Is there demand for Swe to Eng scientific translations? Vestluse postitaja: Petra M
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Hi there,
I'm just trying to gauge whether there is any demand for Swedish to English scientific translations?
I have worked both in England and Sweden in the pharmaceutical industry with my main strength in chemistry. I have lived in Sweden for 5 years now.
I am just trying to decide whether to go down the route of freelance translation and whether there is any demand in my subject and language pair.
Does anyone have any experience of this?... See more Hi there,
I'm just trying to gauge whether there is any demand for Swedish to English scientific translations?
I have worked both in England and Sweden in the pharmaceutical industry with my main strength in chemistry. I have lived in Sweden for 5 years now.
I am just trying to decide whether to go down the route of freelance translation and whether there is any demand in my subject and language pair.
Does anyone have any experience of this?
Many thanks,
Petra ▲ Collapse
| | | | Lingua 5B 
Bosnia ja Hertsegoviina
Local time: 03:57
Liige (2009)
inglise - horvaadi
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| Just some points.. | Nov 1, 2010 |
I'm probably not a relevant person to answer this, but I know some colleagues here working toward English from Scandinavian languages pointed that it is quite common for Scandinavians to write non-native English copies. I'm interested to learn whether you saw this happening while working in Sweden?
Other than that, both your language pair and your field offer a lot of potential, IMO.
Best of luck to you.
| | | | Petra M
Local time: 03:57
TOPIC STARTER | Interesting point. | Nov 1, 2010 |
Hi,
Thanks for the reply.
Yes when i was working here all the Swedish people wrote reports in English for clients, but they always asked me to check them and there were loads of times when it just didn't sound right.
This is why i am questioning whether there is any work, because Swedish workers, where i worked at least, tend to write their own documents in English and just get them checked(or not) as the case may be. They would often be sending document... See more Hi,
Thanks for the reply.
Yes when i was working here all the Swedish people wrote reports in English for clients, but they always asked me to check them and there were loads of times when it just didn't sound right.
This is why i am questioning whether there is any work, because Swedish workers, where i worked at least, tend to write their own documents in English and just get them checked(or not) as the case may be. They would often be sending documents to other non-native speakers where precise English was perhaps not the most important part to them.
Petra ▲ Collapse
| | | | Heinrich Pesch
Soome
Local time: 04:57
Liige (2003)
soome - saksa
+ ...
| Working and translating | Nov 1, 2010 |
Hello Petra!
How about your translation practice? Just having worked in industry does not as such qualify you for the translation business. You could look for international agencies and look if they would send you work. But the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Don't expect too much from the first few years in freelance business.
Regards
Heinrich
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Maria Amorim (X)
Rootsi
Local time: 03:57
rootsi - portugali
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| Some comments | Nov 1, 2010 |
Is English your mother language? If it is not you should have a high proficiency in the English language to compete in a market where companies seek for native translators.
If this is the case, I would shortly advise you to elaborate and send a personal presentation letter with your CV to pharmaceutical companies both in Sweden and United Kingdom/USA (the largest pharmaceutical market is in USA as far as I know). You can start your search at Wikipedia. There are also some specialize... See more Is English your mother language? If it is not you should have a high proficiency in the English language to compete in a market where companies seek for native translators.
If this is the case, I would shortly advise you to elaborate and send a personal presentation letter with your CV to pharmaceutical companies both in Sweden and United Kingdom/USA (the largest pharmaceutical market is in USA as far as I know). You can start your search at Wikipedia. There are also some specialized translation agencies in sciences, which you could also start looking for, here in the PROZ, and also sending them a presentation letter.
It is also recommendable that you carefully prepare your PROZ profile.
There are great possibilities in this Swedish-English language pair due to the natural demand and I absolutely believe it is important to have a specialized background to be a translator in the science area. So I don’t think you should have difficulties if the first point is fulfilled (target language) but take in account that it takes time and some effort at the beginning.
Good luck! ▲ Collapse
| | | | Peter Linton (X)
Local time: 02:57
rootsi - inglise
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| Some thoughts | Nov 1, 2010 |
Although I also translate from Swedish to English, I tend to avoid scientific work for lack of qualifications in that field, so I cannot give you reliable advice.
However, my impression is that there is a fair amount of such work, particularly in the pharmaceutical field, though not necessarily straight translation. As Lingua says, quite often Swedish scientists (e.g. PhD students) write their thesis or scientific paper in English, and quite often want the results to be reviewed ra... See more Although I also translate from Swedish to English, I tend to avoid scientific work for lack of qualifications in that field, so I cannot give you reliable advice.
