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How Do You Earn Money When You’re Bilingual?

by Jerry JuaMaking Money

Oct 24, 2020

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I’m moving to another country soon and wanted to know my options for learning the local language. I was wondering how I could use the new language I learn to earn money. So, I did some research into it and put together this helpful article about what I found.

So, how do you earn money when you’re bilingual? The main ways you can earn money when you’re bilingual is by offering translation services, such as writing and working as an interpreter. As an interpreter, you may offer your services via online or in-person.

As you may be aware, Google Translate doesn’t work well, and if Google can’t do it, I doubt any other software can. But, I will summarise what I have found with automatic translation tools and more in-depth about how to offer translation services and which ones are the best.

From one language to English is where the big money is

On average, English-speaking countries have a high cost of living. This means that businesses that are trying to capture the English speaking market are willing to pay more. So, the companies selling to customers who only speak English are the best paying clients to work with.

This is because they are attracting customers who are comfortable spending the most money.

For example, in Thailand, the cost of living is approximately half the cost of living in Australia – you can check this on a website like Numbeo.com.

Let’s take the example of a company based in Thailand that has only Thai customers. They have sold to the Thai market successfully but now want to sell their products to Australia.

When they do this, they will need to translate their marketing material and website into English from Thai. So, in my opinion, the best companies to work for are those that have been local and are now expanding internationally.

It can take quite a bit of research to find them. That’s why a lot of people will put their services up on the internet through their website. You can also make profiles on freelance websites such as Upwork.com and Freelancer.com.

Some freelance websites have branding that attracts customers who are willing to spend a bit more, for example, Fiverr.com. They attract both English speaking clients as well as people from all over the world.

A company that is expanding overseas is generally very well run and will expect a certain professionalism and presentation. Remember this when setting up your profile on the above-mentioned websites.

How to package your bilingual services

In my opinion, if you are going to offer bilingual services, the biggest need customers will have is translating from one language to another.

So, if you, for example, do a job for someone in one language, doing this job in the other language you know but would have to live in another country might not be how you want to do it. Unless you get paid more in the other country, it can make sense to move.

For example, if you get $5 an hour by doing window washing in your home country. But, you get $20 an hour window washing in a different country. You will make and save more money if you move. This will also happen even if the living expenses are the same, since you will save the same percentage of your pay.

I’ll include some fuzzy math for you below:

1) Your expenses are 60% of your income. You earn $300 a week.

2) Your expenses are 60% of your income. You earn $600 a week.

In the first case, you will save $120. In the second case, $240.

For these reasons offering translation services with your bilingual skills that requires moving to a country where people on average earn more is a good option.

There’s a ton of good advice online and at your local colleges and schools about getting a good job. Although what translation services pay well, and what are the good ones? Keep on reading.

What translation service pays the most, and what languages are most in demand?

The translation services that pay the most are ones that are closely related to the sales department. This is because all the money the company will make occurs directly from sales. The most common business functions are:

Sales
Marketing
Production
Management
Staff Handling

In my opinion, translating in management, and with staff doesn’t offer many good opportunities. In my experience, companies will only hire people who are fluent in the language or languages that the business mostly does business. Or can speak enough of it to perform the requirements of the role.

And when a translator is needed. One person who does know both languages will translate where needed be for free.

I have noticed that people who come from other countries and speak the same language tend to stick together and speak their native language. Typically, one of them will have good English and act as the interpreter. And they will discuss it amongst themselves.

Also, management has the same lack of opportunities to use your bilingual skills. But, it might work well if they want to begin selling internationally, such as in China, where theres a huge potential to grow.

However, if a Chinese company wants to sell to the UK, for example, they would hire someone fluent in both Mandarin and English.

In which case, it makes sense to hire someone bilingual because they can broker the agreements on behalf of both parties.

You should first decide on what service you want to offer. You can look around at what you would be comfortable doing. Usually, the easiest is written and spoken translation. But, it can take a little bit of practice to do well.

The UFC has become very popular lately, and you might have seen a few translators that translate for UFC fighters when they do their post-fight interviews. I’ve included a short video of one working below:

As you can see, he works in person. In my opinion, he is contracted by the company (UFC) to translate from Chinese (Mandarin) to English. Although this is an extreme example, it shows how you would work with a client while attending meetings in your country. You could also travel with the client to their destination company.

What people and businesses are a good fit to offer translation services.

You will make good money if you stick with companies that sell very expensive products. With a very expensive product, you get more chances for a face to face translation.

For, example if you are negotiating a Real Estate deal with a foreign investor. Due to the cost of real estate being very high (the product), it makes sense to pay a translator because they wouldn’t be able to negotiate a good deal without them.

