Translation Client Zone - Part 2

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Beware of the translation industry “bottom-feeders”

Dec 15th 2011

By Christos Floros

6 comments

The cost-time-quality triangle

This article came all the way from Greece and was kindly written by Christos Floros—Thanks a bunch, Christos!

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Last time I checked, we lived in a free-market economy. As freelance translators, we provide services and expect to build a solid reputation and earn enough money to live on through our work. But what happens when we come across “bottom-feeders” who mess everything up?

I am not speaking about the aquatic animal that feeds on the bottom of the ocean, but about translators who choose to accept virtually any price for their services. By doing this, they “earn” their living but affect the whole industry by contributing to the fall of the price for translation services. They also affect quality even if they don’t realize it, because experience, quality, and price are interconnected.

By messing up the variables within the cost-time-quality triangle, they pose a threat not only to themselves (by undermining their own career), but also to the industry as a whole, including translation buyers, who generally try to reduce translation costs. This is a dangerous tactic from the translation client’s point of view: perhaps the cost will be reduced, but will the quality be the same? If so, kudos to you for driving the price down while maintaining quality. Your profit margin will be larger. If the quality isn’t the same, there is the danger of affecting the prospects of your company in the long run due to the questionable quality the “bottom-feeder” delivers.

During my career, I’ve come across many translators who choose to work for half my rates, sometimes for a third or even a fourth of them. So naturally I ask them why they are doing that and how they expect to earn enough money to support themselves. Most of the time, their answers are puzzling and confuse me even more.

Some of them are university graduates trying to break into the industry. With no practical experience in translation, they are willing to accept virtually any rate in order to get a foot in the door.

Others prefer to work in-house for a translation agency that charges, for example, 10 cents per word for translation and offers them a mere 1-1.5 cent for their work. They like the “security” the agency offers and are usually too busy with their “mass production” to think about quality.

Some are trying to establish a freelance career but are not that good at negotiating with clients. They are afraid that, by rejecting a couple of low-paid jobs, they’ll be thrown out of the game.

There are also those who don’t believe in themselves: they think they are not “good enough” (nor will they ever be) to charge a certain amount, so they settle for a much lower price.

I can understand these concerns, but I don’t understand the point. I mean, what’s the point in working their butts off, most likely producing sub-standard texts, and not getting the (financial) credit they deserve?

How do they expect to excel in their work if they believe that there are no alternatives, if they are afraid of taking the next step, if they think they are not good at what they do or they are unable to convey the value of their work to their customers?

In theory, the generally accepted value of any service is based on the illusion of the value of money in a specific region of the world. At least, that’s what a nice political economy professor used to tell us during my freshman year at university.

If we accept this theory, we can charge a dollar per word or a dollar per 1000 words. If I value my own work, if I believe it’s top-notch, I’ll probably go for a dollar per word. If I don’t value my own work, if I am unsure, if I have no alternative, I’ll go for a dollar per 1000 words.

In essence, there are a lot of translators out there who don’t value their work. In fact, there are more than I ever would have imagined. My guess is that the problem of “bottom-feeders” in the translation industry is more of a quality issue: if they think their work lacks the necessary quality, then they’re happy to receive a third of the price of another translator who thinks s/he produces high quality translations and expects to get paid accordingly.

On the other hand, it takes two to tango, so behind most “bottom-feeders” there is usually a “translation company” trying to drive the prices down for its own purposes (usually for a bigger margin). I’ll try to analyze this side of the coin a bit more in an upcoming post.

On a lighter note…

By Alejandro Moreno-Ramos

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What’s next…

Speaking of “bottom-feeders”… Bianca’s next post will address a controversial attitude that involves “penalties” for low translation rates and takes the saying “you get what you pay for” to a whole new level.

bottom-feeders, cost, Mox, quality
Subtitling – Part II

Nov 30th 2011

By Carolina A. de Carvalho and Bianca Bold

2 comments

Specialized translation areas

The sequence of two posts on subtitling and the text on audiovisual translation were written by Carolina A. de Carvalho and Bianca Bold. Thanks once again for the collaboration, Carol!

