r/TranslationStudies

So apparently I applied for a position with propio a long, long time ago and a recruiter recently reached out to me to start the interview and onboarding process. I passed. Someone from the onboarding team reached out after a day or two (after I sent an email to the first recruiter notifying him that I am waiting on a response from them) and she helped me with the rest of the onboarding process. I passed the mock test and LPT. They did the background check, it was clean. Then she sent me the contract to sign via adobe. This is where things start to feel off.

The contract is full of vague exhibits that tell me that I am legally liable for things that are disproportionate to my position as an offshore remote interpreter.

There is a conflict in payment schedule statements saying payment is biweekly but it may take propio up to 30 days to process payments.

The most aggravating of all is that it stated if the client deems the service of low quality, propio will NOT pay for that call. They did not state any method of disputing such claims!

So, as any sane person would do, I decided to contact them to ask about the terms I found ambiguous.... And no reply.

The onboarding team member that was helping me through the process has been dead silent ever since I sent my first inquiry, so I waited a few days, sent a follow up and guess what.... No reply again. The adobe sign link she sent for the contract has expired and I still heard nothing from them. I decided to send a final email detailing the inquiries I had and I CC'ed the recruiter, the onboarding team email and her email as a final courtesy on my end showing that I was perfectly ready to start working once we clarified the things I found atrocious in the contract. I do understand that most legal things in such contracts are corporate templates with no account to offshore adjustments, but getting no replies at all when they had already spent money on me for the background check and ​​I had passed all the onboarding tests and requirements feels a little weird?

We recently started working with clients outside the US, and one thing I completely underestimated was how complicated legal translation can get. Contracts, NDAs, service agreements. You know… at first I assumed it was mostly about translating text accurately, but it turns out wording matters a lot more when legal meaning is involved. Especially when you aren’t a lawyer at all, and even reading it in your language can sound confusing.

We initially tried using a freelance translator we found through a marketplace because the pricing seemed reasonable. The translation looked fine in the beginning, but when one of our overseas clients reviewed the agreement with their lawyer, they pointed out several phrases that were technically correct but let’s say, legally ambiguous in their country

That made me realize legal translation is very different from marketing or website content. Small wording differences can completely change interpretation, especially across jurisdictions.

Now I’m looking into agencies instead of individual freelancers because I’d rather have a process with review and specialization. I’ve been considering Ad Verbum since they seem to work with business and legal translations specifically, but I’m still comparing options.

Curious how others handle this, do you rely on agencies, legal translators, or local lawyers to review everything before sending documents internationally?

Im looking to make content for my business and I want it to be available in multiple languages (because I speak several languages fluently).

Can anyone provide some tips on how to structure my content for instagram and TT so that I can personally localize/translate the content or I can maximize the automatic translation (this is less ideal obviously) on these platforms.

I’m asking about voice overs, captions, and in-video texts, specifically.

Thank you!

Humanities background. Happened upon an agency gig doing academic JP>EN back in 2017. Didn’t make a ton, but also wasn’t working that much and still saved a lot while living in SE Asia.

I quit in 2023 because the agency was forcing is to use their cloud CAT tool and implementing AI-based MT checks on our work. (They wanted us to work faster and more efficiently but go out of our way to translate in a way that didn’t look like MT - make it make sense.)

I tried a couple of assignments with their new tools. Couldn’t even copy multiple sentences (cells) at a time into a text editor for a decent reading experience. From that, it was clear my productivity was going to tank (and the enjoyment of the job along with it).

Been coasting on savings for a while and tried building some side projects in the meantime: a very sophisticated Russian dictionary for learners (months-long time investment), and popup dictionary browser extensions for Vietnamese and Thai. While I'm happy with how they turned out from a product point of view, I was hoping to make the Russian dictionary a source of revenue, and after a year, prospects for that are looking slim.

Anyone here pivoting (or in the process of pivoting) to something else? If so, what kind of work? All my skills are on the AI chopping block (mostly for perceived rather than real replaceability): proficiency across a few languages (Japanese, Portuguese, Russian), linguistic data analysis (especially lexical), databases / programming / web dev.

I run a small online platform that sells digital templates and workflow kits for freelance photographers and things like client contracts, pricing guides, editing checklists, and onboarding forms. As we started getting more customers from different countries, we decided to translate the website and product pages into a few additional languages, which were the most popular.

For the cost management efficiency, we hired several freelance translators through different platforms. Seemed like a good solution because each person specialized in a different language and the turnaround was pretty fast

The problem showed up later. One section of the site sounded very formal, another felt casual, and some product descriptions used completely different terminology for the same features. Even the tone of voice changed from page to page, which made the brand feel inconsistent.

Our customers probably wouldn’t notice every detail, but when reading multiple pages, the site started to feel stitched together with a lack of coherence. We also realized that updating content became messy because every translator had a different style and workflow.

