Translation Costs

From 3arf

I am a translator who also writes. All translators, in a sense, are writers, too, because producing a good translation requires writing, and sometimes re-writing, and then editing, and proofreading as well. So who better to write about the "Market Rate for Translation Projects" than a translator, right?

Will you be disappointed then when I tell you that there actually is no "Market Rate for Translation Projects?" One reason for this is that translations today are increasingly produced in a truly global market with translators, editors, proofreaders, clients, and the many others that may be involved in any given translation project, being located in different countries and on different continents. So in order to learn more about the market rate for your translation project you would first need to define your market. That may or may not be easy and straightforward, depending on how complex your project is.

But describing your market is, of course, not enough. You will also need to define your translation project. Since the term "project" is used loosely, this may range from the translation of some record or certificate (your birth certificate or college diploma) into one langue to the translation of a complex software application including a graphical user interface, help system, and several manuals into ten different languages. Both are typical projects in the world of translation. Other typical projects are company newsletters translated into one or two languages, patent applications translated into one other language, or clinical trial study documentation translated into as many languages as required to conduct an international clinical study.

In addition to the actual material to be translated and the languages involved, you will also want to know what additional services are needed and should be considered part of your translation project. A good starting point for this is to consider what went into the creation of the text that you want translated: If computer programmers were involved in generating, let's say, the elements of a GUI, chances are that you will need to talk to them (or their foreign language counterparts) again when creating your translated version of the software. If you are talking about a glossy brochure with a fancy layout, chances are that the layout will need to be readjusted for the foreign language version because languages tend to use different amounts of space to convey the same information. If you had a highly paid creative team working for weeks to come up with that snappy slogan of yours, you will not be able to obtain a translated slogan with the same effect in the target language by throwing a few bucks at that bilingual student intern you have.

By now it should be obvious that a lot of preparation and thought needs to go into any translation project before you can actually get an idea of what your market's rate would be for it. But, you may ask, isn't there some simple unit that I can break this down to, in order to at least have some ball park figure? How do I start shopping for translation services, how can I compare prices? Is there any way at all for me to know whether the figure a potential translator has given me is "the market rate?"

There are, of course, some basics that may help you. In the U.S., translations most frequently are paid for by the source word. In that case, you will need to know the number of words in your source text (the text that you want to be translated) before you can start inquiring about prices. If you call up a translator and ask her or him, how much it will cost to translate this two-page article you have, her or his first question will be: how many words in that article? If by thinking about your market you have determined that you will look for a translator outside the U.S., don't be surprised if they ask a different question. In the UK, it is likely to be "How many 1000s of words are in that article?" In Germany, they may ask about the number of characters or "standard lines," only to tell you that the price will be based on the target (i.e., the translation) count (but any experienced translator also will be able to tell you what expansion factor from source to target is likely to be). If you are looking towards China and Japan, you may find that different units altogether apply, for the Western language concepts of words and characters do not readily apply to some Asian languages.

The good news: Once you have defined the scope of your translation project and your market, you are likely to get comparable quotes from the translators you inquire with. The bad news: It never is a good idea to use pricing as a deciding factor in choosing a translation service provider.

Why is that so? Don't we usually consider cost a major factor in our purchasing decisions? Yes, we do, and rightly so. However, with translation there frequently is not a direct relationship between pricing and actual cost. Because a translation cheaply bought may end up costing you customers, your reputation, or even result in a lawsuit if a user of your device gets injured because of a poorly translated manual. Unfortunately, a high price does not guarantee a quality translation, either. Where does that leave you as a translation buyer?

If you are in a hurry, you may decide to simply go with a big-name translation company and hope for the best, fully expecting to learn from the experience, and to be better prepared for your next translation project. If your budget is severely limited, you may have no choice but to go with the cheapest provider you can find - again, be prepared for a less-than-ideal experience, and try to establish a more appropriate budget the next time. If you've only just started to think about a translation project, you should take advantage of the efforts of translators' associations worldwide to educate translation buyers about the processes and pitfalls of translation. There are a number of articles and brochures available online from professional translators' associations that will tell you in detail what to take into consideration when shopping for translation services for the first time. One example is "TranslationGetting it right. A guide to buying translations" published by the American Translators Association.

One general aspect to keep in mind: There are two broad categories of translation service providers out thereindividual freelance translators, and bigger translation companies or agencies. The boundaries between them may be blurred, as freelancers frequently network and cooperate, and translation agencies use freelancer to do the bulk of the actual translation work. If you are dealing with highly specialized subject matter and need a translation into one language only, you will be likely better off with an individual freelancer who brings the required expert knowledge to the table. If many languages are required, if complex DTP work is involved, a translation company or agency may be your better choice.

So, while there is no "market rate for translation projects," there is plenty of help out there to help you budgeting for translation services. As a starting point, you need to know which market you want to shop in (local, national, global) and what your translation project will look like (type of materials, word or character counts, processes involved in creating your originals, number of languages needed). Then you can use the Yellow Pages or the Internet to find players in your desired market, and proceed to describe to them exactly what you need, obtain and compare quotes. That way, you will finally know what the rate in your market for your translation project currently is.

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