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Learning a bit about the subtitling world may help your communication with the specialized professionals involved in this task. Our last post addressed topics ranging from the type of information you should provide to translators when you need a subtitling quote, the subtitling steps, and the most common subtitling services and their (dis)advantages. Other pertinent aspects of this popular form of audiovisual translation are discussed below to wrap up this sequence of posts.

(4)    Why didn’t you list (audio) transcription as a common step of the subtitling process?

Transcription of the audio is not necessarily part of subtitling. A common misconception is that the translator needs to type the text in the original language before, and only then begin working on the subtitles proper. The truth is most translators work faster by listening to the audio in one language and typing it directly into the other language.

Nevertheless, the transcribed material is sometimes used by clients for preparing manuals or other sorts of texts in the source language (i.e. original language). Most subtitling professionals will provide you with the transcription if you make it clear you also need the original content in writing. Remember this service takes time and, therefore, should be agreed upon beforehand. It will certainly be charged as an extra service.

(5)    How many professionals do I need to hire?

This depends on what product you need and the type of professional(s) you hire. Some translators only do the linguistic part of the job, whereas others handle the full video editing process. Some of them will deliver the subtitled video after having outsourced the video editing phase, for instance. Here’s our advice: describe the final product you need; the translator will most likely give you some options and tell you what s/he is able or unable to do.

To maximize your results and minimize costs, we suggest you do everything at once. Translating the material this week with one professional, then looking for another professional to edit the film next month might result in wasted time and money. Even if two or more professionals are involved, the process will be streamlined if they can communicate and agree on certain technical details.

(6)    Besides the video itself, what other material should I provide?

Other than the reference materials you’d usually send before any sort of translation task, good written support materials (audio transcription, original script, dialog list, etc.) often make translators less prone to misunderstanding the audio. It might also speed up the process, since the professional won’t have to listen to an unclear excerpt numerous times before s/he gets the right message. Many translators add a surcharge when this type of written reference material is not available.

(7)    Are there legal issues, such as intellectual rights, that I should be concerned about?

If you are the creator or legal owner of the audiovisual material, you obviously have the right to translate and distribute it. And, when you hire a translator, you usually retain the intellectual rights over the translation as well. This may not be the case in every country and every situation, though. So, if you have intellectual property concerns, discuss them with the translator in advance.

In the case of third-party contents (films or TV shows, videos from another company, or even materials downloaded from websites such as YouTube), you must acquire the rights to translate them and distribute it. A copyright breach could entail legal consequences for you and the professionals involved.

Now that you know a bit more about subtitling, we hope you can optimize the communication with your translator from the onset of each project and, consequently, achieve the best results. Feel free to email us and use the comment section to ask questions about subtitling and the audiovisual translation field.

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What’s next…

Stay tuned for new posts under TCZ’s most popular category so far: the cost-time-quality triangle. We’ll soon have a post by Christos Floros discussing more issues related to the cost-time-quality tradeoff.

audiovisual translation, multimedia translation, reference materials, subtitling
Subtitling – Part I

Nov 15th 2011

By Carolina A. de Carvalho and Bianca Bold

3 comments

Specialized translation areas

This text on subtitling, divided into part I and part II, and the one on audiovisual translation were written in collaboration with my business partner and specialist in subtitling, Carolina A. de Carvalho—Thank you again, Carol!

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Many clients who ask us for subtitling quotes don’t know exactly what they want, or what to expect. The explanation? They haven’t heard much about the process, let alone its steps or possible products. It’s understandable that those who have never needed to have a video subtitled might assume it’s as simple as typing the text onto the screen through some specialized software. Well, it’s far from that.

With the Q&A sheet below, we intend to give you an overview of the subtitling process. Our goal is in line with the general goal of this blog: to help you get the product that most suits you, and with the best possible quality, by better communicating your needs to the specialized professionals.

(1)    What information should I provide to get a subtitling quote?

