无忧传媒

By Gillian Morris
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I never know what to tell people when they ask me what I do for a job. A few years ago, I would have proudly and unhesitatingly announced that I was a translator, but more recently, the lines have become blurred. Am I really a translator now? My working hours are increasingly dominated by other language-related pursuits.听

The world of the freelancer

Since going freelance, I鈥檝e always had other strings to my bow to keep my income steady and sustainable. After working in a translation agency, I knew that translation workloads vary and experience counts for a lot, so I started out offering freelance project management services in addition to translation work. With two regular PM roles secured, my second focus was always on getting my first few translation clients. It was only a year or so after that when copywriting and localisation requests from regular clients started to appear, and my business began flourishing. This career shift wasn鈥檛 as easy as I鈥檓 making out. The journey of honing my existing skills and moving into different industries can be characterised by a lot of hard work, training, and (sometimes brutal) feedback.
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Professional translator 鈥� or language expert?

I spent years dreaming of being able to finally call myself a professional translator, only to find that a few years down the line, most of my business activity lies elsewhere. But I don鈥檛 want to call myself a copywriter or a localisation expert. It would feel like part of my identity as a translator was missing. I have to admit, when people began to suggest the term 鈥淟anguage expert鈥�, I was sceptical at first. Does it actually explain what I do? No. But will it in the future? I think it will. Because right now, it seems we鈥檙e in the process of redefining our profession.

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The changing world of a translator 鈥� human vs machine?

I recently asked my network of colleagues on LinkedIn if they were experiencing similar workload shifts, and the unanimous answer was 鈥測es鈥�. Like me, many people reported shifts away from translation work towards editing, proofreading, post-editing, copywriting, content writing, and localisation jobs. It appears that work isn鈥檛 disappearing, it鈥檚 changing 鈥� and we鈥檙e moving along with the tide. In the current climate, it鈥檚 heartening to see that clearly there are many clients out there who prioritise human work in important creative areas, using AI as the tool it鈥檚 intended to be, not a replacement.

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Diversification

For me personally, this shift is positive. It has enabled me to offer a wider range of services, and therefore increase my client base and earnings. I鈥檝e expanded my knowledge and got to know colleagues from all sorts of professions. My world has got bigger, and with every day comes even more varied challenges and different ways to use my curious brain. I would 100% recommend anyone launching a freelance translation career to diversify from the start.

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鈥淚鈥檓 a linguist!鈥�

If anyone asks me what I do for a living in the future? Perhaps I might change my answer. It isn鈥檛 a bad thing to admit that I鈥檓 not just a translator anymore. I鈥檓 a linguist. With transferrable skills and cultural competence that can be flexed in all directions.

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Gillian Morris is still deciding. Is she a linguist, or a French > English translator, copywriter, and localisation expert? Who knows. You can find her on and
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Views expressed on 无忧传媒 Voices are those of the writer and may not represent those of the wider membership or 无忧传媒.
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