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The Savvy Newcomer aims to serve newcomers to the translation and interpreting professions by publishing high-quality, peer-reviewed content on a weekly basis. We strive to provide you with the answers to the many questions you face as a new or aspiring translator or interpreter.

Embracing the Part-Time Paradigm: Empowering Part-Time Professionals to Adopt the Small-Business-Owner Mentality

By The Savvy Newcomer | March 11, 2025
Embracing the Part-Time Paradigm Empowering Part-Time Professionals To Adopt the Small-Business-Owner Mentality

Many language professionals start out doing their work “on the side” of whatever else they are doing in life. When people find out you are bilingual, you may be asked to do some volunteer interpreting to help out a friend, family member, or someone in need, or you may agree or be expected to do the occasional translation—and maybe even get paid for it. Volunteering and doing small side jobs are great ways to gain experience and improve your skills as a translator or interpreter. But in order to be a professional—whether you plan on doing this work part-time or…

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Savvy Diversification Series – How I Became a Mobile App Localizer

By The Savvy Newcomer | July 26, 2022
How I Became a Mobile App Localizer

The Savvy Newcomer team has been taking stock of the past year and finding that one key priority for many freelance translators and interpreters has been diversification. Offering multiple services in different sectors or to different clients can help steady us when storms come. Diversification can help us hedge against hard times. With this in mind, we’ve invited a series…

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Savvy Diversification Series – Copyediting 101: What It Is, What It’s Not, and Who Needs It

By The Savvy Newcomer | July 12, 2022
Savvy Diversification Series – Copyediting 101: What It Is, What It's Not, and Who Needs It

The Savvy Newcomer team has been taking stock of the past year and finding that one key priority for many freelance translators and interpreters has been diversification. Offering multiple services in different sectors or to different clients can help steady us when storms come. Diversification can help us hedge against hard times. With this in mind, we’ve invited a series…

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The Devil is in the Details: Why You Need to Start Using a Corpus to Localize and Translate Better

By The Savvy Newcomer | June 28, 2022
The Devil is in the Details: Why You need to Start Using a Corpus

This post was originally published on Ana Lis Salotti Translations. It is reposted with permission. Do you know what a CORPUS is? Have you ever used a corpus before in your translation career? Have you ever felt stuck with a simple phrase in your source language and can’t find an equivalent that runs as smoothly as your original? If you…

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Healthy Relationships with Translation Agencies and Project Managers

By The Savvy Newcomer | June 7, 2022
Healthy Relationships with Translation Agencies and Project Managers

This post was originally published on A Translator Thinking Outside the Box. It is reposted with permission. December’s always been a crazy month for me. Work pours in ahead of the Holiday Season, the house and the pool get more crowded and noisy than usual with my two teenage boys out of school, not to mention preparations for Christmas’ Eve,…

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Editing Translations: Tips for Cultivating a Collaborative Mindset

By The Savvy Newcomer | May 31, 2022
Editing Translations: Tips for Cultivating a Collaborative Mindset

Most translators I know also work as editors. There seems to be an industry assumption that translators do both by default. This makes sense, of course: the translator-turned-editor knows the source and target languages and is also an excellent reader and writer. However, revising one’s own work is different from revising someone else’s. And without training or clear expectations for…

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Make Yourself Ridiculously Referrable

By The Savvy Newcomer | May 24, 2022
Make Yourself Ridiculously Referrable

This post was originally published on the 15 Minute Freelancer Podcast. It is republished with permission.  Tell me, is there any better feeling as a freelancer than getting that little ping in your inbox from someone saying they need someone who provides your services, and they heard from someone else that you were the number one person to ask? I…

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Global Talent Networking Session: Acing the Application Process Edition

By The Savvy Newcomer | May 17, 2022
GALA Global Talent Networking Event

The Globalization and Localization Association (GALA) is planning a series of events for students on soft skills. The second event is May 20th and focuses on interviewing and CV prep. Standout as a Job Candidate Are you ready for a career in the language industry? Students and new professionals are invited to learn how to create a compelling CV and…

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Self-Published Authors: Another Option for Literary Translation

By The Savvy Newcomer | May 10, 2022
Self-Published Authors: Another Option for Literary Translation

A lot of us first became interested in translation because we wanted to translate books, or more specifically, novels. Even if we ended up specializing in marketing, insurance, or patent translation, we never quite gave up that literary dream. The thing is, if you don’t already have a track record as a literary translator, the chances of a publisher emailing…

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Savvy Diversification Series – Offering Consulting Services to Other Freelancers

By The Savvy Newcomer | April 26, 2022
Savvy Diversification Series – Offering consulting services to other freelancers

The Savvy Newcomer team has been taking stock of the past year and finding that one key priority for many freelance translators and interpreters has been diversification. Offering multiple services in different sectors or to different clients can help steady us when storms come. Diversification can help us hedge against hard times. With this in mind, we’ve invited a series…

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