Author Topic: Side gig for a bilingual speaker?  (Read 4059 times)

DEL

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Side gig for a bilingual speaker?
« on: September 09, 2015, 02:48:53 PM »
I work in finance, and I have always been sort of  "disappointed" for lack of a better word, that my job does not call for knowledge of a second language. I speak French fluently, and I have never seen job postings in my field that require French. The only one I can think of, is in education.

So, aside from tutoring or teaching, is there a side gig involving French that I can undertake?

PS: I live in the US
« Last Edit: September 09, 2015, 04:09:02 PM by DEL »

Guses

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Re: Side gig for a bilingual speaker?
« Reply #1 on: September 09, 2015, 03:12:24 PM »
I work in finance, and I have always been sort of  "disappointed" for lack of a better word, that my job does not call for knowledge of a second language. I speak French fluently, and I have never seen job postings in my field that require French. The only one I can think of, is in education.

So, aside from tutoring or teaching, is there a side gig involving French that I can undertake?

Well it depends, are you also able to speak English?

:)

I am actually posting to follow.

Kaikou

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Re: Side gig for a bilingual speaker?
« Reply #2 on: September 09, 2015, 03:15:15 PM »
court translator

KMMK

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Re: Side gig for a bilingual speaker?
« Reply #3 on: September 09, 2015, 03:19:09 PM »
Depends where you live. The US? Definitely lots of bilingual (French/English) opportunities in Canada.

DEL

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Re: Side gig for a bilingual speaker?
« Reply #4 on: September 09, 2015, 03:30:41 PM »
court translator

I have never thought of that, definitely an avenue that I need to explore. Thanks!


Depends where you live. The US? Definitely lots of bilingual (French/English) opportunities in Canada.

Yes I live in the US. What are those opportunities you are thinking of? I am curious if I could find similar in the US.

KMMK

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Re: Side gig for a bilingual speaker?
« Reply #5 on: September 09, 2015, 04:05:50 PM »
court translator

I have never thought of that, definitely an avenue that I need to explore. Thanks!


Depends where you live. The US? Definitely lots of bilingual (French/English) opportunities in Canada.

Yes I live in the US. What are those opportunities you are thinking of? I am curious if I could find similar in the US.

Well, it's different here. But generally any business that does work across the country needs some bilingual employees. I worked in a call centre so people with good French skills were in high demand. Also most government jobs, anything dealing with immigrants/refugees from Africa as French is common in many of the countries. Definitely translation. French language editors.  You could probably work as an editor or translator over the internet for Canadian companies. I'll let you know if I think of anything else.

TheBuddha

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Re: Side gig for a bilingual speaker?
« Reply #6 on: September 09, 2015, 05:59:26 PM »
You could translate technical documents, research abstracts, etc. I don't know a whole lot more detail but I had a German internet friend who made extra money translating such material from German into English.

Cwadda

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Re: Side gig for a bilingual speaker?
« Reply #7 on: September 09, 2015, 07:37:01 PM »
From what it sounds you love the language. I think people like that have a natural affinity with teaching. Have you considered tutoring?

TheFirstMan

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Re: Side gig for a bilingual speaker?
« Reply #8 on: September 09, 2015, 09:53:30 PM »
Medical interpreter? Paid $25/hr and was super flexible about 15 years ago. You may need to invest a bit of time to pick up particular vocabulary.

thingamabobs

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Re: Side gig for a bilingual speaker?
« Reply #9 on: September 09, 2015, 11:25:08 PM »
Been thinking of becoming a medical interpreter but that requires certification. From what I've gathered so far, it will run about $1000 to take the course and get certified.

schoenbauer

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Re: Side gig for a bilingual speaker?
« Reply #10 on: September 10, 2015, 12:57:15 AM »
Hey DEL,

Im a German native speaker and translate texts mostly from English to German, rarely also the other way around as a side gig. Set up a small website (of course for free on wordpress or so) and know your advantage over other translators (price, delivery times, certificates,...). If you want to, I can send you the link to my website in a private message.

I also teamed up with other translators, who are focussing on the Central European markets. If everything goes well, I will be connecting a client to one of my translator friends this month and earn a nice premium on it.
Good luck!

PS, there are also freelancer platforms online where you might advertise your services :)