| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Is the price for the proofreading of a human translation 1/3 of the price for a translation? Thread poster: Małgorzata Gardocka
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Good afternoon,
I'm establishing a cooperation with a new translation agency from Austria and when negotiating the price for proofreading of a human translation, the owner wrote me that the price for it is 1/3 the price for a human translation and that this is a rule worldwide.
That wonders me, because in Poland the price for the proofreading of a human translation is 1/2 of the price for a translation.
Is the owner of the translation agency right?
Kind rega... See more Good afternoon,
I'm establishing a cooperation with a new translation agency from Austria and when negotiating the price for proofreading of a human translation, the owner wrote me that the price for it is 1/3 the price for a human translation and that this is a rule worldwide.
That wonders me, because in Poland the price for the proofreading of a human translation is 1/2 of the price for a translation.
Is the owner of the translation agency right?
Kind regards,
Małgorzata ▲ Collapse
| | | | Jan Willem van Dormolen (X) 
Netherlands
Local time: 20:22
English to Dutch
+ ...
The price for proofreading is whatever you want it to be. Just like that for translating.
Anyone who says there is a "worldwide rule" is, let's be kind, definitely erroneous.
Personally, I wouldn't connect the two prices at all. I do translating at a word price and proofreading at a per hour rate. Proofreading can vary wildly according to the quality of the translation, much more than the quantity. I remember one week where I had to proofread a 500 word translation and a 5000 word on... See more The price for proofreading is whatever you want it to be. Just like that for translating.
Anyone who says there is a "worldwide rule" is, let's be kind, definitely erroneous.
Personally, I wouldn't connect the two prices at all. I do translating at a word price and proofreading at a per hour rate. Proofreading can vary wildly according to the quality of the translation, much more than the quantity. I remember one week where I had to proofread a 500 word translation and a 5000 word one, and the smaller took longer than the latter. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 20:22
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Małgorzata Gardocka wrote:
I'm establishing a cooperation with a new translation agency from Austria and when negotiating the price for proofreading of a human translation, the owner wrote me that the price for it is 1/3 the price for a human translation and that this is a rule worldwide.
When new translators ask what fraction to apply, i.e. when translators don't have enough experience to know the best fraction for their particular language combination yet, we answer "1/3 or 1/4". But if you have so much experience that you already know that 1/2 is a much better fraction to use for Polish, then you should charge that.
| | | | | Proofreading (monolingual editing) vs revision (bilingual editing) | Feb 7, 2022 |
Check with the agency whether they mean proofreading, where you don't need to check the target text against the source.
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Thayenga
Germany
Local time: 20:22
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
Charge your regular hourly rate. The translation might be good, almost flawless, or it can be so mediocre that you spend hours trying to correct it.
Inform your client how long it will take you to proofread a file. If you need less than your time estimate, your client will be pleased.
| | | | Joakim Braun
Sweden
Local time: 20:22
German to Swedish
+ ...
| 1/3 for high-quality translation | Feb 7, 2022 |
Małgorzata Gardocka wrote:
...the owner wrote me that the price for it is 1/3 the price for a human translation...
The rate "is" what the parties negotiate it to be. (Most of my agency clients pay by the hour.)
1/3 is OK for a high-quality translation. In such a translation there will be virtually no spelling errors, very few factual errors or misunderstandings, but a bunch of places where the proofreader comes up with better phrasing.
Unfortunately, high-quality translations are quite rare, and some agencies expect underpaid proofreaders to rescue bad work from even more underpaid translators.
Advice: Don't ever take on a proofreading assignment at per-word rates without having seen the entire text (and do spend some time evaluating it).
[Bearbeitet am 2022-02-07 12:02 GMT]
| | | | Joakim Braun
Sweden
Local time: 20:22
German to Swedish
+ ...
Vladimir Pochinov wrote:
Check with the agency whether they mean proofreading, where you don't need to check the target text against the source.
Proofreading without checking against the source isn't worth much. Most serious errors are not "spell-check" errors but arise through misunderstandings (incompetence or negligence on the translator's part).
| | | | Tony Keily
Local time: 20:22
Italian to English
+ ...
| Again, we agree on this | Feb 7, 2022 |
Vladimir Pochinov wrote:
Check with the agency whether they mean proofreading, where you don't need to check the target text against the source.
Depressing that the half dozen most common terms in our profession are consistently misused. 'Proofreading', according to the standards governing the sector (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EN_15038), is only performed on texts due for publication, after they have been revised (i.e. checking the target against the source). Under the standards, checking the target only is 'reviewing'.
[Edited at 2022-02-07 12:40 GMT]
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| ISO 17100:2015 - Proofreading vs revision (i.e. editing) | Feb 7, 2022 |
Joakim Braun wrote:
Proofreading without checking against the source isn't worth much. Most serious errors are not "spell-check" errors but arise through misunderstandings (incompetence or negligence on the translator's part).
This is what I mean. Many agencies request proofreading while they actually expect the editing service.
