Q: I'm a recent graduate/new translator interested in specialising in environmental translation. Where can I find volunteer translation opportunities to build up my resume?
A: First of all, it goes without saying that you should have a good background knowledge of environmental issues before embarking on any translation project, paid or unpaid. Just because you are providing a free service is no excuse for turning in poorly researched translations. If you play your cards right, you should be able to convince the organisation to list your name as translator on any printed documents (e.g. translation services provided courtesy of...) and/or website. Moreover the terminology research will stand you in good stead for later on. In an ideal scenario, someone will end up reading a document with your name on, be impressed by your mastery of specialist terminology or simply need a translator for their (hopefully paying) project and get in touch.
The other basic rules of business apply: Be pleasant and professional. You should let your contact know in advance that they will need to be flexible about deadlines and that any paid translations will have to take priority over volunteer work. They should be satisfied - after all they are getting your services for free.
Beyond the excellent suggestions and links given here, here and here, another approach is to think about the specific environmental issues that interest you. For instance, if you feel strongly about the need to protect the rain forests contact organisations active in this area to see if they need volunteer translators for your language pair.
Just a quick google search for "volunteer environmental translator" also turned up opportunities with the Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide , the Canada Parks and Wilderness Society (Ottawa Chapter), Earthrights, the World Wide Fund for Nature (Australia) and Greenpeace (*Please note, the Greener Word does not endorse any of these organisations). Spend a little time using targeted search terms in your source and target language and I'm sure dozens more will appear.
There really is a vast number of organisations that want to spread their message to people in other countries and share their knowledge with their counterparts on other continents so have fun searching and happy volunteering!
My next couple of posts will examine finding paid work as an environmental translator and list resources for deepening your knowledge of environmental issues. Look for those towards the start of next week. In the meantime feel free to post comments with any other questions that you would like to see covered.
A: First of all, it goes without saying that you should have a good background knowledge of environmental issues before embarking on any translation project, paid or unpaid. Just because you are providing a free service is no excuse for turning in poorly researched translations. If you play your cards right, you should be able to convince the organisation to list your name as translator on any printed documents (e.g. translation services provided courtesy of...) and/or website. Moreover the terminology research will stand you in good stead for later on. In an ideal scenario, someone will end up reading a document with your name on, be impressed by your mastery of specialist terminology or simply need a translator for their (hopefully paying) project and get in touch.
The other basic rules of business apply: Be pleasant and professional. You should let your contact know in advance that they will need to be flexible about deadlines and that any paid translations will have to take priority over volunteer work. They should be satisfied - after all they are getting your services for free.
Beyond the excellent suggestions and links given here, here and here, another approach is to think about the specific environmental issues that interest you. For instance, if you feel strongly about the need to protect the rain forests contact organisations active in this area to see if they need volunteer translators for your language pair.
Just a quick google search for "volunteer environmental translator" also turned up opportunities with the Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide , the Canada Parks and Wilderness Society (Ottawa Chapter), Earthrights, the World Wide Fund for Nature (Australia) and Greenpeace (*Please note, the Greener Word does not endorse any of these organisations). Spend a little time using targeted search terms in your source and target language and I'm sure dozens more will appear.
There really is a vast number of organisations that want to spread their message to people in other countries and share their knowledge with their counterparts on other continents so have fun searching and happy volunteering!
My next couple of posts will examine finding paid work as an environmental translator and list resources for deepening your knowledge of environmental issues. Look for those towards the start of next week. In the meantime feel free to post comments with any other questions that you would like to see covered.
