Is it true that a review rate usually already set fixed by the agency? Thread poster: fransiskus seta prana kusuma
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Dear colleagues,
I recently worked a project with a multinational agency for a respectful client. The translator rate I proposed was accepted without objection at all. The first part of the project was smooth, and we're both satisfied. I was then being offered for a review job. They said that the rate for review task in that project has been set up for about one-third of my current rate as a translator. I agreed the deal, because I thought that the review would be simple, but eventually I... See more Dear colleagues,
I recently worked a project with a multinational agency for a respectful client. The translator rate I proposed was accepted without objection at all. The first part of the project was smooth, and we're both satisfied. I was then being offered for a review job. They said that the rate for review task in that project has been set up for about one-third of my current rate as a translator. I agreed the deal, because I thought that the review would be simple, but eventually I realized that I was wrong. The translation was so bad that I must make new translation from the scratch. Some segments remain untranslated and some segments translated as if it used Google Translate. The project manager reasoned that the awful translation was because of the new term-base that being implemented. After that I was told that the rest of the project left were of review task only. A friend of mine said that it might be a kind of the agency's strategy to push their cheap rate to their translator. I don't want to accuse, but anybody here have the same experience like me? Or maybe anybody want to share opinion, please.
[Edited at 2017-01-30 08:08 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Maija Cirule 
Latvia
Local time: 21:01
German to English
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that the agency has taken you for a ride and you have "postedited" a Google or some other machine translation tool's "product". An Italian agency some time ago tried to trick me in the same manner. Regarding "fixed rates", you are free to reject any rate offered. The agency seems to be a scammer, if I were you, I would stop any collaboration with them.
[Edited at 2017-01-30 08:17 GMT]
| | | | | Thanks for the shared experience | Jan 30, 2017 |
Thanks Maija, a friend of mine just said the same as you. Now, I know what I have to do with that agency.
| | | | | some suggestions for the future | Jan 30, 2017 |
1. Never accept to revise a translation before being allowed to examine the whole thing.
2. Charge per hour rather than per word. That way if it is a shoddy translation requiring a lot of work, you will be paid for the amount of work you did, and the same if it is an excellent translation. If we all adopted this policy, no agency would find it "rewarding" to run things through MT as a "translation" or hire cheap translators, because revision is then more expensive than translating form... See more 1. Never accept to revise a translation before being allowed to examine the whole thing.
2. Charge per hour rather than per word. That way if it is a shoddy translation requiring a lot of work, you will be paid for the amount of work you did, and the same if it is an excellent translation. If we all adopted this policy, no agency would find it "rewarding" to run things through MT as a "translation" or hire cheap translators, because revision is then more expensive than translating form scratch. ▲ Collapse
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Thayenga
Germany
Local time: 20:01
Member (2009)
English to German
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| Review rates | Jan 30, 2017 |
Precisely for that reason (possible post-editing of MT) the review rate should be your normal hourly rate.
If the translation is good, then you can "surprise" your client by charging a lower than estimated rate because you needed less time than you thought. It would also be a good idea that you ask to see the file first before you agree to any rate.
Keep in mind, you're the vendor, not the buyer, so the price is your decision. ... See more Precisely for that reason (possible post-editing of MT) the review rate should be your normal hourly rate.
If the translation is good, then you can "surprise" your client by charging a lower than estimated rate because you needed less time than you thought. It would also be a good idea that you ask to see the file first before you agree to any rate.
Keep in mind, you're the vendor, not the buyer, so the price is your decision. ▲ Collapse
| | | | mona elshazly
Egypt
Local time: 20:01
Member (2016)
Italian to Arabic
+ ...
| Proofreading | Jan 30, 2017 |
I always refuse to do proofreading or editing for others translation because it is not money worth at all, and very exhausting and whenever a translation agency or a client asks for proofreading or reviewing a translation, that means it was rejected by the end-client due to bad quality.
As regards review rate, we here in Egypt charge it for half of the translation but the translation rates are already here very low in comparison to international prices.
| | | | Maija Cirule
Latvia
Local time: 21:01
German to English
+ ...
| reviewing and post-editing are two different things. | Jan 30, 2017 |
You edit/review/proofread a text translated by a human being while post-editing is correction of a text compiled by a program and more often than not consisting of words piled in a heap without any logic or understanding. My rate for editing/reviewing/proofreading is half of my translation rate but rate for post-editing is the same as my translation rate.
| | | | Eric Stone
Taiwan
Local time: 02:01
Chinese to English
| Maybe stay away from proofreading work if you can | Jan 30, 2017 |
fonetica wrote:
I always refuse to do proofreading or editing for others translation because it is not money worth at all, and very exhausting and whenever a translation agency or a client asks for proofreading or reviewing a translation, that means it was rejected by the end-client due to bad quality.
I agree 100%, though also for an additional reason. I stopped doing proofreading projects very early on because I realized that proofreading your language pair encourages potential clients to go with post-editors and/or extremely cheap non-native translators over you. In essence, you're supporting the opposition (post-editors and non-native translators who are taking work translators following the 'only translate into your native language' standard) in exchange for their scraps.
