Billing itself as the "The Translation Workplace", ProZ.com is a gathering place for translators who lament the low-cost chop shops that profane their art at 0.01 EUR/word, share horror stories of mistranslation and demanding clients, and provide resources for fellow translators on page 79/120 of "shall provide for the development of the capacity of communities to exercise migration control consistent with communities' established obligations for migration control" at 3:00 AM. Contributors tend to work in European Union countries, but there is a healthy gathering of members living in North America, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand, and East Asia.
The site is split up into the following sections:
Jobs:
Jobs are posted on a daily basis with a summary of the text at hand, the length, and the price the client is willing to pay. The client may choose to restrict the listing to Platinum members only, or open the bidding process to all members. Although some choose to have resumes sent by email, most clients solicit bids through the site, which consists of a translator quoting a rate, providing a deadline, and explaining why he or she is the best translator for the job.
A peer-reviewed system for resolving difficult translation questions. Queries are divided into "easy" and "pro". A translator (or anyone else with a question about translation) posts a tricky phrase that he or she is having a hard time translating, and the query is sent to translation professionals who have stated their expertise in the language pair and field of questioning. Members may then submit their responses along with references, usually culled from Google, and an explanation of their answer if necessary. Other members may choose to agree, disagree, or post a neutral reaction any of the responses. After reviewing the responses, the asker selects an answer and awards a number of points, from one to four, to the answerer. These points show up on the answerer's profile page.
KudoZ has been criticized for favoring responses that are fast rather than accurate and well researched, but it is generally a useful tool as long as the asker does his or her own fact-checking.
Forum:
An extensive forum that covers topics ranging from business sense to technical discussions on translation tools to conversations about translation in literature. The main forum is in English, but there are other forums in languages ranging from Arabic to Russian.
A peer-reviewed system for posting technical
glossaries founded by
Brazilian translator and conference interpreter
Maria Eugênia Farré in February
2000. GlossPost allows users to search a directory of 6,000-7,000 glossaries for one matching their needs. GlossPost has a well established set of rules and is one of the largest mailing lists for translators, interpreters, and
terminology specialists.
Directory:
A directory of available translators and agencies. Potential clients can search by language pair, native language, field of experience, and country of residence. Once a translator has been selected, the client can see a profile page with the translator's description of him/herself, the software with which the translator is capable, education, experience, KudoZ points, and whatever else the translator might decide to make public.
CAT tools:
ProZ contains reviews and comparisons of
CAT (
Computer-Assisted Translation) tools, as well as discounts for Platinum members.
Regular memberships are free. Platinum memberships cost $120 per year, with the added benefits of priority on bidding, the ability to view more information about clients, and other advantages.