But rn I’m thinking whether using an AI translator with centralized editing, or working with a company like Ad Verbum that combines AI with human review, would create more consistency across the entire site.

Has anyone else dealt with this issue when using multiple freelancers?

How do you keep tone, terminology, and brand voice consistent across languages?

Hi everyone,

I recently built a tool called CleanXLIFF (https://cleanxliff.com).

It processes XLIFF files and removes or normalizes workflow-specific metadata (such as system-generated tags like AT/MT/NMT indicators), producing a cleaner and more neutral output.

The goal is to make XLIFF files easier to reuse across different tools and localization pipelines, without being tightly tied to the original system that generated them.

I’d love some honest feedback from people working with localization:

• Do you think this kind of tool is actually useful in real workflows?
• Does it add value or meaningfully save time in your process?
• Would you use something like this, or is it solving a non-problem?

If you want to try it out, there’s a free tier with up to 3 files per month, so you can test it without any commitment.

Open to any feedback — especially critical takes.

Thanks!

I did higher-level Irish for the Leaving Cert but didn't continue for university, instead choosing to continue Spanish and French. I am now constantly told the importance of having Irish if you want to find a job, and I don't have any degree. Can I become an Irish-English translator without a degree in the language? Would, say, a CEFR certificate or something be enough?

Guys does ANYONE have a good experience with Language line solutions (working in Europe TP Portugal) ?? I’m going through the training now and I’m so afraid from all the negative reviews.

Hi, i see mistakes here and there still when i read books sometimes where words or meaning is lost in translation.

i wonder if people who are translating do find they’re improving throughout the years ?

Hi there, I am a 30 years old female, working full-time as a teaching assistant and I am thinking a lot on my long term goals the moment…

Basically I want, in the future, earn a bit more money, and have the opportunity to work remotely when I have kids.

I graduated with a Master’s degree in Arabic and one in Philosophy ( with research about the medical theories of an Arabic speaking physiciam in the middle age).

My mother tongue is French, and I speak fluently English and Spanish ( been living in the UK for 8 years now, graduated here).

I speak Arabic (B2, I lost a lot due to no practice during 7 years), and Russian ( B1, super keen on ot, studying every day).

My goal is to start with English, French and Spanish, and then add Arabic ( and maybe one day, Russian, who knows).

My passion in life since I was a kid is medicine.

My question is: is medical translation still worthy, with AI and all? Can I realistically become one at some point and make a living?

I have a tiny portfolio ( I passed a test for medical translation for doctors one day and kept the documents. I was trained to translation during my Master’s Degree but never actually worked.

Most of the offers I get on LinkedIn are from game/anime companies, because that's where my expertise lies. However, in addition to about 2 decades of work experience, I also have about 2 decades of study in psychology (including speaking and counselling experience)

I don't receive any kind of work in that field at all though. I am wondering if there is a market for such, and if so, how would one come into contact with it?

(Warning: major naive noob writing this text. Please be patient with me or just skip altogether)

I majored in linguistics (with English and Romanian) in my home country (Bulgaria). I was taught and prepared to understand language and all its underlying systems, taught English to perfection (on the basis of my high-school diploma and an entry exam, i.e. already knowing it pretty well), and Romanian from scratch really intensely. In the later years I was taught specialized translations and finally how to do it all supposedly professionally, as a product on a CAT software.

Well... I graduate in 2022, and there is a certain landscape - pricing, timeframes for how long jobs take, customer expectations and so on. I am of the belief that I have... a good idea of how those things work. Then I get a call from a company to be in their international sales department due to my language (Romanian), and since the job market in my country, and ESPECIALLY in my city already wasn't great, I accept. I don't go into my field. At the same time AI starts coming along. I am busy getting into my job and follow what's going on very loosely.

Well... fast forward to today, I've been getting inquiries for mostly editing/review work with Romanian from friends recommending me to people. This made me ambitious to get back into my field I graduated from. But... what the hell even is "translations" as a job in 2026?

When I got into university I expected it's 2 Word documents - the original for reference, and a draft that will later become a final version God willing. After years of learning in uni I did find out CAT Softwares exist and are the standard so I should learn how to use them to have some semblance of professionalism. But then come to find out the one our professor taught us in uni - WordFast - is not exactly any sort of industry standard and I have a hard time understanding how the "industry standard" ones work. Also I'm talking about their free versions, cause in this poor country good luck getting the full thing without already having work and a bunch of money. And now AI came along and completely threw a wrench in how everything works. I wanna get back into the game, but I'm starting to feel the game is barely anything like what I was taught even just a few years ago.

TLDR: I studied to be a translator and graduated in 2022, got a different job, now I wanna get back into that profession but I feel like nothing's the same as I was taught.