Proofreading (in the Translation->Editing->DTP->Proofreading workflow, or otherwise): ~1/3 of the translation rate
Editing/Revision: ~1/2-2/3 of the translation rate
| | | | | Also valid with weighted word counts? | Feb 7, 2022 |
Assuming a piece of 10kwords that contains many reps and 100%, worth 99 euros after applying a decent discount grid:
You translate the piece in 2 hours with a CAT tool.
You proofread those 10kwords in one day, for a stellar 33-euro compensation.
If using CAT tools with a discount grid, pricing proofreading/editing as a percentage of the translation price is highly risky.
Philippe
| | | | Baran Keki
Türkiye
Local time: 21:22
Member
English to Turkish
Joakim Braun wrote:
Proofreading without checking against the source isn't worth much. Most serious errors are not "spell-check" errors but arise through misunderstandings (incompetence or negligence on the translator's part).
I did a large 'proofreading' assignment towards the end of last year. I was made to understand that I was doing a monolingual proofreading job (they called it 'proofreading in context'). Apparently the whole text (some 200k to 300k words) was proofread/edited/revised by a second translator and I was the third person to check it in terms of its 'readability' in the target language.
The text read okay at first, but at one point I came across a sentence that said "try to spread/escalate the conflict in the workplace", after that I asked for the original files in English and saw that it said "try to diffuse the conflict in the workplace". From then on the whole thing turned into a 'bilingual proofreading/checking" (or whatever you call it, I'm not sure about the right terminology) and I found loads of mistranslations, terminology errors and stylistic mistakes (but only a few typos and punctuation errors).
I was really looking forward to that assignment as one quick paycheck, but it turned out to be one major pain in the backside.
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One of the defining points of translation industry is that there is no worldwide rule, for the best and a lot of time for the worst. Agencies, as a rule of thumb, often propose 1/3 of the translation rate for proofreading, but this rate is negotiable. If 1/3 proves to be more than enough to be profitable, there is no problem. But if translation rate is already low, then 1/3 might not suffice.
As a general advice, beware of agencies telling you about "worldwide rules". It's like "our transl... See more One of the defining points of translation industry is that there is no worldwide rule, for the best and a lot of time for the worst. Agencies, as a rule of thumb, often propose 1/3 of the translation rate for proofreading, but this rate is negotiable. If 1/3 proves to be more than enough to be profitable, there is no problem. But if translation rate is already low, then 1/3 might not suffice.
As a general advice, beware of agencies telling you about "worldwide rules". It's like "our translators are all fine with our rates", they try to use "general acceptation" as leverage to make you refrain from negotiating. And this so-called acceptation is often a lie. ▲ Collapse
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Joakim Braun
Sweden
Local time: 20:22
German to Swedish
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| Rule of thumb | Feb 7, 2022 |
The rate for a translation is 1/3 of the rate for a translation.
| | | | Małgorzata Gardocka
Poland
Local time: 20:22
Member (2010)
German to Polish
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TOPIC STARTER | The reply of the owner of the translation agency | Feb 7, 2022 |
Thank you guys for your comments. When I wrote the owner of this translation agency, that I asked colleagues about a fixed price for proofreading, I received from this person such an answer:
"Thank you for your mail and your "research". I have been in the industry for over 25 years, taught at the [...] you know for 13 years and work with over 100 translators and reviewers every day. With all of them (including some from Poland) the review rate is 1/3 of the translation rate. Howeve... See more Thank you guys for your comments. When I wrote the owner of this translation agency, that I asked colleagues about a fixed price for proofreading, I received from this person such an answer:
"Thank you for your mail and your "research". I have been in the industry for over 25 years, taught at the [...] you know for 13 years and work with over 100 translators and reviewers every day. With all of them (including some from Poland) the review rate is 1/3 of the translation rate. However, I will still enter your desired rate of [...] EUR/word with us, but I can already tell you that you are not competitive with this, because all the others charge less."
The rest of the reply is respectful, but these sentences that I quoted, sound dubious and I wonder, if I should establish a cooperation with this translation agency at all. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Joakim Braun
Sweden
Local time: 20:22
German to Swedish
+ ...
Małgorzata Gardocka wrote:
...I received from this person such an answer:
"Thank you for your mail and your "research". I have been in the industry for over 25 years, taught at the [...] you know for 13 years and work with over 100 translators and reviewers every day. With all of them (including some from Poland) the review rate is 1/3 of the translation rate. However, I will still enter your desired rate of [...] EUR/word with us, but I can already tell you that you are not competitive with this, because all the others charge less."
He's speaking the truth, because the other translators who charge more than 1/3 find work elsewhere.
Anyway the discussion about 1/3 or 1/4 or 1/2 is a red herring. The real point is the quality level of the translations and the time required to fix them. And if the reviewer's rate is lowish-average (and the level of staff courtesy below average), the translation quality will be the same or worse.
(PS: What an unprofessional, insecure, passive-aggressive response! He could simply have said "sorry, we don't pay that rate", but no...)
[Bearbeitet am 2022-02-07 17:42 GMT]
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