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Poll: Do you feel there is a lot of competition in your language pair(s) or field(s) of expertise?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
Hege Jakobsen Lepri
Hege Jakobsen Lepri  Identity Verified
Norway
Local time: 23:59
Member (2002)
English to Norwegian
+ ...
Absolutely not May 4, 2017

It is almost impossible to live in Norway and have translation as your only source of income (at least in the major cities) if you aim at not being poor (i.e. making more than 44000 euros per year - the threshold for having enough income to sponsor a spouse or family to residency in Norway). So few people stay in the profession for more than a few years.

In one of my language combinations, the "competition" is retiring faster than younger translators are reaching maturity/decent ab... See more
It is almost impossible to live in Norway and have translation as your only source of income (at least in the major cities) if you aim at not being poor (i.e. making more than 44000 euros per year - the threshold for having enough income to sponsor a spouse or family to residency in Norway). So few people stay in the profession for more than a few years.

In one of my language combinations, the "competition" is retiring faster than younger translators are reaching maturity/decent ability levels, so I'm only squeezed by the occasional Polish or Swedish native who thinks "how hard can it be..." ▲ Collapse
 
Nikki Scott-Despaigne
Nikki Scott-Despaigne  Identity Verified
Local time: 23:59
French to English
Quite right May 4, 2017

Sheila Wilson wrote:

There are an awful lot of FR>EN translators....


And a lot of awful FR>EN translators.
 
Pierluigi Bernardini
Pierluigi Bernardini  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 23:59
Member (2011)
English to Italian
+ ...
Definitely May 4, 2017

Absolutely yes in the EN_IT pair, while there are less colleagues working in FR_IT.
 
Mario Freitas
Mario Freitas  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 18:59
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
It depends on the point-of-view May 5, 2017

Are there a lot of translators competing in the maket in the pairs I work (En-Pt / Pt-En). Oh yes, there are tons of them, a lot more than the market requires.

But considering them "competitors" would require breaking down the whole into several groups according to the specific areas, competence and capacity to translate a document accurately and in a way that the client will be really satisfied. If you do that, in the pairs and fields I work, and in the country I work, the number o... See more
Are there a lot of translators competing in the maket in the pairs I work (En-Pt / Pt-En). Oh yes, there are tons of them, a lot more than the market requires.

But considering them "competitors" would require breaking down the whole into several groups according to the specific areas, competence and capacity to translate a document accurately and in a way that the client will be really satisfied. If you do that, in the pairs and fields I work, and in the country I work, the number of really good/competent professionals would be reduced to a number that would change the answer to "no". We would actually have a shortage of translators in those pairs.

In the areas I work, very technical, with very specific jargons, the competition actually makes me quite comfortable, for the reasons above.

So, I answered "other".

[Edited at 2017-05-05 04:39 GMT] ▲ Collapse
 
writeaway
writeaway  Identity Verified
French to English
+ ...
Absolutely May 5, 2017

Nikki Scott-Despaigne wrote:

Sheila Wilson wrote:

There are an awful lot of FR>EN translators....


And a lot of awful FR>EN translators.





 
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Poll: Do you feel there is a lot of competition in your language pair(s) or field(s) of expertise?






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