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Meet Jae, Translator & Teacher
- maryhartley19
- Nov 10
- 3 min read
Name: Jae Marple
Degree: BA Modern Languages (French, Spanish and Portuguese), University of Warwick; MA Applied Translation Studies, University of Leeds
How did you spend your Year Abroad?
2 x Erasmus placements (Université Bordeaux Montaigne, Universidad de Málaga) and one month volunteering at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro
Briefly outline your journey from graduation to now.
After completing my Master's just over six years ago, I started building my freelance translation business and teaching MFL in primary schools on the side to supplement my self-employed income. Then, as my business continued to grow and more clients began working with me, I started dwindling down my teaching hours until I went pretty much full-time in translation, simply keeping my few remaining afternoons of teaching as an additional form of financial security and in order to support my well-being — I'm a very sociable person, you see, so spending the whole week in my home office wouldn't do me much good.
As a freelance translator, I have mostly served the sports and tourism industries and the international development sector, working on some very interesting and highly rewarding projects in the process, including a book about the history of French football and a series of disease control funding requests submitted by many sub-Saharan African countries to major NGOs during the Covid-19 pandemic. I have also been tasked with translating content in many other areas, such as online casinos, retail and food and drink, and have recently started helping out in immersive speaking and listening sessions with secondary MFL pupils, where pupils find themselves in a French or Spanish restaurant and cannot order a single item or say a single word in English.
What is your current job? Freelance Translator/MFL Teacher
What does your current job involve day to day?
Every day is different, as no two translation jobs are the same, but on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, I will translate and/or work on my business in my home office in the morning, before heading to school in the afternoon; and on Tuesdays and Thursdays, unless I'm doing the odd interactive speaking and listening session at secondary schools (usually no more than one a month), I'll simply be translating and taking care of anything related to my business. My home office used to be my grandad's workshop in the back garden, so we kitted it out with everything I needed, including my dartboard — I make exactly 25 visits to the oche whenever I take a break every 1.25-1.5 hours or so.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
The great variety of work that comes my way – no working day is boring for me – the fact that I'm now mostly translating about things that I'm genuinely interested in and the freedom that comes with being self-employed – I enjoy being in control of my own schedule.
What advice would you give to someone interested in this job?
The translation industry landscape is forever changing, and so is the type of work that we have been receiving since the advent of AI. Connecting with experienced translators and/or interpreters on social media and keeping abreast of developments in the industry are therefore a must; we must now be highly adaptability and have various strings to our bow.
How has your languages degree been useful during your career so far?
I draw on my language skills, cultural knowledge and ability to think critically every single day.
Do you use or practise your languages outside of work?
I regularly watch films and series and listen to music in my foreign languages, read the French, Spanish and Portuguese news and travel to France, Spain and Portugal as much as I can.
Connect with Jae on LinkedIn here
Thanks very much to Jae for sharing his journey!
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