of teaching English and Hungarian languages, as well as translating and interpreting from and to these languages. 7 years experience of translating technical, general, commercial, IT documents from Italian, English to Hungarian.

2. Tell us please a bit more about your current professional situation and status. What does it feel to be independent and what are the associated advantages and limits?

I am a freelance translator and Interprete, my working languages are: English, Italian and Hungarian. When you are independent you schedules are more flexible, working with an association it is more comfortable to find clients.

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Diana Rhudick, French & Spanish to English translator, tells Bewords more about her thoughts on translation.

Dear readers, please fell free to react and discuss/comment on this interview (here on the blog)

1. Could you kindly tell us and our readers about your personal and professional background in a few words? 

I am a native speaker of English with a Master’s degree in translation from the Monterey Institute of International Studies. I have been a translator of French and Spanish commercial texts for 23 years, both in-house and freelance.

2. Tell us please a bit more about your current professional situation and status. What does it feel like to be independent and what are the associated advantages and limits?

My volume of work was negatively affected by the economic crisis beginning in 2008 and is slowly picking up. The main disadvantage to freelance work is that you have to make constant efforts to find new clients. However, I much prefer the freedom of working how and when I want rather than having to work in someone else’s office.

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Rafa Lombardino, Portuguese to English & English to Portuguese translator, tells Bewords more about her thoughts on translation.

 Dear readers, please feel free to react and discuss/comment on this interview (here on the blog)!

1. Could you kindly tell us and our readers about your personal and professional background in a few words?

I started working as a freelance translator back in 1997, when my day job was teaching English to young kids, teenagers, and adults. Three years late, while I was in college pursuing a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism, I started working with a professor who was also a professional translator. That's when I realized that translating was a viable career path.

2. What does it feel to be independent and what are the associated advantages and limits?

I currently work at Word Awareness, Inc., a small network of professional translators established in Southern California. I'm the founder and director, which gives me a lot of freedom as to whom I'll be working with, since we only collaborate with translators we really trust. The best part is that we were able to become a cohesive team that acts as language consultants to help our clients achieve their goals. The only limitations in our current setup is that, since we're a small group, we can only take so much volume, but this limitation is good in a sense that we provide quality services as opposed to worrying about quantity and hiring anyone despite their qualifications just to secure a large contract.

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I am a self-educated freelance translator English – Dutch (both directions). After years of telesales and credit management activities I decided it was time for a change and I emigrated to the South of France, thinking that it wouldn’t be difficult to find a job  since I had done so before when I emigrated to Ireland, and ended up utilising my language skills to earn a living as a freelance translator

2. Tell us please a bit more about your current professional situation and status. What does it feel to be independent and what are the associated advantages and limits?

I am a auto-entrepreneur and I intend to stay that as long as possible (it is a French statute for small entrepreneurs without employees, with various benefits and limitations). I really took a plunge into the unknown when I set up shop, but for the first time in my life I decide which work I do – major stress reducing factor! The limitations are that one is never certain of what lies ahead, but with an increasing client base that uncertainty gradually fades.

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Marguerite Storm, English & Dutch to French translator, tells Bewords more about her thoughts on translation.

Dear readers, please feel free to react and discuss/comment on this interview (here on the blog)!

1. Could you kindly tell us and our readers about your personal and professional background in a few words?

I am a 59-year old Belgian citizen living in the US since 1996. My native language is French. I grew up in Belgium and came to the US to marry my high school sweetheart I had met while a foreign exchange student in Amarillo, Texas. We reconnected after 24 years.

I have been a freelance translator for 11 years and enjoy a wide variety of translation areas (finance, business, arts, pharmaceutical, cooking, tourism, history, etc.). I have a degree in Journalism. We live in Montana and I love working from home while watching the mountain and wildlife through my window. My hobbies include skiing, hiking, camping, knitting, and spending time with my children and grandchildren.

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