Basically, you should discuss with the professional(s) all the pertinent specifications of your project. Give special attention to the format of the video you have and what end product you want. Do you have a “hard copy” of a video (VHS, DVD, Blu-ray, etc.) or a digital file (AVI, MKV, MPEG, WMV, MP4, etc.)? As usual, sending the original video up front is the most reasonable way of dealing with this, but we understand it’s not always possible. If that’s the case, don’t forget to inform the length of the material and its subject matter (how technical is it?). If you have the transcription (i.e. the text of the video in a written format), go ahead and send it. It can also be useful if you explain the purpose of the translated video: will it be shown at a film festival? On a TV channel? Sent as internal communication to your company’s employees? Serve as marketing material for your clients? Put on your website or YouTube? Last but not least, all steps of the project should also be crystal clear: who does what and when.

(2)    What are the most common products and their (dis)advantages?

First things first: do you only need the translated text so you can prepare a written training manual, for instance? If so, subtitling is not necessary, and most translators can work from the audio to produce a written translation (and charge accordingly). However, if you need a DVD or a video to broadcast, keep on reading.

Digital video files are becoming more and more popular. They can, however, have only one subtitle file attached to them, so if you need the video translated into two languages, you’ll need two video files. But the mobility of these files makes them incredibly practical. They can be easily uploaded to your website or USB drive, sent by email or through FTP servers, and so on. Also, they can be conveniently saved onto a CD-ROM whenever you need something “concrete” to hand to your clients, for example.

Another option is a DVD (category that also includes Blu-ray and VHS). This technology stores images and texts independently and allows for the existence of various subtitling channels, which viewers can switch on and off. This means you can have a video subtitled in multiple languages, and the audience can choose whether to read the French subtitles, the Spanish subtitles, or none at all. A possible downside of DVDs has to do with their “physical” existence: you have to carry them around and burn the number of copies you need, instead of being able to send the video by FTP or email, or uploading it to a USB drive or website. While a digital video file can be quickly burned onto a CD-ROM, a DVD is not easily converted into a subtitled video file; it’s totally feasible, but requires the right software and expertise.

(3)    What are the common steps throughout the subtitling process?

Without getting into the nitty-gritty of subtitling, I’d say most professionals begin with the translation proper. While they type the translated text into the subtitling software (or word processor), they need to decide where exactly each subtitle and each line begin and end, i.e. how to segment the text so that readable chunks are shown on the screen. As subtitles are constrained by space and duration, our job is to facilitate the reading process by making the text flow as much as possible.

The next phase is the synchronization of the written text with its oral counterpart. It’s crucial for the subtitles to be shown on the screen as their respective sentences are heard. For this to happen, the professional has to mark the exact time when each subtitle appears and disappears.

When translators use specialized subtitling software, the result at this point is a text file (TXT, SUB, SRT, etc.) containing the translation and relevant technical information such as timing, formatting, line breaks, and so on.

Strictly speaking, this is where the job of the audiovisual translator ends. The final step consists of editing the translated video with “attached” subtitles or authoring a new DVD in the translated language(s). This job is usually carried out by professional film producers, and many translators don’t perform this task. So, if you need someone to edit the final video, ask the translator if s/he offers this service or can recommend a video producer. Bear in mind that film editing is a separate task and, as such, will be charged separately according to the technical requirements.

What’s next…

This Q&A sheet is to be continued in our next post. Its final part will address the materials you should send to subtitle translators, how many professionals you need to hire, how audio transcription is unrelated to subtitling, what copyright issues may be involved, and other relevant aspects.

audiovisual translation, instructions, multimedia translation, project specifications, subtitling
Audiovisual translation

Oct 30th 2011

By Carolina A. de Carvalho and Bianca Bold

4 comments

Specialized translation areas
This text and the next one were written in collaboration with TCZ’s first guest writer, who also happens to be my business partner, Carolina A. de Carvalho—Thanks a lot, Carol!

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What do you do when you need to translate a video? Just send it to any translator, and s/he will know exactly what to do, right? Nope. Any serious professional will ask you how exactly you want it translated and might offer you an array of options. Now, would you know what choices you’d be given and which one would be the best for you?

Does any of this remind you of an earlier post entitled “Defining project specifications”? That’s precisely the reason Bianca highlighted in that post the importance of talking to your translator about all relevant details before every project begins. The problem is that projects in some specialized areas have even more specific aspects to be discussed, and of course you can only discuss them if you’re aware of their existence. The main motivation for creating this new category of posts is to explain a bit about the processes and nuances inherent to some specialized translation areas so that you feel more at ease when discussing your projects with professionals.

