这么多人说翻译没有前途，他们是对的吗？
圈圈有话说
我是“常与同好争高下，不共傻瓜论短长”准则的坚定信奉者。
时间宝贵，何必浪费在某些愚蠢的言论上，破坏心情，招致麻烦，坏处一堆，又于我何益。
但是，我挺喜欢看别人高水准的毒舌，角度刁钻，文字犀利，一啐一个准。
论毒舌功力，我最佩服的是鲁迅，笔下杂文犹如匕首投枪，刀刀致命。
不过我最近发现，原来我们翻译界也有个毒舌大王，也就是我前一阵子刚跟大家介绍过的Matt Stanton大佬。
在今天想跟大家分享的这篇文章里呢，他对某些Freelance Translation Quitter狠狠吐槽了一把。
他说，如果你想成为成功的自由译者的话，Quitter绝对能在很多方面给你提供宝贵参考经验，也就是——千万别做他们做的事！
You don't have to have been in the freelance translation game long before you come across the quitter.
This is the person who gave up on making a career out of freelance translation and is now doing something else.
If you want to be successful as a freelance translator yourself, these people can provide you with valuable lessons on what you should NOT be doing in your own quest for success.
如果你问他们，为什么未能在自由译者领域取得成功？（当然，这个问题其实毫无意义）
大部分人都会说，他们觉得自己啥也没做错，啥也没问题。他们甚至觉得逃离这个行业是值得骄傲的一件事。
他们觉得自己特别明智，特别有远见卓识，甚至还会带着一种居高临下的优越感，觉得如今还身为自由译者的你肯定水深火热生不如死跟他们以前过的一样惨。
他们还能给你一堆理由说他们为什么退出这个行业。
翻译价格太低了！
客户跟翻译机构根本不关心质量！
翻译机构/中介把所有利润都吃掉了，还拼命压榨译员！
翻译机构特别不靠谱，态度特差！
客户太傻，不知道把翻译工作交给那些专业人士做（比如说我）！
有些译员总是低价竞争，这些人搅乱了市场！
The rates are ridiculous. I was being offered work at $0.00000000005 a word!
Clients and agents don't care about quality. Everything has to be done right now!
The agents are milking off all the profits and screwing the freelancers over!
Agents are rude. They'd make me take a test and then only tell me I'd failed three years and seven months later. And they'd refuse to give me feedback on why I'd failed.
Clients don't realize the importance of assigning translation to a professional (like me). They have someone in house do it just because they lived overseas for a year. Or they use Google Translate!
You're always getting undercut by people willing to accept low-ball offers - these people are bringing the profession down.
When you try and market your services directly online, you can't get through the noise of everyone else who's doing the same thing.
他们的失败理由很多很多，就是不包括一种，他们自己的问题。
但凡对翻译界有点了解的同学，是不是觉得上述理由很熟悉？
之前在朋友圈看到同行发的一条消息。
进了一个群，里面有个译员从业10年，6年自由，然后单价只有八九十。一堆人不相信有单价300以上的稿子。有个译员说自己只走高端路线，单价150，每天翻3000字。心里一阵悲凉。一边谴责公司给不起价，一边不相信有高价，全部坐等人家来涨价？这怎么可能呢？
说实话，我觉得某些译员安于某个价位，不愿意在工作上投入大量精力，而是希望享受轻松惬意的生活，这完全是个人选择，没什么好说的。
最搞笑的，是那种明明不满意，却不愿意努力，永远把问题归咎于他人的译员。
国内翻译市场太乱，某些译员无耻低价竞争，某些翻译公司黑心无良……总之外部理由一大堆，就是没有自己的问题。
与此同时，还要散播各种消极言论，译员就穷，就是没前途，趁早转行，四五千最常见了，一万少之又少，300以上单价不存在，150叫高端路线。
永远坐井观天，视野偏狭，自己没本事，就不信别人能成功，还非摆出一副过来人的派头给新手洗脑。
也真是呵呵了。谦虚点，有点自知之明不行吗？承认自己没混好不行吗？
其实对于这些译员的看法，我跟Matt的意见一致：
They grossly underestimated the level of effort, determination, and commitment it would take to bring their freelance translation endeavor to the point where it could be described as successful.
那至于要怎么引以为鉴，避免走上这样的失败之路？
我才入行两年，充不了权威大佬来谆谆教诲谁。
但是Matt似乎可以，人家有着十几年的翻译经验，最近还晒出来了自己的翻译情况：
当然，我也不知道他这样一天上千美元一小时近千单词翻译量的数据有多少作秀夸大成分，大家自行判断吧。
那么，作为一名似乎相当成功的自由译员，Matt的意见是什么呢？
我给大家搬过来了，大家自行鉴别，看他说得有没有道理。我个人不完全同意，但是他的意见依旧值得参考。
他对于那些希望取得成功的自由译员给出了这么两条建议：
Freed up some time by setting reasonable time limits for jobs given the amount per word being earned. No checking, no comments, no nonsense. (Remember that the problem wasn't a lack of work, it was a lack of adequate hourly income, so concerns about being passed over for future jobs needed to be set aside.)
Employed that time on studying a narrow, specialist field, and perhaps registering with some new agents to ensure that they would only be working in that field.
（In this era of the global mega-agencies, the potential for specialization is higher than it's ever been. I came across a guy, for example, who only translates contracts. Yep, that's all he does. The generalist, project-oriented, research-based approach to translation of the past (that is unfortunately still advocated by a dangerously large number of people) is no longer viable in 2019. It's now a recipe for failure.)
That's when the magic would have begun to happen.
Their new knowledge and specialist focus would have started to result in gradually increasing translation speeds, freeing up yet more time for more knowledge acquisition, and generating even more speed and quality in a virtuous upward cycle of ever-compounding success.
They could also have applied their knowledge to obtaining professional certifications in the field, giving customers more confidence in them, and enabling them to earn higher rates.
That's basically it, but for a more extensive explanation of the success formula, be sure to download and read my bestselling Amazon/Kindle ebook, 88 WAYS TO BE SUCCESSFUL AS A FREELANCE TRANSLATOR.
Right, I'm off for a workout before a healthy lunch and a glass of Chardonnay!
Best of luck on your journey.
Matt
原文链接：https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-people-quit-freelance-translation-matt-stanton/
很拉风的圈圈
最近更新十分勤快，请大家叫我劳模
今天在读某个品牌的Style Guide，条条框框多到爆炸。
作为粗枝大叶的白羊有点崩溃……