Stumped by agency's question
Thread poster: David Jones
David Jones
David Jones  Identity Verified
Taiwan
Local time: 21:55
Chinese to English
+ ...
Nov 11, 2020

Hello folks,

I contacted an agency to offer up my services, told them up front that I don't have any experience in this particular field as I'm just starting up but I'm happy to do a test for them. Then they asked me "By the way, what's your rate for translation and proofreading generally? And could you do transcription, if so, what's the rate then?"

I was just going to quote the standard proz Chinese to English rate of 0.08 for translation... But what about proofreadin
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Hello folks,

I contacted an agency to offer up my services, told them up front that I don't have any experience in this particular field as I'm just starting up but I'm happy to do a test for them. Then they asked me "By the way, what's your rate for translation and proofreading generally? And could you do transcription, if so, what's the rate then?"

I was just going to quote the standard proz Chinese to English rate of 0.08 for translation... But what about proofreading? I wasn't expecting to get asked about this lol and transcription - I'm tempted to go for it, but thought I'd better ask for advice before doing anything rash. Or would I be wise at this stage to just take it all one step at a time?

Thank you all you kind folks with much experience I really appreciate your advice.
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Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 14:55
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
@David Nov 11, 2020

David Jones wrote:
But what about proofreading? I wasn't expecting to get asked about this...


Many translators also offer proofreading/editing/revision of other translations. You can charge for it per hour (this is the safest option for you but not for the client), or you can charge a percentage of your normal translation rate. It is usual to charge 1/3 or 1/4 of the translation rate for proofreading.

... and transcription - I'm tempted to go for it, but thought I'd better ask for advice before doing anything rash.


I haven't done much transcription myself. In my opinion, transcription is tiring. I can do translations for 12 hours a day, but my brain is fried after 3-4 hours of transcription (and then I can't do anything else for the rest of the day). Remember, it takes 6-10 hours to transcribe 1 hour of audio. Also remember that many agencies want you to quote for transcription per audio hour, not per actual hour.


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Elena Feriani
Elena Feriani
Italy
Local time: 14:55
Member
French to Italian
+ ...
An experienced colleague suggested me to quote 50% of my translation fee when I started Nov 11, 2020

...and I still charge 50% for editing/proofreading.
I don't do transcription either.


satish krishna itikela
David Jones
 
Daryo
Daryo
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:55
Serbian to English
+ ...
Be VERY careful about "proofreading" anything Nov 11, 2020

you could end up with someone else's horror show failed attempt at translation or you could be given some "Machine Translation" output to "proofread" - so bad that it's easier to retranslate the ST from scratch.

You don't want to be put in a situation that you do in effect translations at proofreading rates - a dirty trick easier to pull on beginners.


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satish krishna itikela
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Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 13:55
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
Also Nov 11, 2020

Samuel Murray wrote:
Remember, it takes 6-10 hours to transcribe 1 hour of audio. Also remember that many agencies want you to quote for transcription per audio hour, not per actual hour.

Also remember that the term "transcription" relates to listening to an audio file and creating a text file containing exactly the spoken words you hear. Agencies often ask simply for transcription when what they actually want is:
1) Transcription of a text in your source language
2) Translation of the script into your target language
Step (2) will of course need to be proofread, and so will step (1) if the text was at all complex and/or if the client wants you to deliver the script, meaning that punctuation, spelling etc (in your source language) all need to be polished. There are very few people who claim to be able to do a decent job of listening in one language and typing in another. In fact I think it would be highly unlikely to produce a polished written translation although it may be okay for a straightforward internal memo. But some agencies seem to think there's some sort of instant auto-convert process that goes on between our ears and our fingers .

It follows that this two-step process is going to take a long while. You can say quite a lot in a minute! How much will be said is something you can't quantify until after you've done the transcription, so the client is going to have to accept that they won't know before you start work exactly how much you'll be charging for the translation part. In short, if an agency says "We can pay one euro per minute", they don't mean an hourly rate of EUR 60. They are offering a pittance! You have been warned!

There are various free and paid-for apps that will help with transcription. You really do need to make use of one, preferably with a foot pedal but hot keys suffice if you aren't doing much transcription. ExpressScribe is the one I'm familiar with. Personally, I found being a glorified audio typist was an intensely boring, menial job that left me mentally and physically drained each time, particularly as so many of the files were of very poor audio quality. I soon stopped offering the service, especially as clients seemed to think I only deserved audio typist rates for English monolingual transcription. Why then did they contact a qualified translator???


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David Jones
David Jones  Identity Verified
Taiwan
Local time: 21:55
Chinese to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks for the advice folks :) Nov 13, 2020

I had one agency the other day tell me that they usually pay translators 0.02 USD a word... I don't really see how you could make a living on that anywhere in the world...

 
David Jones
David Jones  Identity Verified
Taiwan
Local time: 21:55
Chinese to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Talking with agencies about money... Nov 13, 2020

So I know it's vulgar to talk about money (to quote my grandmother)... however at this very early stage I do appreciate the feedback folks.

Based on the Proz standard Ch - En rate of 0.08 per word one agency told me "For translation-company, it's really high to make quotation to our clients based on this rate. For long term or for large volume, what is your acceptable minimum rate?"

I bent a little and told them I'd take 0.07 just because I'm new but insisted that thi
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So I know it's vulgar to talk about money (to quote my grandmother)... however at this very early stage I do appreciate the feedback folks.

Based on the Proz standard Ch - En rate of 0.08 per word one agency told me "For translation-company, it's really high to make quotation to our clients based on this rate. For long term or for large volume, what is your acceptable minimum rate?"

I bent a little and told them I'd take 0.07 just because I'm new but insisted that this was my lowest...

One thing I've noticed with my language pair is that many of the agencies are coming from China / SE Asia and their rates are incredibly low... What have other's found in this regard? Do you just avoid agencies from these regions?
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Kay Denney
Kay Denney  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 14:55
French to English
. Nov 13, 2020

David Jones wrote:

I had one agency the other day tell me that they usually pay translators 0.02 USD a word... I don't really see how you could make a living on that anywhere in the world...


It's not just about earning a living. Most translators will have spent several years learning languages and translation techniques. The French Ministry for Work considers that somebody with a Master or equivalent should be earning at least 1½ times the minimum wage. That would be for someone fresh out of uni, no experience.


David Jones
 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 13:55
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
minimum wage and freelancing Nov 13, 2020

Kay Denney wrote:
It's not just about earning a living. Most translators will have spent several years learning languages and translation techniques. The French Ministry for Work considers that somebody with a Master or equivalent should be earning at least 1½ times the minimum wage. That would be for someone fresh out of uni, no experience.

And of course, a freelancer can't live on that amount either. Employees are paid net of social contributions and they get paid holidays, maternity leave, sick leave, training courses thrown in, often coffee and meals free or subsidised, computers and other resources, etc., etc. We need to earn half as much again just to cover that lot, at least. And then on top of that we have to pay out for accountants, professional insurance, membership of places like ProZ.com and translators' organisations...


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