Hiring freelance translators

Words' Game has arrived in SL offering translations from all and to all languages. We are starting by offering translations and with some time we will be a languages academy in SL too.

At the moment we are hiring translators... So if you are good in English and at least one other language, and you are also interested in translating and earning some money, please, send an IM inworld to Jocgart Larsen and we will have a lil interview...

We are also expecting our translators to be commercials, you will get paid per translation and per customer you bring us!

So, if you are interested in it, are serious and speak more than one language fluently, Words' Game wants you!

IM me, Jocgart Larsen, for a chat!

Ty for your attention.

You do realise it takes more than just "being good in English and one other language" to be a good translator? I'm a professional translator in RL and have seen quite a few really bad translations in my life, where people insisted "they are good in English" and that's enough to translate something into another language. I also teach translation classes. How do you check your applicants' credentials? The quality of their translations? How much will you charge for a translation? Do you take into account different text types at all?
Seriously, whenever I hear about yet another "translation service" in SL, I wonder why I actually had to study at university to gain a degree, when around SL, all you need to work as a translator is "being good in a language", whatever that might mean.

Being a professional translator (English - German and German - English) myself:

What Alyx said.

But that should become a bit clearer in the interview ...

It's all a matter of price and quality. Any bilingual person CAN translate, and it is something we do in our everyday lives anyway. But knowing more than one language doesn't make a pro translator - you need knowledge about the specific topic you are writing about. But oh well, pros are expensive so many people prefer a non-pro instead... It`s really that easy.. it's all about money. Non pros cater to a different group of clients.

Talking about bad translations! I found a bunch of embarressing mistakes in the German version of the SL client. Some of them indicate that the translator has never used SL in his or her lifetime.

Alyx, first of all, ty for your answer.
I'm not looking for proffesional ppl, I'm not offering a RL job and this won't be a way to get rich in SL. I'm just providing a service, ppl can get it or not, that's not my prob. And yep, cool if you have a degree, better for you, but I won't restrict it, it's just for SL, won't be a professional RL job, so.. You accept it if you want to and you decline it if you don't want to, that's all
And yep, maybe that's not professional, but we are just trying to be able to communicate better, nothing else.
Oh, and last thing... how do you prove in SL you have a degree? How can I know you are good in a language I don't understand? I will just believe in ppl. Am I wrong with that? Maybe, but time and errors teach us, and time will say... Tell me.. have you studied a degree to use it in SL?
Have all the ppl building in SL studied a degree? Are all architects? Are all ppl designers in RL?
Surely there will be some error and grammatical faults, but I'm sure that way we all can learn something.

Raynor, ty for your answer. Like I said I'm not looking for professional ppl. Are you professional and want the work? Cool. And if you don't want to, cool too, it's up to you. I will trust in ppl, that's all. And yep, in the interview (and nope, it won't be a professional interview and surely your English is better than mine, but at least we can communicate ) we will talk and will decide if we both are interested.
Believe me, I'm not looking for professionals.

Monalisa, ty too for your answer. Unfortunatelly, in SL ppl moves by the money and everything it's nearly like in RL, but it isn't RL and NOT EVERYBODY is professional in SL. Anyway they can have fun, and they can earn some money. The lucky ones will be able to live by the work they do in SL, others have to work in RL.


I don't want any drama, you want to work and are interested? Cool. Aren't you? Cool too. Maybe there's another person that wants to, so no prob.

PS: Please, professionals... don't be sad bout my English, I'm better in another language

It's all very well letting off steam..but have you (Alyx in particular) actually sat down and given it some thought before you were laying into Joc's offer?

He is offering a service in a game..there was no indication that his intentions are other than making life a little easier for all those people who would like to reach out but are restricted by a language barrier. I have no doubt that he will be successful and sure that he will not charge the earth, like some professional translators may believe they're entitled to.

I am bi-lingual, English is not my first language, but i have worked professionally in England for many years and as a proof reader i have seen good and bad translations from both sides of the fence..having a degree doesn't make you infallible. Growing up with two languages can give you the edge with colloquialisms..and poor education can make a native sound worse than a foreigner.

The name indicates 'it's words in a game'..try loosen up!

Yes, I have. I have actually DONE translations in SL already and he wasn't the first one to offer such a service. If it's not meant professionally, why even bother? Many people I have met would translate stuff for friends that are just meant to be "understandable" and not proper translations. You can't eat the cake and have it. Either do "just working" translations and don't charge anything, or do proper translations. They WILL cost money.



Maybe because it's a REAL JOB that needed TRAINING and the result is QUALITY WORK???? Being a translator in RL is a CRAP JOB, because many people think they don't have to pay a lot for a good translation anyway, because it's just words. So the last thing we need would be bad translators undermining the crap pay good translators get anyway.
If I think something's worthwhile, e.g. something for a good cause, or for friends in need, I translate for free, and I don't do that with less quality than if I got paid to do it. It's not that I am that avaricious.




