Part 5 in our Summer Blog Series ”Translators Around The World”!
I am an Estonian translator living in Tallinn. Growing up in Estonia, I learned a lot of languages at school, and I excelled at them. After finishing high school, I decided to move abroad to Vancouver, Canada, where I completed my degree at the University of British Columbia, majoring in Classical Studies and minoring in Sociology. I wasn’t quite sure what to do after university, but amid the pandemic, I thought it would be great to put my language skills to use, and I started working remotely as a junior translator for a translation agency. I quickly became fond of it: it was a job that always kept challenging me, and even though I spent all my time at a computer, no day looked the same, as I was able to try my hand at different texts ranging from memos and e-mails to legal contracts to marketing materials. Thus, I decided to do a master’s in Translation at the University of Tartu while working as a freelance translator. These days, I enjoy working on large projects, which means that I take on a lot of website projects. On top of that, I also translate shorter marketing and legal texts, and I have started offering copywriting.
I have to say that all my days are different. However, they usually start similarly: after a good breakfast, I open my laptop while sipping on my coffee and reply to any e-mails. On the occasion that I have calls with clients, I tend to schedule them for the morning. This is also when I do any admin work and/or marketing, which mainly consists of posting or commenting on LinkedIn. The afternoon is usually spent on client work, whether that is translation, editing, or copywriting. Since I usually have at least one ongoing long project, I try to make sure I’m working daily on it, but also leave time for other smaller projects.
Beyond friends and family who are very supportive of my career, I’ve always felt that it is necessary to have a community of colleagues with whom I can collaborate and share ideas. I am part of the #TeamTranslator community, where we discuss both our wins and losses daily on a Slack group. I attend translation conferences a few times a year, which always give me new ideas and viewpoints and serve as an opportunity to meet wonderful people. I am also a member of the Nordic Editors and Translators organisation (NEaT) and the Mediterranean Editors and Translators association (MET).
I enjoy spending time with my family and friends. Although I am a city girl and enjoy the buzz of Tallinn, I equally love spending time outdoors whenever possible: going on hikes and swimming in the summer and skiing in the winter. Since I don’t have to be at a certain location for work, I also get to travel quite often.
Margret Rand
Freelance translator
The writer is a freelance translator who studied in Canada and Estonia. She is an active member in several communities for language professionals. She is based in Tallinn, Estonia, but enjoys working from different places, thanks to the independent nature of her work.
Website: https://www.margretrand.com