Practicing translation in Lithuania

In Lithuania, virtually anyone can be a translator, subject to coming forward as such with a proposal to provide the service. This is what students or graduates of the language faculties of a number of universities of Lithuania usually do. One of the options available to advertise yourself as a translator is the classified newspapers. One of these, called Alio reklama, is published in Vilnius and covers the entire country. Normally one can find 10 to 15 personal advertisements offering translation between Lithuanian and such languages as English, Russian, German, French, etc, here. Taking into account that there are several local papers of this type there could amount, all in all, to several tens of personal translation adds in rotation.

Unlike announcing yourself a member of the translation profession, receiving remuneration for your work faces certain restrictions. Thus anyone wishing to receive monetary remuneration legally for a translation service needs first to acquire a licence from the local department of the Public Authority of Taxes. The licence, called verslo liudijimas (‘Business Certificate’), entitles the holder to engage in a particular business and to receive a non-taxable revenue within defined limits, subject to payment of a one-time flat fee for the license. The trade of translation, for this purpose, is referred to as ‘translating to a  language other than the source language’. Licenses are normally issued for a single combination of languages and can be valid in duration from several days to a calendar year (not beyond a current calendar year, though). The license fee is charged on the basis of the duration of the license and can amount to several hundred Litas for a yearly license (the sum differs slightly in various regions of Lithuania). To be able to obtain a license to practice any of the eligible trades (the current list of eligible trades includes 80 items, from ‘tool sharpening’ through to 'tourist guides'), applicants must have their social contributions  paid. These can be paid at a special rate established by the Government, applicable to those who prefer to be employed on their own. The total amount of cost of having a license for translation stays within 150 litas a month.

The sovereignty Lithuania regained in 1991 brought life to the market of translation services as much as to any other field of enterprise. Formerly restricted to a state-organised domestic services corporation (interestingly, called Swan - Gulbė), providing such services as sewing, hairdressing, cobbling, etc., translation soon became a domain of private entrepreneurship. Some of the first private translation offices emerged in the early nineties and soon upgraded translation from using mechanical or, as a major step forward, electronic typewriters, to computerised word processing. Ever since, the number of translation agencies (including those who list translation among their other services), has kept growing at a pace rivalled, perhaps, only by that of the number of privately-owned cars - i.e., doubling each year. According to the data of the Public Register of Corporations, around a thousand companies have registered themselves to engage in translation so far. Nearly 140 companies demonstrate themselves to be active in this field by advertising their translation services in a national directory Visa Lietuva (The Whole of Lithuania) operated by Eniro Lietuva, the local branch of the Scandinavian company Eniro. Lithuania currently enjoys a versatile range of translation services, including the  presence of major international translation chains, like Eurogloss, Pangloss, etc., a number of smaller or larger private translation offices, usually relying on free-lancers, which cover most of the Germanic, Nordic, and Slavic languages, some even offering Arabic or Chinese, and the pending introduction of the institution of sworn translators.

to be continued

translating

editing

learning

translators

agencies

editors

readings

lt

pl

ukr

ru