Whether you’re choosing what you want to study after high school or applying for your first job or simply looking to change your career, becoming an English to Latin translator might be the right choice for you. But before you start considering a career as a Latin translator, you need to know the basic requirements. Here are some of the basic requirements to consider:
Solid language skills. In order to start a career as a translator, you need to love languages and have excellent language skills. If you can speak multiple languages, that’s great, but it’s definitely more about quality over quantity. Some people think that you need to know at least two or more foreign languages to become a translator, but that’s not true. Some of the best, most successful and prominent translators in the industry only know one foreign language, but they know it really well. You simply need to be able to speak two languages, your native language and one foreign language, really well and you can build your career in translation. Just make sure that you work on your language skills in both your source and target languages, get some proper training and gain some experience as a translator.
Cultural awareness. It’s also super important to be culturally aware. You could have all of the language skills in the world, but if you’re not culturally aware, you will find a translation career very difficult. Luckily, culture and language often go hand in hand. Language tends to be most meaningful within the context of culture. You need to be entirely aware of the context of the source text in order to accurately translate it. It makes a huge difference if you either live or have at some point lived in the country where your second language is spoken so that you have an excellent grasp on the culture.
Love of words. Beyond just having solid language skills, you also need to love words, because you are going to spend most of your time working with words through reading, writing and translation. If you don’t love words, then this is going to be a difficult career for you. Beyond just loving words, you should also be a solid writer, since you need to understand the tone, purpose and message of the source text and make sure that the translated content makes sense as a standalone text in your target language.
Business and marketing skills. You also need to work on your business and marketing skills in order to find translation jobs. Unless you are working as an in-house translator, you need to learn how to market yourself. You can either focus on direct clients or work with language service providers, also known as LSPs. Either way, you need to have a basic online presence and be visible on LinkedIn, translation platforms and other websites to improve your chances of building a reputation as an excellent translator and find some steady work.