Let’s begin with a brief overview of what’s commonly referred to as audiovisual translation or multimedia translation. This field includes all modes of translation dealing with sounds and images, such as movies, documentaries, TV shows, advertisements, video games, institutional or educational videos, interactive software, and theatre translation, among others.

Although the script of an audiovisual product might seem to be an ordinary written text, some important elements are not easily retrieved from a mere sheet of paper alone, such as tone of voice, intonation, facial expressions, and visual prompts. That said, it’s almost always the case that the audiovisual translator will do a better job if s/he has access to the video and audio materials, to which the written text must be integrated. Scripts, transcriptions, and dialog lists are very important reference materials, but shouldn’t be used as the only source for translation.

Audiovisual translation modes

The development of technology has brought numerous advances to this field, which has resulted in the creation of new translation modes. For now let’s focus on a quick overview of the most common audiovisual translation modes:
- Script translation
The written text proper is usually necessary in several stages of a video production, for instance. The translation might vary according to what exactly the text will be used for (the purpose of the translated material).
- Subtitling
This mode involves the transposition of spoken speech into written text. The short written segments are usually a condensed version of the original, due to time and space constraints and the viewers’ reading speed—there’s only so much we can read in a few seconds. Subtitles are usually presented as one- or two-line segments that ideally appear and disappear in synchrony with the audio. This is the most popular audiovisual translation mode in many countries.
- Dubbing, narration, voice-over
These modes belong to a wider category often called revoicing, i.e. when a new audio track is produced so that the original speech is (partly) replaced by a translation. It involves the reinterpretation of oral speech by professional actors or voice talents. In dubbing, synchrony between the original actor’s lips and the dubbing actor’s voice is one of the main goals. Narration in audiovisual translation usually refers to a descriptive translated text that is read by an off-screen narrator, meaning viewers can only hear the voice but can’t see the person who’s speaking. In voice-over, the translation doesn’t entirely replace the original: viewers can still hear a split second of the original voice at the beginning and end of the speech. For this reason, voice-over doesn’t deal with lip-sync constraints. These translation modes are more time-consuming than subtitling, especially because they involve the participation of more professionals, thus resulting in higher costs.
- Simultaneous/consecutive interpreting
This option is often used for live events broadcast on television, such as Oscar ceremonies, live speeches by prominent politicians, etc. It works more or less as conference interpreting (simultaneous or consecutive), except that it’s done remotely: the interpreter is usually at a TV studio, and his/her output is broadcast over the original sound without replacing it completely.
- Interactive software and video game translation and localization
Several aspects of interactive software and video games, such as written texts and audio files, have to be extracted and then translated and localized before being reintegrated. While the extraction and reintegration work is usually carried out by software engineers, translators take care of the linguistic matters. Dubbing, narration, and subtitling are often part of this process as well.

Audiovisual translation and media accessibility

Some audiovisual translation modes aim to facilitate the access of disabled/impaired people to audiovisual products. The translation here doesn’t happen from one language to another, but from images or sounds to verbal language, in the form of texts that can be heard or read. Below are the two most common types:
- Closed captioning
Also referred to as subtitling for the deaf and hard of hearing (or hearing-impaired viewers), this mode resembles regular subtitling. The difference is that the captions are designed so as to include relevant non-verbal sounds such as a dog barking, doorbell, laughter, and so on. Sometimes different colors are assigned to different characters, and the lines can also be displayed closer to the character who’s speaking, instead of in the center of the screen.
- Audiodescription
A description of images is read out loud and integrated into the soundtrack of a video to help blind and visually impaired people understand the audiovisual media. This insertion of succinct and, ideally, objective information has to take place within the gaps between speech or important sound effects.

What’s next…

Our next articles will address in more detail the most prominent audiovisual translation mode in many countries: subtitling. If you’d like to feel more comfortable when discussing your needs with a specialized subtitling professional, we hope you’ll find our next posts useful.
audiovisual translation, media accessibility, multimedia translation
[Resources] Good advice is never too much

Oct 15th 2011

By Bianca Bold

No comments

Resources to benefit from
There aren’t many blogs or websites focusing on translation client education, so I get really excited when I come across sections or pages addressing issues that are in line with Translation Client Zone. I’ve recently found a couple of resources I’d like to share with my readers. As they say, you can never have too much of a good thing.

