我在中国做翻译，也能赚到10万美元吗？
圈圈有话说
先让我卖个关子，聊聊别的。现在国内译员普遍有个看法，国内翻译价格比国外低很多。
但其实这个“国外”的说法，并不是那么准确。
中国之外，亚欧非拉澳新都是“国外”啊。
如果你去proz翻一翻，你经常会“惊喜（吓）”地发现印度/菲律宾/马来西亚/埃及的翻译公司的报价往往也是低到劝退。至于非洲？我反正从来没碰到过来自非洲的翻译机构。
所以，说起国外，我们大部分时候默认对标美、加、澳、新、德法英、日韩等发达国家。
坦白说，译员这个职业，确实没法跟如今依然站在风口上的互联网/金融从业者相比。
根据美国翻译协会2015年数据显示，译员平均年收入在5万美元左右，而当时美国人均收入是4.5万美元。
国家统计局数据，2018年我国人均国民总收入达到9732美元，7万不到一点。看准网和智联招聘网的数据显示，翻译平均月收入为5-6000元，折合成年收入6-7万左右。
这样看来，两国译员的收入其实都是跟本国平均收入相当的，而且跟本国的经济水平挂钩。
不过，笔译的一大优势是有一根网线，便不必受到所在地经济水平的限制。
但是，我们真的争取得到欧美译员的收入水平吗？
我之前提到自由译员界的老前辈，美国前任美国翻翻译协会ATA主席Cornnie Mickay的收入就是10万美元以上。我之前的文章，还提到过Slator的全球译员调查发现，一共有14位译员甚至拿到了20万美元的收入。
我们，中国译员能吗？
其实这个问题，不光是我们有怀疑，很多其他国家的译员也有这个困惑。
所以，我这一次我想给大家分享一篇文章，是一位南美译员PAULA ARTURO写的。
看完她的文章，标题的疑问就迎刃而解了。
另外想提醒大家注意的一点是：十年前，这位译员的工作是working my little heart out 24/7 for peanuts. 种花生的农民。
文章比较长，略有删节，但是非常真诚，值得一读。
……This time, what appealed to me the most was the part where she questions why translators are afraid to talk about money. Meanwhile, a few nights ago, while checking out some older posts in Corinne McKay’s blog, I came across a post about translators with six-figure incomes, and one of the things Corinne pointed out is that these translators tend to talk about money quite a bit.
【圈圈：谈钱，并不是件可耻的事。我们群里的同学也会聊这个话题，展现真实的译员收入生态，给新手一点参考】
All this, while I was still processing some of the comments on a couple of related posts about premium translation markets in Kevin Hendzel’s blog (here and here). The posts themselves are must-reads, but something else that really caught my attention was a comment by someone who believed high incomes are unattainable for those of us who live in the developing world. I live in the developing world and I hear this all the time from my fellow South Americans. We’re too far. We can’t compete. We don’t have access to direct clients. They only look to Latin America when they want low prices… If I had a penny for every time I’ve heard “I can’t because Latin America,” I wouldn’t be here in front of my computer writing this post.
【圈圈：尽可能少听信那些否定的话】
I was raised in one of those homes where you simply do not discuss money, politics, or religion.Talking about money is, to many people, just “too bourgeois” and “beneath the educated mind.” But money is one of the many things that stand between us and some of our dreams. We think about money quite a bit: how to make it, how to spend it, how to save it, and if we’re smart, how to invest it. We need money for basic essentials and even more money if we’re not the kind of people who are content with the basics alone. I’m going to talk about money in this post, because whether we like it or not, it’s there and it’s an issue for many people.