My questions are:

1. Are CAT Softwares still a thing (I imagine they are), which ones are still used and how did AI change their place in the whole game?
2. How much is AI integrated into the whole process of translation?
3. Did the prices and timelines change and how much? Can I get some actual examples to grasp the scope of it?
4. Is being an editor-reviewer the new thing? Like I said, I was sought out a few times lately, but to do those sort of jobs after a translator already did the job. Two of my clients were concerned "the translator used AI and I want it to sound natural in the language".
5. Just what the hell is going on in general?

🇮🇹Ciao! Al momento sto studiando Traduzione Specialistica, lingue inglese e spagnolo, ma sto cominciando ad interessarmi agli sbocchi lavorativi a quali poter accedere.

So che potrei intraprendere la carriera di traduttrice, freelance, socia di un’agenzia, dipendente da una agenzia. Personalmente, mi piacerebbe lavorare nelle istituzioni europee, ma so già che è molto difficile.

Ad ogni modo, durante questi anni di università mi piacerebbe fare un po’ di gavetta. Ho visto che su LinkedIn ci sono diverse offerte di lavoro, come traduttorə, relative alla localizzazione, ecc., in particolare da parte di:

Data Annotation

RWS Group

Cactus Communications

Women in Localization

EDS Translations

Ovviamente, sono consapevole del fatto che garantiscono un guadagno ridotto, ma come prima esperienza forse potrebbe aiutare ad entrare in contatto con il mondo della traduzione, potrebbero essere esperienze da inserire nel curriculum.

Se qualcunə ha lavorato con loro o tramite altri enti suggeriti da LinkedIn, potrebbe raccontarmi la sua esperienza? Dirmi se sono lavoretti affidabili o solo perdite di tempo?

🇬🇧Hi there! I’m currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Specialized Translation (English and Spanish) and I’ve recently started looking into the career paths available in this field.

I know I can work as a translator, freelance, member of an association or as an agency employee. To me, I’d like to work for the European institutions, although I know how difficult it is to get there.

In the meantime, I’d like to gain some hands-on experience during my studies. I’ve come across several job opportunities on LinkedIn related to translation and localization, especially from:

Data Annotation

RWS Group

Cactus Communications

Women in Localization

EDS Translations

Naturally, I’m aware these types of jobs do not offer a high pay, but I think they could be a good way to gain experience and start building my CV.

Has anyone here worked with any of these companies, or through similar platforms? I’d really appreciate hearing about your experience. Would you consider these opportunities reliable, or are they more of a waste of time?

Greetings. I started working at Propio about a month and a half ago. I noticed from some time to now, that the interpreting services extend beyond "medical settings". I have interpreted for legal firms, banks and finance institutions.

I do not complain. I like my job and I feel like I have effectively performed my duties as an interpreter.

My question is, shouldn't they have disclosed that before? I'm under the "Remote Medical Interpreter" title, and my compensations say so, too. Would I get kicked out if I requested an increase in compensation as a more general interpreting role?

We recently started working with clients outside the US, and one thing I completely underestimated was how complicated legal translation can get. Contracts, NDAs, service agreements. You know… at first I assumed it was mostly about translating text accurately, but it turns out wording matters a lot more when legal meaning is involved. Especially when you aren’t a lawyer at all, and even reading it in your language can sound confusing.

We initially tried using a freelance translator we found through a marketplace because the pricing seemed reasonable. The translation looked fine in the beginning, but when one of our overseas clients reviewed the agreement with their lawyer, they pointed out several phrases that were technically correct but let’s say, legally ambiguous in their country

That made me realize legal translation is very different from marketing or website content. Small wording differences can completely change interpretation, especially across jurisdictions.

Now I’m looking into agencies instead of individual freelancers because I’d rather have a process with review and specialization. I’ve been considering Ad Verbum since they seem to work with business and legal translations specifically, but I’m still comparing options.

Curious how others handle this, do you rely on agencies, legal translators, or local lawyers to review everything before sending documents internationally?

It's ECI Innovations. I submitted my test, and I received feedback including “mistranslations” and "grammar and spelling" but no specific examples or source-target references were provided. Most comments were general (formatting, phrasing), and clarification questions were deferred (“revise and include questions in the file”).

I asked for feedback and clarifications and got more of the same replies. Most of my questions were not answered. They just said "revise and we'll include in our review"

Is this level of non-specific QA feedback typical in current vendor pipelines (especially for games/manga localization), or would you consider this a red flag?

For context: I usually pass tests in my field, so I’m trying to understand if this is a workflow/style mismatch vs. an actual quality issue on my end. While I'm not perfect, I do have 15+ years of industry experience, and I don't often make errors, so "mistranslation" is serious to me.

As a related aside, I also experienced this with Gumi. They rejected my test without clear feedback, so I have no way of knowing what went wrong.

I will probably just fix what I can clearly fix (formatting issues) and then resend. I've double-checked the manuscript, not seeing any glaring errors.

Curious how others handle this kind of feedback and whether it’s worth iterating further.