fter marriage and two children, Sarita's life was reduced to scuttling between school and home, helping children with homework and completing household chores, till she finally decided to pick up the threads of her professional life from where she left.

"I had a post graduate degree in music and a natural flair for writing," says Sarita. "I wanted to leverage both. I began doing some music reviews for magazines."

"I also know Marathi well enough," she adds, "to translate texts from English to Marathi and vice versa. When a family friend asked me to translate a few documents urgently, I volunteered. After that, there was no looking back. I have now translated one book, several articles and am working on an autobiography of a leading personality."

Translation is becoming a money spinner, indeed!

The work involves working independently with written text, understanding words and ideas expressed in one language and putting them across clearly and accurately in grammatically correct sentences, in another language. That is not easy.

• How to become an animator

~ Skills required

i. Excellent writing and editing skills in the target language as well as the ability to work independently are basic prerequisites.

ii. You need to have a flair for creative writing besides a command on the languages to translate feature articles and books.

iii. In addition to language skills, if you have formal qualifications in literature, finance, law, technology or a post graduate science degree, you stand a better chance of getting regular specialised translation work that fetches good returns.    

iv. The speed with which the documents are turned around is critical. So besides the ability to translate, you also need to have keyboard skills.

The delivery schedules depend on the exact nature of the job. If you are translating an autobiography of a prominent personality in a regional language, the deadline may be lenient compared to translating feature articles for a weekly magazine.

• Want to become an RJ?

~ Work involved

Your area of interest and skill set will dictate the kind of assignments you can get.

If you have language skills plus a flair for creative writing, churning out subtitles for movies, documentaries, translating books, autobiographies, novels, children books, thesaurus and dictionaries maybe just right for you.

Opportunities also exist for translating from English to a foreign language (and vice versa) and from English to regional languages (and vice versa).

Often, independent editors and proofreaders may also be involved in the job. They review and refine the translation work so that it reads as if it were originally written in the target language.

In many cases, specialised software translates a portion of the text and editors are required to clean the copy.

• Want to become a television reporter?

~ Breaking in

Scout for information on the likely clients in your field of expertise.

For example, if you hold a post graduate qualification in communications besides formal qualifications in a foreign language, you may want to check for openings with publishing houses, big travel and tour operators, hotels, cruise operators, movie production houses, etc.

Even hospitals seeking global clients need translators for their printed brochures and their web sites.

If you have acquired the mastery through a reputed language institute, ask for guidance (and recommendations) in getting such jobs.

Translators are also required at government offices, international trade organisations, research organisations, diplomatic missions and embassies.

Before actually giving any assignment, companies may put you through a copy test in the languages you are translating to and from.

Several organisations specialising in translation work -- both in regional and foreign languages -- undertake work for global clients in legal, finance, life sciences, manufacturing, retail business, advertising and information technology fields.

Many offer opportunities either on assignment basis or part-time each day.

Most international setups pay very well, but they have very tight quality controls and seek a certain number of years of experience prefer persons with specific qualifications.

• Want to start a travel company?

~ How much can you earn?

Most freelance translators charge by the word.

The rate depends on the languages, the complexity and the urgency of the assignment.

Foreign translations, like English to Asian and Eastern European languages, and the ability to translate between two non-English languages, tend to command a premium rate.

Legal, medical and financial assignments can also fetch good returns.

Fees for regional translations of books, novels and autobiographies depend on the length, delivery schedule and the popularity of the original book and writer.

Many established experts in the field seek advance fees and balance in varying proportions as the work progresses.

If you plan to take on a part-time job for fixed number of hours, you can easily look at making between Rs 10,000 and Rs 15,000 per month, with rate per word ranging from Rs 1 to Rs 5.

This, again, depends on the type of assignment, delivery schedule, or the actual numbers of hours you are required to devote each day. 

• Want to mint money?

~ The basics!

You need the following basic tools:

• A home computer system
• Software for the language you will be translating into
• A printer

Depending on the nature of the job, you may also require an Internet connection if you are expected to deliver soft copies on an ongoing basis.