Translation memories are unlike wine.

~Mykhailo Voloshko

Older does not mean better.

Translators are satellites of business.

~Mykhailo Voloshko

We help others make profits.

Translators play cat and mouse.

~Mykhailo Voloshko

Well, it's actually a CAT and a computer mouse.

TM is mine. Yours, vendor.

~Oleksandr Pysaryuk

A good translator wants finding.

~Mykhailo Voloshko

There are, perhaps, too many translators nowadays. But still a good translator wants finding. The more subprime translators there are, the more difficult it is to find a good one, and the more precious a good translator is. Like gold. ;)

Translator's glass is a fuzzy match.

~Mykhailo Voloshko

It's not half-full or half-empty, it's 50% match—on the one hand, it's useless, on the other, paid in full. ;)

Translator is an invisible co-author.

~Mykhailo Voloshko

Wise and invisible like the owl below. This is what a translator should be like in the target text.

Translator: The most attentive reader.

~Mykhailo Voloshko

Perhaps, person of no other profession can be more attentive in reading than a translator. We are the best QA tools, because we need to understand what is written to the minutiae to be able to convey the same idea in the target language.

If I were a copywriter, I would always hire a good translator to translate my writing into some non-kindred language and tell me what is unclear, wrong or could be written better.

In transcreation, the translator is asked to provide back translation of suggested alternatives. And it sometimes helps to find better options, too.

Human translation is a retronym.

~Mykhailo Voloshko

Translator is the second copywriter.

~Mykhailo Voloshko

The above five words explained

As one of our colleagues put it, "#1 misconception about translation is that marketing copy that took a team of 20 people two months to put together can be translated overnight by one Person and still retain the same impact as the original."

If I ever had to order translation of my content, I would want to find a person who would care about as much as the copywriter who created it in the first place. I would like that person to take their time and to do their job with pleasure, and for good compensation. Because that's when a translator does the best job.

I wish our customers understood it and wanted the same for their content. :)

Translator must have a web-site.

~Mykhailo Voloshko

The above five words explained
At some point in freelance career, a professional translator will need a web-site. In the beginning, you need a CV, where you show to potential clients that they should choose you as a translator of their valuable content.

However, after the years of professional experience — if you do everything right — you come to the point where you decide whose content you will translate. You don't need a CV any more. You don't have to prove you're an expert any more. You're not looking for work any more. Now the work finds you.

In that case, you rather need some kind of brochure or a web-site where you highlight your services, experience, testimonials, case studies, you name it. Just as any non-translation company would do. 

I did so. You can visit my professional translation web-site. Your feedback is welcome.

Translator is a sentence transformer.

~Mykhailo Voloshko

Translator knows names of things.

~Mykhailo Voloshko

Human translation is natural honey.

~Mykhailo Voloshko

DISREGARD CAPS IN INSTANT MESSAGES.

~Mykhailo Voloshko

Instant coffee, fast food, MT.

~Mykhailo Voloshko

Be your customer's live flesh.

Dead skin doesn't hurt.
~Mykhailo Voloshko

The first victims of marketing.

comix

Peanuts? Leave them for monkeys.

~Arkadi Burkov

TEnTs occupy all the inches.

~Mykhailo Voloshko