To be a good translator, as a bare minimum , you need to: - Master your source (foreign) language(s), - Be a great writer in your target (native) language, - Have a translation qualification or exceptional foreign language skills and industry experience, - Have in-depth knowledge of the culture of your source and target languages, - Deliver your work on time, - Have a Quality Assurance process in place, - Set rates that reflect the quality of the work you produce, - etc. However, to go from being someone who knows how to translate to being a thriving freelance translator, you should also consider the following: 1. Find your niche As a qualified generalist, you can almost certainly find work with big agencies, but they usually only agree to pay low-to-average rates and have you working under mediocre conditions (quick turn-around times, volume discounts, degressive pricing with CAT tools, etc.). If you really specialise in a subject area (preferably in somethin