【圈圈：凭自己的努力赚钱，是件值得骄傲的事。而且，笔译这个行业以女性居多，女孩子有自己的职业和收入来源的重要性，真的用不着我多说。】
I don’t claim to be a particularly business savvy person and my beginnings in translation were quite humble. My rookie years were rocky and clumsy at best (almost embarrassingly so). When it comes to newbie mistakes, I could probably write the book . I don’t have any magical formulas and I am in no position to tell anyone how to achieve financial success. However, I know what it feels like to be the underdog and, more importantly, I know what it feels like to rise above all odds, both personal and professional. I am, after all, a Latin American woman; and my rocky and clumsy beginnings in translation were due, in part, to the fact that I had bought into “I can’t because Latin America” plus some form of “I can’t because women in Latin America have it even tougher.” For those who are not familiar with current wealth distribution trends, living in Latin America basically means my piece of the pie is statistically prone to being significantly smaller than that of my counterparts in the developed world and even more so than that of my male counterparts. The odds, apparently, are stacked against me. But here’s the thing about stats and odds: they are just numbers. What matters in life is how you play the cards you are dealt.
【圈圈：这位同行，身为女性，来自南美，难上加 难。经历了非常艰难的新手期，她懂“underdog"的滋味，但更重要的是，她知道怎么去跨越障碍，把 I can't变成can。】
So, last year I hit six figures and my numbers are still growing. And though I’m light years behind some of the really big names in translation, a six-figure income is more than enough for a comfortable lifestyle where I live. In addition, my numbers defeat all the odds that were stacked against me. Which brings me to my second point, not only is it possible to make a very decent living as a translator, but it’s also possible to do so while running your operations from Latin America. In all honesty, I cringe every time I hear fellow Latin Americans give in on the count of alleged geographical disadvantage. That’s just baloney! In the internet age, geography is not a handicap!
【圈圈：Six figure，也就是十万美元。她不仅借此过上了舒适的生活，而且用数字击败了那些迷思。十万美元的收入不容易，但是good things通常都是不容易的。】
Hitting the six figure mark was not easy, but good things usually aren’t. I did it by simply charging each new client slightly more than the last one, while also dropping older clients who were not willing to renegotiate. This was a slow transition and it mainly meant changing the types of agencies I was working for from large brokers to higher-paying specialized boutique agencies, while also focusing all my long-term marketing efforts on direct clients, as my ultimate goal was (and still is) to work for direct clients only at premium fees. Of course, I’m not saying everybody should do what I did. I’m just saying this worked for me.
【圈圈：很有趣，她的收入增长技巧跟我一样，就是骑驴找马，每次都比原单价高一点点，另外还要逐步绕过中介，不断接触优质的翻译机构，并且持续营销自己，以拿到高价直客为最终目的。我们群里就有个同学一口气投了72家，并且还整理出来了最终投递结果分享给大家，试译通过/未通过，单价是多少等等。我们现在觉得这位同学迟早都会成功。】
Because money is such a touchy subject, I am well aware of the positive and negative reactions that are likely to be sparked by this post. I know some people will crucify me for my rocky beginnings and unwillingness to condemn all brokers on the count of the bad ones. Others may think the aim of this post is just to brag about my numbers. But those who know me will hopefully read this the way it was intended: as an honest challenge against anyone who has ever said there is no money in translation, especially for those of us who live in the developing world. I never set out to be a business guru and I believe that each person has to write their own story. But if you’re in the place where I was a decade ago, working your little heart out 24/7 for peanuts, watching life happen outside your window, and wondering if bigger and better things are possible, I have two words for you: They are!
【圈圈：Paula是个很务实也很有真诚的人。务实，是指她知道收入增长是要一步步来的，译员跟翻译机构，尽管有利益的分歧，但指责和对立不是明智的选择。真诚，是她没有闷声发大财，而是选择无私地分享她的经历和感悟，反驳那些宣称 no money in translation esepcially for those of us who live in the developing world的悲观者。她也非常勇敢，没有被噪音干扰，而是克服万难去追求自己的梦想。】
所以，南美的译员做到了，中国的译员做得到吗？
我觉得答案是肯定的，尽管我自己还没到这一步，但是我相信总有人会做到的。
往期文章
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