Volunteering as a translator

July 25, 2020 1:26 PM

An east asian language is my mother tongue but I would like more practise translating it to and from English. Are there website that allow me to volunteer as a document translator?
posted by existentialwhale to Writing & Language (7 answers total)

A lot of open-source software projects are always looking for translators to work on both documentation and UI elements. You can also translate Wikipedia articles across languages.
posted by trig at 1:48 PM on July 25, 2020 [2 favorites]

Oh, and if it happens to be a language well-represented in TV shows and movies you might look into doing volunteer subtitling (for a legal example there's Viki, and in more murky legal territory there might be relevant fansubbing groups that work on pirated releases). Similarly if it's a language with a presence in comics (search for "scanlations") or web animations.
posted by trig at 1:53 PM on July 25, 2020 [2 favorites]

One more thought: depending on where you live you might be able to volunteer to translate information related to local government or public services. I'd look at libraries, hospitals, voting-related organizations, etc.
posted by trig at 1:57 PM on July 25, 2020

You can volunteer translating TED talks, with Translators Without Borders, or by translating Wikipedia articles.
posted by abeja bicicleta at 2:31 PM on July 25, 2020 [3 favorites]

If you happen to be passionate about any fandom, I've never heard of a fanfiction author who wasn't beyond thrilled to have their work translated.
posted by potrzebie at 4:19 PM on July 25, 2020

Add to your language's Wikipedia by translating articles that are only in English!
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 7:03 PM on July 25, 2020

People can and do post requests for translation on reddit /r/translator, you could try hanging out there. Some of the requests are lengthy and some are really brief so you can choose which ones to reply to based on your available time.
posted by McNulty at 12:02 AM on July 26, 2020