20 Websites For Volunteer Translators (Start Building A Professional Portfolio) 

Thank you, and best of luck! :)

Best of luck! Practice makes it perfect

I need an update.

Glad it was helpful! 🙏

Thank you for your kind feedback :) As with most things in this industry, there isn't a clear-cut answer. Having a degree or some sort of formal training may help, and then is a matter of how comfortable you are in a given technical field. Volunteering is a way to start gaining experience in that sense, start building technical glossaries, etc. When I was a student, I would voluntarily translate 150 to 250 words almost every day (on top of my uni assignments); it doesn't seem much, but it added up to thousands of words by the end of the school year. But this is by no means a rule, sadly there isn't an exact number nor right answer.

@@translationandinterpreting Thank you for replying. What I meant wasn't how many words till I become proficient. I'm aware this differs from person to person. However I was wondering about the quantity that seems sufficient for employers to take notice of me. And when I should feel proud enough to incorporate it into my CV.

@@fictionaddiction4706 Ah, thank you for clarifying! I recall some of my colleagues started stating the volume of translated words in their CVs when they reached about 50,000 or 60,000 on a given technical field. It's not a lot, but also not insignificant for a 'young' translator (note: this also included paid work, not just volunteer translations.) There's no right or wrong answer here; some clients will be happy with that, especially if you also have a qualification (because many LSPs adhere to ISO 17001), while others may expect more.

@@translationandinterpreting Thank you so much, I now have a goal in mind. Have a nice day.

I'd download it and keep it organised in my records, should a client ever need samples or proof of my work. Some websites may not have a way to download the translations you have submitted, but I believe most do; either way, it's important to keep track of how many words you've translated, since total volume is a valuable way of measuring your level of experience.

@@translationandinterpreting thanks a lot for u reply

Hello, these websites are mostly NGOs, charity associations, open source software developers, etc - they're not educational institutions that can issue any form of certificates, I'm afraid. Translating as a volunteer is all about developing your professional skills and gaining experience as a translator while helping others. If you need a formal certificate, you can check whether there are any translation courses out there or institutions that offer formal training in your language.

@@translationandinterpreting thanks, but how can i prove my voluntary works without certificates?

@@translationandinterpreting I mean.. I’m applying for jobs and i want to prove my works.

If you have built a translation portfolio, you can provide clients with samples of your work if they ask for it (and you can also state in your CV how much experience you've got in terms of number of words you have translated so far.) You can also try to approach any of the institutions for which you've volunteered and ask if they can issue a letter confirming you have translated X amount of words for them - some may be happy to do it, although I can't guarantee. But as far as I know, issuing certificates for volunteer work is unheard of.

@@translationandinterpreting hello again sir.. with regard to CV, do put these works in Experience or in Volunteering section?

Hi there! How come? I have access to it and can translate any content as usual, so I'm not sure what you mean by that. As far as I can tell, it's working just as normal.

@@translationandinterpretingIt works?I was at their website,and projects to translate wasn't opening at all.People was writing that they shouted down GTC coursera and translations are no more available

@@translationandinterpreting yes, I confirm what @user has said. After subscribing I've received an email stating the following: 'Please note that as of December 1, 2023, the Global Translator Community is no longer active. Please review this forum post for more information'. That's a shame :(

@@veronicamastrandrea7448 OK, I see what you mean. For some reason, it seems that older users (like me) still have access to it, but the platform is technically closed indeed. It's a massive loss to anyone who wants to start gaining some translation experience, the platform was very decent and had so much content to choose from...