Let me clarify that I don't wish to attack these translators. I just think most of us can agree that translating into a language that isn't your native tongue and then handing it off to a proofreader is in almost all cases a recipe for a poor translation, and for this reason I think serious translators should avoid these projects because its very difficult to feel good about your work and improve your craft when you're limiting yourself by accepting these types of projects. Additionally, I think it can damage your reputation when the quality of that work is getting muddled with the quality of your foreign language to mother tongue work.
Just my two cents.
Side note: Please don't be offended if you only do proofreading work, or if you are more passionate about proofreading than translation. I'm just speaking from the point of view of a translator.
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| Not necessarily a scam | Jan 30, 2017 |
If you feel that you submitted a quality translation during the first project it may be that you have simply come across one poor translation rather than a full-on scam.
For me proofreading/complex review only involves checking for typos and an understandable level of accidental errors.
If I've accepted a proofreading project and the text sent to me largely needs re-written I will return it immediately with a short summary of why it is not acceptable and offer to re-tra... See more If you feel that you submitted a quality translation during the first project it may be that you have simply come across one poor translation rather than a full-on scam.
For me proofreading/complex review only involves checking for typos and an understandable level of accidental errors.
If I've accepted a proofreading project and the text sent to me largely needs re-written I will return it immediately with a short summary of why it is not acceptable and offer to re-translate it at my full rate. It doesn't sound like their TM issues would change my response.
While I agree that proofreading should ideally be invoiced at an hourly rate, in practice I find it easier to accept agencies' standard practice of paying 1/3 of the translation rate, as their estimate of how long it should take and of my hourly rate is normally pretty dismal (yes, yes, ideally I'd be the one estimating the time it takes too, but we all work with agencies and we all know what they're like).
All of this is easier when you already have an established relationship with the agency in question but there's certainly no reason why you shouldn't apply the same protocol for a new client. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Arianne Farah
Canada
Local time: 14:01
Member (2008)
English to French
Georgie Scott wrote:
If I've accepted a proofreading project and the text sent to me largely needs re-written I will return it immediately with a short summary of why it is not acceptable and offer to re-translate it at my full rate.
Better to cut your losses at 1 hour than work a full week at a third of your regular income - it's hard at first, especially when you're new to the market and hungry, but learning how to say 'no' is very profitable in the long run. When I accept an editing job sight unseen, I always give a ball-park estimate based on word count and tell the PM that if after an hour's work, I think that my estimate is wildly inaccurate, I will get back to them so we can figure out where to go from there. Do they want a simple grammar & spelling check along with numbers and proper names, forgetting style? Do they want me to just make it perfect, no matter how long it takes? Do they want to return it to the original translator, or send it to a new translator before re-submitting it for editing? If you can't come to an agreement, it's always better to walk away - I won't jeopardize my professional reputation by cutting corners and in any case you've probably already lost the client because you're just not operating in the same market, with the same quality expectations. To dust off an old expression, you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.
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The agency should ask you about your review rate - just like you would ask any vendor about the rates for their services. I don't understand why that shouldn't apply to translation services.
Also, you have the right to turn down the review job and inform the client that the text needs a new translation. If you send a completely busted supercharger for a rebuild, they will inform you that it needs to be swapped for a new one. They won't grit their teeth and send you a new spare part for the... See more The agency should ask you about your review rate - just like you would ask any vendor about the rates for their services. I don't understand why that shouldn't apply to translation services.
Also, you have the right to turn down the review job and inform the client that the text needs a new translation. If you send a completely busted supercharger for a rebuild, they will inform you that it needs to be swapped for a new one. They won't grit their teeth and send you a new spare part for the rebuild price. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Inga Petkelyte
Portugal
Local time: 19:01
Lithuanian to Portuguese
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| The same here | Jan 31, 2017 |
fonetica wrote:
I always refuse to do proofreading or editing for others translation because it is not money worth at all, and very exhausting and whenever a translation agency or a client asks for proofreading or reviewing a translation, that means it was rejected by the end-client due to bad quality.
As regards review rate, we here in Egypt charge it for half of the translation but the translation rates are already here very low in comparison to international prices.
I normally refuse proposals for reviewing/proofreading/editing jobs. All the three might be different things but agencies ecxpect from us the same commitment for the same rate, notwithstanding the differences between the three.
Last week, I was offered a test evaluation job where besides of corrections an evaluator was supposed to fill in a table indicating the errors and their nature. To my experience, one such evaluation takes approx. an hour. The rate proposed was 1/4 of my hourly rate for continuous projects. Not worth at all.
But 1/3 of the translation rate is pretty usual for proofreading.
And now I have in hands a retranslation job. I was sent several files for giving my opinion but the translation is so awfull that I told the agency there is nothing to edit, everything has to be redone. And sent the revision of the first couple paragraphs as the sample of work to be done.
I hate situations where I have to give bad news about another ranslator's work...
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