Translation is a traditional occupation while localization is an emerging one. With the rapid development of economic globalization, many international enterprises have to localize their products and service in the target market in order to enhance their brand popularity all around the world. In that case, they need translation & localization service, which brings enormous challenge and opportunity for Chinese translation and localization companies.

Moreover, Jobs in translation and localization areas are popular due to their flexible working style and high salary. Those who are occupied in these fields have gained generous income as well as knowledge and skills. Therefore, lots of foreign language learners want to be engaged in these jobs as full time or part time translators.

How can people successfully go in for them? There are some instructions for your reference.

First of all, good language knowledge is the most basic requirement. In order to meet customers’ needs and draw readers’ attention, a competent translator must understand the source language fully and completely, and translate it into target language accurately and gracefully, all of which call for excellent language skills. Therefore, you should spare no effort to improve your language skills.

Do more translation exercises and accumulate more translation experience. Practice makes perfect! If possible, you can prepare for some authoritative translation certificate tests (for example, CATTI for English learners) which can prove your language capability in a way.

Secondly, professional knowledge is also needed. It means translators should not only be capable of languages but also have some specific industry background, such as IT, finance, medical care and car etc. Different industry has different terms, and improper usage will confuse the readers and bring bad effects for the customers.

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Hence, translators should pay enough attention to these fixed terms and use them carefully according to the text and industry background. Only in this way can the translation documents conform to usage and meet the needs. What’s more, having a special professional knowledge background can bring you great competitive advantage in the job-hunting market.

Thirdly, learning translation tools is necessary. There is a saying that good tools are prerequisite to the successful execution of a job. Tool using plays an important role in translation process; it will effectively and greatly improve the quality and save time. During translation process, you can resort to various kinds of tools, such as TRAOS, Wordfast, and Catalyst.

You can also turn to Internet for help. Anyway, pay more attention to using tools and you will benefit a lot!

Beside, attitude is very critical. Translation is a job that needs patience. As a translator, you should be dutiful and careful. A minor mistake may damage customers’ brand, giving them unknown loss. Therefore, you can never be too careful.

In a word, having a good knowledge of language, being expert in some specific industry and mastering translation tools are the key to a competent translator. As long as you are qualified with these skills and have the personality of carefulness, there is no doubt that you can devote yourself to translation career and be a success.