Resource #1

The text “5 things you as a translation client can do for a better translation” has a lot in common with my posts under the collaborating with your translator category. Below is my summary of the main ideas in the article, but I encourage you to click on the link and read the full text as well.
- You should explain your requirements to the translator in detail.
- You should always respond to the translator’s queries.
- You should be patient and give enough time for the translator to complete his/her task.
- You should provide the translator with accurate source data, containing all the relevant information to be translated.
- You should give the translator genuine feedback regarding the quality of the work.
Resource #2

The section “About Translating & Interpreting” of the Northwest Translators & Interpreters Society (NOTIS) website has a list of many interesting resources for clients to learn from. The list covers an immense variety of topics, a tiny bit of which I’ve tackled, and it certainly has countless issues I intend to write about in the near future. Also, as the title of the section specifies, it includes links to material about interpreting (which is, in very broad terms, the translation of oral texts). Because I find this page extremely rich, I’ve added it to the “Useful links” sidebar.

What’s next…

As promised, the upcoming posts will be on specialized areas of translation. I’ve prepared a series of texts on audiovisual translation and subtitling in collaboration with our first guest writer, Carolina A. de Carvalho.
resources
Translation agreements

Jul 15th 2011

By Bianca Bold

8 comments

Getting what you want

“Spoken words fly away;
written words remain.”
- Latin saying

Once you have spoken or exchanged emails with the translator and all the relevant project specifications are well defined, the best next step is to put everything together in clear writing.

This can be done rather formally, by adapting a model contract to your needs and having both parties sign it. A translation agreement should be designed and customized to establish the specificity of the relationship between a translation buyer and a language service provider in any particular project.

Alternatively, a more informal way of specifying all pertinent details in writing is by email. I myself started using this email method at first: I’d write an email with all the specifications, send it to clients, and ask them to reply stating they agreed with the terms and conditions. Only then would I begin working on the project.

Lately I’ve been using a model contract and asking for signatures—it projects a more professional image and gives both parties a better sense of security.

In any case, I’d advise you not to rely only on spoken words or agreements.

Having a client–provider agreement is one of the requirements of the European quality standard for translation service providers (EN 15038:2006) and the Canadian Translation Services Standard (CAN/CGSB-131.10-2008), both developed to ensure the quality of translation services offered by translation agencies and translation companies.

A translation contract protects both parties: you and the service provider. Even if the translator doesn’t take the initiative to send you an agreement, you’re right to request one. Not surprisingly, some translators develop mistrust toward clients who refuse to sign this type of document. Come to think of it, if the service request is genuine, why wouldn’t a buyer want to formalize it in a contract? Conversely, you should be careful when dealing with a language professional who is not willing to sign an agreement.

Below is one of the most comprehensive model contracts I’ve seen, provided by the American Translators Association (ATA). There may be other specific issues either party might want to specify in writing.

What’s next…

Future posts will deal with specialized areas of translation. I’ll begin describing one of my favorite areas, audiovisual translation, and then will be more specific about what’s involved in translation for subtitling—one of my specialties.

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Post update – Jan 27th 2012

Seeking to help translators draft their own contracts and agreements, the ATA Business Practices Education Committee has put together the Guide to a Translation Services Agreement.

This publication provides not only a customizable model contract in one column, but also enlightening explanations in the second column. While undoubtedly handy for language professionals, it’s certainly useful to translation customers as well.

To help with ease of access, this resource has been added to TCZ’s “Useful links” section (left column).

agreements, contracts, instructions, project specifications
Defining project specifications

Jun 30th 2011

By Bianca Bold

6 comments

Getting what you want

“If you do not invest time to brief your suppliers, there is little chance that you will get what you want or need. It may take only 10 minutes longer than telling your assistant to ‘get this translated,’ but if the right person spends those 10 minutes chatting to the translator (or even the project manager), you will probably save money and stress further down the line.”
– Chris Durban

When discussing quality in translation, I wrote that the product should comply with the client’s instructions. For this to happen, you must communicate your needs properly in the first place. But what needs, exactly? Well, it varies from project to project, but there are several details you should tell your translator.

