In most countries, translation is not a regulated profession. Anybody who knows two languages (or thinks he knows two languages) can work as a translator. And this is precisely why there are so many bad translators and bad translations around. A translator is much more than a bilingual secretary and having some knowledge of a foreign language is by no means enough to start a successful career in translation. So what exactly does it take to become a freelance translator?

- Excellent command of your native language and excellent writing skills, as well as ability to use various styles and registers and adapt to different types of texts. A translator is also a writer, whether he translates literature or technical documentation. Your translation has to be flawless in terms of grammar, spelling, vocabulary and style. A good translation is one that faithfully reflects the original text, but also one that reads well in the target language and sounds natural to the target language reader.

- Excellent command of your foreign languages (source languages or languages you translate from). Two years of French at school or university do not make you an expert in the French language. You have to be able to understand nuances, jokes, wordplays, slang, cultural references and idiomatic expressions. Knowing a language also implies knowing the culture. Ideally, a translator should have spent a considerable amount of time in a country where his source language is spoken and be completely immersed in the language and culture.

- Broad general knowledge. In order to translate a text, you have to understand it first. Understanding the words is not enough, because we don’t translate the words in a sentence, we translate the meaning of the sentence. So, in order to produce a good translation, you have to understand what you are translating. Most translators translate a variety of different texts. One day, you can be translating the website of a hotel, the next a business letter, then a lease contract, followed by a recipe book. You obviously can’t be an expert in everything, but it is extremely helpful to have at least some general knowledge in a large variety of fields. If you translate a text on gardening tools for example, you are highly unlikely to produce an acceptable translation if you don’t have a clue about gardening.

- Specialist knowledge of one or more fields. There may be translators who only translate general texts, but most prefer to specialize in one or more areas they know very well. You simply can’t be an expert in everything. I would find it hard to trust a translator who claims to be a specialist in medicine, law, literature, engineering, IT, nuclear physics and knitting at the same time. Most translators concentrate on a few areas they have work experience in (i.e. an engineer turned translator who specializes in technical translation), have degrees in (I got a law degree after my translation degree in order to specialize in legal translation) or know extremely well due to other circumstances. It can simply be an area that they like, have taken courses in or have read extensively about. The important thing is that you have to know the field inside out and you have to master the specialist vocabulary. If you want to translate legal texts, you have to understand the legal systems involved and know how legal documents are written. Subject matter + specialist terminology is the key.

- Good research skills. If you don’t know it, you have to know where to find it. A good reference library with specialized dictionaries is still useful, even in the Internet age when much information can be found online. Good research skills also mean knowing which sources to trust and how to double-check.

- Good IT skills. The days when translations were written on a typewriter and sent by mail are long gone. Today, it is necessary to know how to use email, the Internet, various software programs (MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint as a minimum), translation memory programs and electronic dictionaries, FTP, file encryption, file compression and decompression, backing up files, antivirus, and many more.

- Good business and marketing skills. As a freelance translator, you are a small business. You have to find clients, market your services, advertise, know how to negotiate rates and payment terms, sound professional on the phone and write professional emails. You also need to know how to write an invoice, how to handle your business expenses, how to chase payments, how to file your taxes (or hire a good accountant), how to plan for your retirement, among many other things.

These are the skills that I consider the most important for a freelance translator, but this list is certainly not exhaustive. Feel free to share your thoughts.

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