Hi everyone! Glad to join the crew. I've been teaching ESL here in Madrid for about a year, but I'm interested in dabbling in translation. The problem is, I don't even know where to begin! I have a Bachelor and Master's degree in Spanish and I did a course in Translation a couple of years ago. Would it be beneficial to do another course here or is it possible to enter the sector without any �recent�practice? Thanks in advance for your help!

Hello,

In infoempleo.es if you look under translator, there are two jobs posted for Spanish to English translation.

Good luck!

hi SUZY Q, welcome to the group :cheers: so glad you decided to join our little community. have not seen ya in a while (since that middlebury party).

wow, i can so relate to your situation. i also have a bachelor and master's degree (from middlebury as you know) in spanish but i never did a course in translation (thought about it but never took the initiative).

when i first moved to madrid was teaching english and i decide to give translations a go.

it is hard to get big clients yourself as a freelance translator but you can work on a per translation basis for translation companies all over spain.

since everything is done via internet, there are no boundaries to this type of work

what i did way back in the day was send my c.v., made up quite a bit of translation gigs as i had not much experience (yeah right, like you guys never lied on a c.v. ) to all the translation companies i could find in the yellow pages, business directories, etc...

i ended up getting quite a bit of work and was even translating conan o'brien and jay leno scripts for a while there (talk about "chungo" ).

i stopped teaching when i had enough steady translation work which was nice since i like translating better than teaching english.

as for a second course in translation, i do not think it is necessary. you will get better with practice and time.

hope this helps and good luck.

saludos,
jer...

p.d. let us know how all of this progresses on this thread.

I am working right now on a Certificate in Translation from NYU (New York University) that I will finish at the same time as my MA in SPanish.

My advice to you is this: if you want to get work in countries other than Spain, get a formal credential like a certificate or take a national exam and become nationally qualified, etc.

If you ONLY want to do freelance stuff for clients not through agencies, then, Translation and interpretation in Madrid seem like English teaching...experience counts, not so much degrees or qualifications, so long as you are a native speaker of the translated language.

Let me know what you have found out as I am looking to do interpreting or translation too!

K

Thanks Jer, Gata and Val for the head's up on translation in Madrid. I just need to get the ball rolling . If I come across anything interesting, I'll be sure to pass along the info.