Standard Rates for Specialized Terminology Translation Project Thread poster: Lamine Boukabour
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Hello everyone,
Someone is seeking my help for a specialized translation project. The document has already been translated and needs to be reviewed by their reviewer. My role is to translate only the specialized terms in the document (potentially 200 terms) and establish a glossary. I am required to use, to the best of my ability, translations from official recognized websites such as the UN.
My question is: What is the common standard rate for this terminology translat... See more Hello everyone,
Someone is seeking my help for a specialized translation project. The document has already been translated and needs to be reviewed by their reviewer. My role is to translate only the specialized terms in the document (potentially 200 terms) and establish a glossary. I am required to use, to the best of my ability, translations from official recognized websites such as the UN.
My question is: What is the common standard rate for this terminology translation task? ▲ Collapse
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I haven’t been asked often (just a few times in over 30 years) to do this kind of job, but in all those cases I charged by the hour. In one of them I was asked to justify with a link every term (so it took for ever, but I was paid).
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:14
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Lamine Boukabour wrote:
....the document has already been translated and needs to be reviewed by their reviewer.
I would be very suspicious about that statement. If a translator has translated the document but did not understand the terminology, it is more than likely that given their lack of expertise, they got a lot of the phraseology wrong, requiring a complete retranslation of the whole thing.
To put it another way it is unusual, in a document that deals with a specialised subject, for the complexities to be limited to the actual meaning of specific words only. The specific words are always used within a context that also has to be understood and translated correctly. I know this because I do it all the time (in documents that refer to my specialised fields, architecture and construction).
To take one very simple example, "elevation" can have two completely different meanings depending on the context: (1) a frontal drawing of a building or component, or (2) the height of something above sea level. In another common example "section" may seem easy to translate but it requires care because it can mean (1) part of something (2) a cross-section or a different type of drawing that cuts through something (3) part of a city
Before accepting this task I would ask to see at least part of the the original document and the translation.
[Edited at 2024-01-07 12:26 GMT]
| | | | Barbara Carrara 
Italy
Local time: 10:14
Member (2008)
English to Italian
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| Agree with Teresa. And with Tom. | Jan 7 |
I would agree with Teresa's post and charge by the hour, but I also share Tom's views about this assignment, given your description of what it might entail.
If I may, this is the sixth time you've asked for rates in specific areas, from typing to voiceover, from rewriting (!) to copywriting to QA. Because the variables are too many to mention when it comes to individual jobs, which have to be carefully assessed before agreeing to take them on - and this latest one is no exception -,... See more I would agree with Teresa's post and charge by the hour, but I also share Tom's views about this assignment, given your description of what it might entail.
If I may, this is the sixth time you've asked for rates in specific areas, from typing to voiceover, from rewriting (!) to copywriting to QA. Because the variables are too many to mention when it comes to individual jobs, which have to be carefully assessed before agreeing to take them on - and this latest one is no exception -, I wonder if you managed to get any of those assignments, and if so, if they (the jobs, but also the relationship with the individual clients) were up to your expectations.
Thanks. ▲ Collapse
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Heike Holthaus
United States
Local time: 04:14
Member (2012)
English to German
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I do a large terminology project for a company once a year. We use an Excel sheet prepared by the company that is later imported in to their termbase. This Excel sheet has columns for termbase fields such as definition, usage, field, source and forbidden terms. I always have to provide the source for the term and it must be an official source (in my case DIN Term, IATE, Eurolex, etc., or a dictionary).
If the reviewer (and I suppose subsequently the translator(s)) are to use this te... See more I do a large terminology project for a company once a year. We use an Excel sheet prepared by the company that is later imported in to their termbase. This Excel sheet has columns for termbase fields such as definition, usage, field, source and forbidden terms. I always have to provide the source for the term and it must be an official source (in my case DIN Term, IATE, Eurolex, etc., or a dictionary).
If the reviewer (and I suppose subsequently the translator(s)) are to use this terminology for their work, then I assume that the client is going to add these terms to their termbase. It would save everyone a lot of time, if
a) the client would send you a prepared Excel sheet with the terms in the source language which they later just reimport into their TB
OR
b) you create a termbase with the respective fields and send this to the client.
The company I do this type of work for gives an initial allowance of 15 minutes per term. Depending on the field, it rarely takes me more than 10 minutes per term. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Lamine Boukabour
Algeria
Local time: 09:14
Member (2022)
English to Arabic
TOPIC STARTER | Maria, Tom, Barbara and Heike | Jan 16 |
Maria, Tom, Barbara and Heike,
I extend my sincere gratitude for your invaluable insights. I have thoroughly reviewed each of your responses, which proved exceptionally beneficial. Thank you for your valuable contributions.
| | | | | Tom's Reply and Rate | Jan 16 |
Hi Lamine,
I agree with Tom's reply. I usually charge at least US$35 for jobs like the one that you describe, because it will take me around one (1) hour.
Good luck!
Patricia
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They will pay you (if ever) for the 200 words without considering the research time you spend. Then, they put this in a translation software, and with the words around these specific terms, they constitute a complete text billing 2.000 words to the client. A trap, I say.
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Lamine Boukabour
Algeria
Local time: 09:14
Member (2022)
English to Arabic
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks for your helpful insights!
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