A fascinating aspect of translation is the possibility of rendering a text in countless “right ways.” The right way for you depends on what you need and how exactly you want it. Don’t expect your translator to rely on assumptions and guess your preferences and needs. Good communication is key.

In November 2010 I had the pleasure of attending a talk by Alan Melby on how to measure translation quality. At that time, he had listed as many as 21 translation project parameters, i.e. specifications that should be given to translators if quality is to be achieved. Together, Durban and Melby chose the top ten items that were included in the publication Translation: Buying a Non-Commodity. Here’s their list, followed by a set of questions/comments I have added:

(1) Audience – Who (ideally) is supposed to read your text? Should the translator have the lay public or specialists in mind? Academics or high-school students?

(2) Purpose – Is your text going to be used in a brochure to persuade someone to do something? Is it for internal communication or for relating to clients/prospects? Do you need just to get the gist of a text or is it for publication? Most of the time the purpose of a text is also linked to its type—see item 5 below.

(3) Deadline – When does the text have to be delivered? If needed, establish partial deliveries up front. Sometimes not only the date counts, but also the time of delivery (in which case, be clear about your time zone).

(4) Price – How much is the translator getting paid? Is the project being paid per source word (volume of the original text) or per target word (volume of the translated text)? Alternatively, is the professional being paid by the hour? (I intend to write about how translators usually calculate their rates.) Also discuss details such as when (upon delivery? a week later? a month later?) and how (via bank transfer? by check? PayPal? Western Union?) this amount is to be paid.

(5) Subject area and type of text – The clearest way of dealing with these specifications is by sending the whole text up front for the translator to analyze. If this is not possible, a sample usually works. Remember that most translators specialize in certain areas, meaning that there are subject areas they don’t feel capable of translating well. For your own good, don’t insist if a professional refuses to take part in a project (refer to item #3 of the American Translators Association Code of Ethics and Professional Practice). As for the text type, is it a letter? A sales agreement? A training video?

(6) Source language and regional variation – Is it written in Canadian or South African English? European or Brazilian Portuguese? Spanish from Chile, Peru, or Venezuela? There may be significant regional differences that interfere with the translator’s understanding and decision making.

(7) Format – First off, inform the translator about the media: is it a written text, an image, a video, or an audio file? Then, is it an editable PDF, DOC, or HTML file? AVI or MPEG video? Also, in what format should the target text be delivered?

(8) Volume – How long is the text? For written texts, it’s generally better to consider the word count. The number of pages doesn’t always help, since there are variables such as number of columns, font size, spacing between lines, etc. As with item 5 above, sending the whole text up front allows for a precise analysis.

(9) Target language and regional variation – Is the text supposed to be read mainly by Brazilians or by Portuguese people? By Mexicans, Spaniards, or Argentines?

(10) Steps to be followed – Is there going to be, for instance, bilingual revision by another professional after the translation proper? What about monolingual revision? Is the text being sent for the translator’s approval after each step or at the end? Who’s taking care of these phases of the project? Also, discuss deadlines for each step.

Sometimes you’ll have to negotiate a few of these items, such as price and the end format, but others are merely facts that need to be communicated—preferably in writing. They’re essential especially when you’re dealing with new service providers. With long-time collaborators who already know what you usually need, make sure to let them know when any of these parameters diverge from the “standard.”

On a lighter note…

By Alejandro Moreno-Ramos

What’s next…

I still intend to write about the other parameters brought up by Melby in his talk, but these top ten are certainly a great kick off.

As I believe the most efficient way to specify the relevant details of each project is in writing, a good sequence for this post is to address translation agreements. After all, they’re your written path toward getting what you really want.

code of ethics, good communication, instructions, Mox, project specifications, quality
Food for thought

Jun 15th 2011

By Bianca Bold

4 comments

The cost-time-quality triangle

Keep in mind the premises and scenarios presented in my last post while you read more thoughts, examples, and parallels inspired in real-life situations involving the cost-time-quality triangle.