However, my impression is that there is a fair amount of such work, particularly in the pharmaceutical field, though not necessarily straight translation. As Lingua says, quite often Swedish scientists (e.g. PhD students) write their thesis or scientific paper in English, and quite often want the results to be reviewed rather than translated. So you should think more in terms of reviewing / proofreading / copyediting texts. With your pharmaceutical background you would be well placed to do such work. It can also be very well paid -- highly qualified and experienced copyeditors seem to charge around SEK 600 / hour (GBP 50).
There is of course a catch. If a document was originally written in English, it will contain all sorts of grammatical errors, and sometimes incomprehensible sentences. But there is no Swedish version to fall back on. That can be at best frustrating, at worst highly dangerous. And as the reviewer / proofreader / copyeditor, you are the last link in the chain and therefore responsible for any errors, which in your line of business could be life-threatening.
In short, You have a very strong specialist background, and you are in one of the best-paid language combinations. No promises, but you are well-placed to succeed.
Let me conclude with a plan of action:
1/ Collect as much specialist terminology as you can. Build your own glossary.
2/ Join translator associations like the SFÖ. Meet and discuss with colleagues.
3/ Consider also joining the ITI in England. It has a very active medical group.
4/ Consider doing an online training course like the ITI's Orientation Course ( this is a shameless plug, as I am a tutor on this course. But I believe you might find it helpful). ▲ Collapse
| | | | Petra M
Local time: 03:57
TOPIC STARTER
doing any sort of translation course? I know Stockholm University have one.
Thanks for all the useful replies.
Peter, how have you found the flow of work generally? Was it tough starting off?
Petra
| | | | Peter Linton (X)
Local time: 02:57
rootsi - inglise
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| More suggestions | Nov 1, 2010 |
Petra Vacas wrote:
. . . doing any sort of translation course? I know Stockholm University have one.
You have an unusually strong scientific and pharmaceutical background, so you might be able to drum up enough business without doing a course. But there is much more to being a translator than simply knowing two languages, so in your shoes I would search for a UK university that does some sort of online training geared to translating into English. And I would repeat my suggestion about the ITI Orientation Course (or the ITI Professional Support Group).
Peter, how have you found the flow of work generally? Was it tough starting off?
Yes, it was tough in the beginning, largely because I was not aware of all the business and technical aspects, and my marketing was poor. People will not beat a path to your door unless you can persuade them it is worth their while. That takes time and effort -- a year or two, but after that I have consistently received more work than I can handle. Unlike the overpopulated FIGS market ( French, Italian, German, Spanish), there are not that many English people who know Swedish, so it is a seller's market, with correspondingly good rates.
Incidentally, a good illustration of the value of networking – tomorrow evening there is a meeting of London translators for a talk and workshop about marketing. Just what you need.
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| Courses are often a great help | Nov 1, 2010 |
I only dabble in ´general´ Swedish, but my experience from translating Danish is that a course is very worthwhile, even the short ones. You can learn a lot if someone experienced has collected some of the pitfalls and suggested solutions to the problems. Exercises in comparative texts give you a sort of kick start.
You become more conscious of what you know about both languages, and the surprising number of things you are woolly about, but can read up on!
Comparative... See more I only dabble in ´general´ Swedish, but my experience from translating Danish is that a course is very worthwhile, even the short ones. You can learn a lot if someone experienced has collected some of the pitfalls and suggested solutions to the problems. Exercises in comparative texts give you a sort of kick start.
You become more conscious of what you know about both languages, and the surprising number of things you are woolly about, but can read up on!
Comparative terminology etc. will save you having to invent the wheel every time.
Study things like
http://www.wordforword.se/Swenglish04.pdf
-- which is perhaps fairly elementary, but don´t underestimate it! You then have chapter and verse to justify the changes you make when you review and revise other people's work.
Books like John Swales: Genre Analysis - English in academic and research settings can be somewhat dry to read on your own, but useful to discuss with others.
Many of the books I find helpful are Danish-oriented rather than Swedish or monolingual, but a good tutor will be able to give you Swedish equivalents.
Apart from that, you will meet potential colleagues and partners if you attend a class, and can benefit from the exchange of experience and points of view.
Best of luck! ▲ Collapse
| | | | Petra M
Local time: 03:57
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks for your input Peter, i'll take a closer look at that course with ITI that you highly recommend.
Thanks for the book recommendation Christine and the link ,definitely worth a read i think.
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