 Hi, so today's video is in reply to a question. Maya Reads wrote and asked, can you talk about translating between two languages when none of them is your native language? I have a medical background and I can translate from German to English in my field, but I find it hard to get a job because neither of them is my mother tongue. I'm gonna discuss this first part, translating between two languages when none of them is your native language. So a couple of points here. First of all, I can't help but wonder why not your native language? So she didn't specify why or why not. There are a couple of reasons that I hear for which people will translate in different languages. If you have a very rare language combination that it might be harder to find jobs, but you can usually charge more for this. I'm fluent in Ukrainian and Swedish and there's not much demand for it. I'm not gonna get many jobs anytime soon, so I have to do it in different languages. But usually there's a payoff, right? Because if there's not much demand for Ukrainian-Swedish translations, there's also not much supply. So when someone does need a translation from Ukraine to Swedish or vice versa, whatever, they're willing to pay quite a bit more than for, say, Spanish to English, which is a lot more common. Or it might be the opposite. Someone say, well, I do Spanish to English translations, but it doesn't pay very well because I'm just starting out and there's so much competition that it's hard. So I should work on, say, Portuguese. It's not my native tongue, but since there's less supply, it actually pays something more decent and there's more chance that I can get the job. Now, this is true. However, again, there's a trade-off, right? There might be a lot of competition for Spanish to English translation, but there's also a lot of demand. So usually you should be able to have more opportunity to get a job. These are the two main reasons that I've heard for which people don't translate into their native tongue. Maya here didn't specify what her reason was, so let's assume that it's some other reason I haven't thought of. What might've happened is that this just fell in her lap. So what I would say at this point is, first of all, if they fell in your lap, there's probably a reason, i.e., someone needed them and if they already need them, there's already the demand for it and they came to you as the supply. Anytime you have a translation, you can use that for future translations. You get a rating, you get a referral and you can feature it in your portfolio anywhere. Translatorscafe, pros.com, they give you a segment where you can do that. It fits because it fell in your lap and you have past experience in this translation. Use that to your advantage. Every single client you've had, hit them up for a rating or review. Obviously be nice about it, et cetera and preferably do it soon after your translation so they remember you. Once you get these ratings and reviews, then you can definitely use these for future jobs. Use your past clients as ratings and referrals. Use your past translations as your portfolio. If German and English aren't your native tongue, you do speak them for some reason. So I'm sure there's a reason why you speak them. Either you lived, grew up, or whatever in the countries. If you have a medical degree from some German university, I mean, mention that first. You don't need to specify, it's not my native tongue, something, something, but you can just say I have a medical degree from University of Hamburg or something. That automatically tells the prospective client, okay, this person definitely A knows German, B knows medical type of German, so yeah. In fact, chances are they'll choose you over some native German speaker who has no medical knowledge. So emphasize the experience you have. The reason why you speak that language, whether it be work, whether it be that you grew up there, whether it be that you have a degree from there, anything along those lines. Also, as I said briefly, there's no need to mention that it's not your native tongue. And let's say ask. Obviously don't try to pretend like it's your native tongue, but you don't need to say up in front, oh, it's not my native tongue, you know, so beware. No, you just say this is my experience. So I studied in Germany or in England, blah, blah, blah. Here's my portfolio, here's some ratings and referrals from past clients. Here you go, I'm the one you should hire. So I wouldn't worry about that too much. Emphasize your pros, your good points, your strong points. Most clients, they want a good translation. If after you've performed a couple of translations for them, you mentioned I'm actually Swedish. At that point, they really won't care. That's like, well, you've been doing a great job so far. Why would I care now? So yeah, in a nutshell, that's my advice. And I hope it helps out. And I hope that it helps out other people who might be for one reason or another involved with languages that aren't their native tongue and are wondering how to proceed. If you have any questions, feel free to let me know. Otherwise, if you found this useful, please click the like button. Please click the subscribe button if you want more videos like this about freelance translation, freelancing in general. And I'll talk to you next time, bye. So yeah, it might not, it might not, sorry.