    • One of the forces behind the triangle is precisely the relation between the translators’ income, rates, and working hours. The less language professionals charge, the more they have to work to make ends meet and, most likely, the longer the hours, too. Let’s think of a simple analogy: would you go to a dentist who charges peanuts and have him/her work on your root canal treatment at 9pm knowing s/he has been working almost non-stop since 7am?

    • Translation is a mentally strenuous activity. Professionals who are pleased with what they earn and can afford to work just the right amount of time per day (before their brain starts pouring out of their ears) are more able to focus on their texts, do proper research, revise the material as many times as necessary… Needless to say, all these factors influence quality for the better.

    • In the book The Entrepreneurial Linguist: The Business-School Approach to Freelance Translation, Dagmar and Judy Jenner draw an interesting parallel between selling cars and translations. They first describe the status quo of BMW:

“[T]he German carmaker BMW certainly does not compete on price. Quite the contrary: the prices are very high, but the world is largely in agreement that the company’s cars are worth the price tag because they are well-made luxury cars. The company’s defining characteristic is quality, not price. BMW has perfected the art of differentiating its products by creating the ultimate luxury vehicle. Potential buyers understand that high quality comes at a price, and know that a BMW costs more than a basic Toyota.”

The authors then conclude that a professional translator who has invested time and effort in education, experience, and professional development should strive to make clients understand and appreciate his/her services “for their top-notch quality rather than their price.”

    • Some translators won’t take on rush projects no matter how much you offer to pay. As most of us rely greatly on word-of-mouth marketing, some professionals are more concerned with the quality of their work and their reputation. After all, once a text is out there, very few people will remember—or even know—its production conditions. You might hire a translator saying: “I just need to get the gist of it by tomorrow morning. All I need is something readable.” That’s your need, fine. You pay X times the regular rate and have the translation delivered overnight. Just as any human being working long hours under pressure, translators are more subject to errors, and the text might not be very fluent or smooth. Fine again. However, your boss, business partner, or client might look at the translation, ignoring the conditions in which the text was produced, and think: “What a sloppy translator!” This might be enough to stain a professional’s name, even though s/he delivered the product just as you requested. But let’s not generalize: it doesn’t mean that every rush project is full of mistakes, or that all translators who accept working in these conditions don’t care about their image.

On a lighter note…
     By Alejandro Moreno-Ramos

What’s next…
The subsequent set of posts will launch a new category focusing on the importance of communicating your needs, how to do this properly, which aspects to consider, etc., in order to get the products you want and the highest possible quality. Coming soon, there will be a first text on important specifications of translation projects, and a second one on translation agreements.

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cost, deadlines, Mox, podcast, quality, rates, revision, rush projects, time
Common scenarios

May 30th 2011

By Bianca Bold

10 comments

The cost-time-quality triangle

After my attempt to define the three major elements that influence a translation project, I’ll analyze the most frequent situations that translation clients may face and what they should expect. Of course, none of the “equations” I propose here are true all the time. They’re all hypothetical scenarios that are likely to happen, based on what’s commonly seen in the market.

To begin with, I believe in the following premises:

(a) Shorter deadlines impose more pressure on translators—with less time to do careful research and revision/proofreading, they are more prone to make mistakes and produce less polished texts.

(b) Lower rates are often charged by novice translators or those who have no option but to work for extremely long hours to make a living. Conversely, more experienced professionals usually charge higher rates, which are, more often than not, proportional to the quality level of their services.

That said, the situations below are what I consider the most likely scenarios in my field.

Time as a fixed variable:

Provided you have time on your hands, this is probably the ideal situation from the client’s perspective. The longer the time you give to your translator, the higher your probability of achieving better quality and negotiating lower rates.

Unfortunately one of the most common scenarios involves tight deadlines. This is when rush fees apply. When translators have a shorter time to work on a text, they’re more inclined to charge more, usually because they have to work after hours and/or reschedule their priorities to focus on your service. Under these circumstances, some professionals outsource part of the project (in these cases, translators are usually expected to ask for the client’s green light before sharing any material with a third party) and are (ideally speaking) responsible for editing the final version and making sure it’s smooth and consistent, as if written by a single person. When time constraints are overwhelming, this revision phase might not be carefully carried out, most likely resulting in poorer quality. Needless to say, two or more professionals cost more than one, and the extra work involved in coordinating a project is time consuming as well.

