In developing countries, literacy in English, French and other European languages is increasing fast, so translators in developed countries fear they will lose out on jobs to colleagues in countries with lower wages. Some report that they already do.
Nevertheless, as developing economies grow and become more open, many of them still face a huge translation skills shortage. Although European languages are official in many developing countries, relatively few people reach native-speaker proficiency, and even fewer study translation. Purchasers of language services in those countries often cannot find competent, professional, full-time translators and interpreters and have to resort to part-timers, with varying results.
This presentation was inspired by the positive experiences I had while living in Namibia, where I have acquired half a dozen clients willing to pay my rates because they needed the high-quality work that I provide.
