Korean Job Discussion Forums

[billybrobby]

Yeah, I thought translation would be this interesting mental excercise. And occasionally it is. But often it's just mental burger-flipping. You flip it from Korean to English. No need to use higher mental faculties, much less creativity. But other times it really is interesting stuff.

[ghostrider]

[faeriehazel]

The story about "Woori James" makes me angry. I am not a professional translator, but I've done a lot of freelance work. Nothing pisses me off more than acquaintances trying to get me to do them "a favor." They say things like "oh, you're bilingual so it should be easy." Um, no, translating stuff properly is a pain in the arse regardless of your fluency in either language. A lot of places I've worked at have also tried to foist translating work upon me even though it's not in my job description. One co-worker tried to get me to agree to edit his work for almost nothing - he brazenly told me that he liked asking acquaintances to edit for him because that way he can "get it for cheap."

[Yaya]

I've not done that much translation, but Korean-to-English pays considerably better than the other way around. That said, if you are good, you can make money as more non-Korean expats who are native speakers of English have gotten into the act.

Then you have to factor in the time, patience and meticulousness needed to do translation. If you are a self-starter and can work independently, this is a good job.

[SeoulNate]

[World Traveler]

[SeoulNate]

[World Traveler]

I don't think it's even that easy to make 30k a page anymore.

I met a Westerner who got TOPIK level 6 (the only one I have ever met who scored that high). He says he makes 20,000-25,000 won per hour from the English to Korean translation work he does. That's shockingly low.

But how much would you say the going rate is these days?

I've heard slightly less than teaching English (from multiple sources). What figure would you throw out (per hour)?

[SeoulNate]

English -> Korean != Korean -> English

... also, your foreign friend would find a much bigger market, and could command a higher price for Korean -> English if he is a native speaker of English, we are in Korea after all.

Usually the demand for translators is for native speakers of the language in demand (English) who can translate from their second language (in this case Korean) not the other way.

This is most likely simply because it is far easier to understand a colloquialism or nuance of grammar in your second language and explain it in your first language than it is to go the other way.

[World Traveler]

Yes, I know. The Westerner's native tongue was English. He was translating out of Korean into English. I've also met Korean Americans who have done translating work lately. The pay really isn't that great anymore (but I guess that depends on how you define 'great').

[steve-o]

I've found that consistency is hard to come by in those language pairs. There have been a few translators who do great work for a few pages, but fade down the stretch.

Here are some tips for Korean translation for those who are interested.