Time and rate as fixed variables:

The scenario translators dream about is having plenty of time to carefully work on the project while being well remunerated—not to mention that motivation is an extra element that tips the scale in favor of high quality.

This is the worst-case scenario everyone wants to avoid. As I said, the low-rate factor alone is an indication of dubious quality, and a short deadline might increase the risk of mistakes and poorly written texts.

Well, I tried looking into my crystal ball, but it’s not easy to predict the quality of a translation under these circumstances. While low rates most likely reduce the translators’ motivation or the priority they give to a project, a long deadline may help them improve the quality. The second case is even more delicate: if the deadline is too short, a better rate can allow the translator to prioritize your project or hire a reviser, for instance. In extreme situations, however, there’s only so much a higher budget can do.

The bottom line is plan ahead. Giving a translator as much time as possible is perhaps the most appropriate way to get the best value for your money.

Last but not least, if you have no time, no money, and no concerns whatsoever with quality, well, machine translation is there to serve you (more on this topic to come). Use at your own risk!

What’s next…
After describing the common scenarios resulting from tensions within the cost-time-quality triangle, I’ll discuss some more specific issues, by drawing some parallels, giving you a couple of examples and some food for thought.

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cost, deadlines, planning ahead, podcast, quality, rates, rush projects, time
Understanding the variables

May 15th 2011

By Bianca Bold

5 comments

The cost-time-quality triangle
As with project management in several areas, cost, time, and quality are three major components in the management of a translation project. They’re interconnected and in constant tension. Translation clients can’t expect to adjust one of the factors without affecting the others. You should understand these variables and be aware of how they interact in this field to get the best value for money.

“Value for money (VFM): utility derived from every purchase or every sum of money spent. VFM is based not only on the minimum purchase price (economy) but also on the maximum efficiency and effectiveness of the purchase.”
– www.businessdictionary.com
- Cost
In the translation industry, this variable can be seen from either the translators’ or the buyers’ point of view. Translators’ rates are what professionals charge to do the job, whereas the client’s budget is the money allocated for the task. Needless to say, clients and translators don’t always fully agree on this issue: customers usually want to reduce costs, and translators—as with any professional—will seek to be well compensated for their work.
- Time
This one is quite straightforward: it’s the amount of time allocated for the translation project to be completed. Other common ways of referring to this variable are “deadline” and “turnaround time.” Although it’s usually seen from the client’s perspective (“I need this text by X”), it’s certainly the translator’s concern as well (“I need Y hours/days to deliver this text”). And that’s another area in which tension can arise.
- Quality
Defining “quality” is usually controversial and depends on the perspective you use.

Common sense dictates that quality in translation means that the final product is accurate, grammatically correct, and in compliance with the client’s instructions (register, use of glossary/style sheet, etc.). However, translators can render a text in different correct ways, depending on the client’s purposes: you can get a very elaborate, polished translation, such as those intended for publication, or a text written without much in the way of style concerns, such as those for understanding only.

Although some might say that the “understanding” end of the spectrum equals poor quality, it’s sometimes all you’re looking for. If your specifications are agreed upon beforehand, and the translator complies with your instructions, s/he will have delivered a high-quality service. Here’s what Chris Durban and Alan Melby say about it in their text “Translation: Buying a Non-Commodity“:

“Sometimes all you want is to get (or give) the general idea of a document (rough translation); in other cases, a polished text is essential. [...] In every translation project, the buyer and the translation service provider (translator or translation team) should agree in advance on a set of specifications to be followed while carrying out the project.”

Now, looking from a different perspective, sometimes “quality” is used to refer to the professional’s credentials, expertise, experience, and the like. Nonetheless, it doesn’t mean that all beginner translators are doomed to deliver poor services, or that every experienced professional is always impeccable. One thing is for sure: everyone expects that more experienced translators deliver better quality—and charge accordingly.

What’s next…

A discussion about the most common scenarios involving the tensions within the cost-time-quality triangle is the subject of my next post. Stay tuned!

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cost, deadlines, podcast, project specifications, quality, rates, time
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