Free translation from/into English/Russian/Ukrainian
by Valentina
(San Jose, CA, USA)
I am a Russian/Ukrainian native speaker with fluent English. I have graduated from the Kiev (Ukraine) State University with a major in journalism. I have spent 25 years in the USA and have gained knowledge and proficiency in American English.
So far, I have completed small translating projects helping people (mostly my compatriots) who were in need of translating their legal documents in addition to my main job (finance, accounting management).
My various interests, curiosity and skills of a former journalist allow me to do the translating work with a maximum of interest and devotion, as I see it as a chance to expand my knowledge in different areas of life (culture, science, politics, etc.)
I am willing to help anybody (individuals or companies) with translation from/into English/Russian/Ukrainian languages FREE of charge. I will do it just as a charitable work I was always willing to do and also a chance to gain a good reputation and references in order to become a professional translator.
Contact me at valvisit (at) gmail (dot) com for more details.
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Comment from Irina, owner of www.language-translation-help.com
Once I was browsing the Net in search for the information to complete a linguistic brand name check job and came across a website of a large Ukrainian exporter of vodka. That website had pages written in very poor, almost incomprehensible, English. I was very surprised to see those incomprehensible pages addressed to foreign customers because they scared away the customers rather than attracted them.
Valentina, if you want to enrich your translation experience, such companies could be a source of the translation practice for you. I think there are many of them in the USA, Ukraine, Russia, and other parts of the world. Not all can afford a professional translation service, and use machine
In addition, have you ever thought about translating/editing for Wikipedia? You could then list your translated articles in your CV. Wikipedia is looking for bilinguals who could volunteer their time and knowledge to translate articles. Read more info here: How to find an article needing translation.
Since you are based in the USA now, you may be interested in joining the American Translators Association (ATA). According to the ATA, "ATA membership is open to anyone with an interest in translation and interpreting as a profession or as a scholarly pursuit." If you plan to make a career change, you should join the ATA as an Associate member. Associate members can list their services in the ATA Directory of Translation and Interpreting Services. Moreover, you will receive The ATA Chronicle magazine full of useful professional information and you can join the ATA Slavic Languages Division and, possibly, become an author for the Division's Newsletter.
By the way, with your experience in finance and journalism, your knowledge of three cultures (American, Russian and Ukrainian), and your language proficiency, you may be much more qualified for PAID translation jobs than newly-fledged graduates that just have received their university degree in language studies. In my opinion, you could contact translation agencies and offer your translation services in the finance, accounting, business and legal areas. In your application, you could state that you accept free test translations of approx. 300 words. Despite the fact that you don't have (many) professional references so far, you have the chance to get paid jobs from translation agencies based on good results of your test translations. You can find a reasonably priced list of translation companies here.
