Re: Japanese Translation Costs

[Max Wyss <prodok -at- prodok -dot- ch>]

Melonie,

From my experience, translating to Japanese costs about three times what it
costs translating to English. This is mostly caused by the much more
difficult and time consuming way to enter the text. The price you got
quoted is a bit on the high side, but not that unrealistic. I assume that
it is from an agency. See if you can find trustworthy independent
translators who would take you as "direct client".

It could be that Japanese translators in the US might be a bit cheaper than
in Japan, as living costs are lower. However, for really serious work, I
would try to find a good partner in the target language area (this counts
for _every_ language, not only East Asian ones).

I have heard of some examples where leading US companies in their industry
obviously had their translation to Japanese done in the US. My friend of
Japanese origin almost peed in her panties when she read that stuff ... she
was laughing that hard. And she caused a similar effect with another friend
of mine of Japanese origin.

Hope, this can help.


Max Wyss
PRODOK Engineering
Low Paper workflows, Smart documents, PDF forms
CH-8906 Bonstetten, Switzerland

Fax:  +41 1 700 20 37
e-mail:  mailto:prodok -at- prodok -dot- ch
http://www.prodok.ch



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We are looking into the cost of translating our datasheets
to Japanese. I had someone tell me yesterday that it would
cost $200-300 per page. Is this realistic?

Those of you who have worked with Asian language translators,
are translators cheaper in the U.S. or in the country of origin
(whatever country that may be)?