They might want to make an offer of $30,000 less than what the seller is advertising it at. When they do that, they’ll easily have enough to pay a translator, whatever their fees are.

Now, think about how that would work on commercial real estate, for example, where the amount you bargain would be 10 to 100 times that. You can charge incredibly high rates and specialize.

You can also start a blog in your second language. You might find certain industries have no bloggers in them, and you can get a lot of traffic easily. From there, you can make money by showing ads or by selling your products on your website.

I recently wrote an article about how hard it is to create a blog so that it makes $500 a month. You can read it by clicking here Is It Hard to Make $500 a Month Blogging?

If you can make one that makes $500 a month, then you can make two and then three. Soon, you will have a good amount of money coming in from your websites.

What you need to start making money when you’re bilingual now

When you’re starting to make money with your bilingual skills, you need to set up some online properties. When you are making money with your bilingual skills, you are what is called a consultant. A consultant works with companies on a one on one basis. They will ask questions to find out how the company can make money and help them accomplish that.

But, with bilingual services, you need to be a bit smarter. Since you are so specialized, finding the customers that need your services can be a bit tricky.

Make a website, or list your services on a website where you can get reviews.

There are few good websites to start with where you can find people that are actively searching for a translator. You have two options, and you will eventually want both. The first one is to create an account on an online marketplace where people sell their services. You can try multiple sites as well.

Working on different platforms doesn’t take much time at all. The more marketplaces you post on, the more opportunities you’d have. For example, you could browse through all the new gigs posted that day, screen them for ones you want to do, and then send out your pitches to them in about an hour.

Make a simple website

Then you want to set up a simple website. It should have a picture of you, and information about your services. There are many good tips online about making a website for your services, which is beyond what I can cover in this article. A good resource for this is from thefreelancehustle.com.

You want to get testimonials and reviews from customers as much as you can. Once you have reviews and testimonials, it becomes a lot easier to get work.

Whether you’re doing a job or looking for gigs, the action you need to take is always the same. That is to keep offering your services until you get enough work.

For example, if you don’t have a job doing translation services at the moment. Then you just need to apply with your CV to all the different positions you can find available. You should also pitch clients who are looking for translators on the many websites that are now available.

Such websites are:

On all of these websites, you can create a profile, talk with other translators, get training on using the platform to get clients, and sending pitches to clients.

When you do this, a small percentage of the jobs you apply to will accept your offer. Then you will have a job. Many people aim to get a certain amount of jobs a month.

After some experience, they will have learned certain things by looking at training from other translating freelancers. But, most can be learned from experience and doing it yourself. For example, after having your first few clients, you will realize that you need to have a written agreement template that you use for each client. You will also figure out how long it takes you to translate.

So, suppose you are translating for a company that sells expensive medical equipment or luxury items. In that case, they will have bigger budgets to spend on translation services, and you can charge more.

Should you learn a new language to become a translator?

It makes sense if you have a particular interest in another culture. For example, some people are very big into Japanese culture. Even though they were born in the USA, Japanese culture just fits well with their tastes and personality. So, they are very motivated to learn the Japanese language because they love Japan so much.

Some languages, though, are very hard to learn coming from English. Examples are Mandarin and Russian. Mandarin, is the predominant language spoken in China, uses individual pictures for individual words that are hard to learn.

Whereas a language like Spanish has almost all the same letters. So, reading and writing it is a lot easier. This is also the case with Russian, where they have a completely different alphabet.

Nonetheless, most people estimate it to take anywhere from 6 months to 2 years to become completely fluent in another language.

It is also a good option for younger people because you don’t need any formal education to be a perfect translator. It might be helpful to get some certificates in the future, and you should definitely show off any that you do have.

I covered other ways young people can make money from home, that you should read if you are under 18. You can click this article here How Can I Make Money at Home if I’m Under 18? to read it.

What products are good to translate for – both from English and to English

You will generally make good money if you stick with very expensive products, for example, large healthcare machines, luxury real estate, and helicopters. Usually, but not always, very expensive products have the highest margin.

Suppose you are translating for a company that sells high ticketed items. In that case, the probability is they will have bigger budgets to spend on translation services.

Conclusion

To earn money when you’re bilingual, you need to apply for gigs and job offerings. You can also set up a website and refer people to it. The most money comes from translating one language into English because English speaking countries have high wages. Other than that, you want to focus on companies that have an expensive product such as jets, cars, or machines.

The reason is that the company makes more when they make one sale, so they are willing to pay you more for your translation services. There are a bunch of good websites to advertise your services on that have an active and vibrant marketplace.

The website you are on now is an online marketplace. They offer a free account that gives you up to 3 listings at any given time during the month. All transactions are between buyers and sellers. There are no selling commissions or hidden fees. If you are interested in listing your items, click here.