Yes, I have seen people with a degree that should never have got one, and I have also taught bilingual people who actually ran into interference problems due to the two languages ALL THE TIME. I was rather talking about qualification such as published translations or companies one has worked for. I just don't like it if my degree isn't considered to be worth anything just because there are some people who have crap degrees. I also didn't say that anyone who translates in SL and isn't a "professional" is automatically bad. But you will attract a lot of people with little skill with that kind of thing (those that, like I said, think they are really good translators just because they know another language fairly well), and if you yourself don't speak the respective languages, you won't even see how bad they are.



@Joc: You can prove your qualifications with scanned documents and that kind of thing. Or even look up people on line, check companies that someone has worked for (You could look up my qualifications, e.g.) - those that are afraid to give your their RL names for a contract (and even if it's a contract IN SL, it's STILL a contract, and, as such, legally binding) have a problem anyway. I'm just afraid you'll attract people with not enough skill because there are many people in SL that would LIKE a job, and as I stated above, think they can do translations. And if you don't have anyone who can CHECK the translations these people do....I don't run around offering my meagre skills as a scripter either just because I have successfully built a few things that had scripts in them and that actually worked even after I fiddled with them.
I mean, just check that:

/119/d3/223416/1.html
That's the kind of quality you'll probably attract with your offer.
Just offering translations to ease communication is one thing (hoping you'll never run into communication problems because your translator didn't quite get across something properly, though), but that is totally different from offering something worth publishing, even if it's ONLY published in SL. That is STILL making it public.
And believe it or not, I am actually partly in SL because of my job as a linguist-check my groups. We have regular meetings, too.

OH YES. That apparently was someone who neither spoke English nor German properly....I had a short look at it for a translation of some note cards I did for someone so I could get the terminology of the German version of SL right. I wish I hadn't. Unfortunately, this isn't very high priority with LL....

Ok, here again...

Just wondering why are you so so interested in "helping" ppl you don't know. Maybe you are in a group that offers the same I do, but professionally. Cool then, lucky you that can be like that. I can't, and I haven't started to offer translations to customers.

About the post you talked about... Well, first of all he hasn't IMed me and believe me, I'm not hiring the first one that IMs me, I'm talking with ppl and checking and analysing what they say. I know what I'm doing, and in case I run down and fall off, it will be my problem and I will learn with that.

And that's all I will say. I won't reply more posts like these. Ty all anyway


I'M JUST LOOKING FOR PPL THAT CAN TRANSLATE, not interested in fights and dramas in SL neither in these forums.

SO... If there's somebody really interested on it, please IM me inworld (Jocgart Larsen) for a chat. Thank you all for your attention and sorry bout all these words you have had to read.

No, I'm not. I'm in a linguist's group. If I get to do any translations, it's from hearsay, forum posts, or friends, not through any organisation.

I never implied to talked to him, but that was one of the examples I was talking about-people who apparently don't even see how bad they are.

Seriously, if someone thinks that were too many words, they shouldn't apply for a job that might possibly involve even more words, and not necessarily words that one likes, too.
But if, after all those many words I have written, and after several tries to clarify what I mean, you still think I'm all about bloody drama (I couldn't effing care less) or that what I write is something to be sorry about...well thank you. I have an opinion and I stated that. I wanted to offer you to show me some of the applicants' translations to have a look at (for German and English) so you DON'T fall into any nasty traps, but sorry-not if you tell me what I write is apparently something to apologise for.


And I still say bad translators give the whole profession a bad name (<--hint: AGAIN, I don't mean that you go and only hire some crackpots, but that there is a significantly higher chance to just attract people who are just not good enough) , and that is something I take very seriously. There's a difference between private and public.

Maybe I should start a translation service myself.

It is a matter of money. Do you really think anyone is willing to pay a reasonable wage for a translator on SL?

Translation is a problematic field of business, be it on SL or in the real world. Sadly, for many people it isn't a profession at all but a favor you do for someone, just because you happen to understand more than one language. For example, the Linden blog is being translated into German on a daily basis and the results are being posted to a web forum, all free of charge of course. Noone would dare to ask money for such a time consuming and exhausting kind of work.

This is the one thing that ruins translation business. Another one is of course the possibility to outsource the entire process of translation to third world countries. This will become more and more threatening for any pro translator. Unless you know a very exotic language combination translation work can be done online, for wages that are simply laughable to anyone living in a developed country. Just google a bit, you will be surprised. SL is the perfect platform for global outsourcing.

The third threat to translation is the fact that many people think that translation can be done by machines anyway and human translators will be obsolete in a few years. On SL many use babbler and similar gadgets, and eventhough their output is more of a joke than anything else, I doubt that anyone would hire a human chat interpreter for a reasonable amount of money on SL.

So if you know languages and like to translate use your skill to help people on SL because you either like to help or like SL or both, but don't expect to make a lot of money with it. But I am here to see

Ty all again for your replies!!

Words' Game is still hiring freelance translators, IM Jocgart Larsen inworld for a chat!

TY ALL!