Translation costs? (take II)

Subject: Translation costs? (take II)
From: Geoff Hart <ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Thu, 03 Jun 2004 10:56:44 -0400


Carla Martinek wondered: <<The low costs Geoff quoted are, in my experience, typically from from independent translators.>>

It's true that I've worked exclusively with independents, and I also neglected to mention that the low end was for literary translation, which pays exceptionally poorly. It's a labor of love, not a way to earn a living. But I've also seen very low per-word costs for companies operating in China, for example, including a company run by a friend; they use machine translation and translation memories heavily, which combined with inexpensive local labor rates lets them get away with such low costs.

<<Remember -- you get what you pay for, and the costs for an independent translator often do not include a review by a second translator.>>

Or by a local expert. This is why I noted in my first post that you have to specify this kind of quality assurance rather than taking it for granted. You'd think such quality control is a given, but for smaller firms, usually it's not.

<<The higher costs ($0.20 and above for new translations) usually come from translation houses, where you get value added in for that extra cost.>>

Fully agreed. In translation, as in technical writing, quality is expensive. You get what you pay for.

<<My language translations run in the $0.20-0.30 range, and cover a broad spectrum, including European (east and west), Russian, Middle Eastern, and Asian. Total: 16 languages for standard translations, 22 for a few select guides.>>

Is that you personally, or your company? If the former, may I just say "Wow am I envious!" <G>

--Geoff Hart ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca
(try geoffhart -at- mac -dot- com if you don't get a reply)


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

SEE THE ALL NEW ROBOHELP X5 IN ACTION: RoboHelp X5 is a giant leap forward
in Help authoring technology, featuring Word 2003 support, Content Management, Multi-Author support, PDF and XML support and much more! http://www.macromedia.com/go/techwrldemo

From a single set of Word documents, create online Help and printed
documentation with ComponentOne Doc-To-Help 7 Professional, a new yearly
subscription service offering free updates and upgrades, support, and more.
http://www.doctohelp.com

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archiver -at- techwr-l -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.



References:
RE: Translation costs?: From: Martinek, Carla

Previous by Author: What to use: Buttons, function keys, or both?
Next by Author: Field definitions?
Previous by Thread: RE: Translation costs?
Next by Thread: RE: Translation costs?


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads