Changes requested by client after completed translation Thread poster: Jürgen Brauch
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Jürgen Brauch
Germany
Local time: 15:40
Member (2003)
English to German
After completing a rather large technical translation and implementing the proofreader's changes, I receive the final client's comments requesting some global changes to be implemented by me. The issue is period/no period after bullet lists. Whereas my approach is consistent with the corresponding style guide instructions, the client's new instructions are not. Must I implement these changes, which will cost me approx. 2 hours, without additional payment for this?
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| Charge for them | Feb 9, 2004 |
Jürgen Brauch wrote:
...my approach is consistent with the corresponding style guide instructions...
Since you had complied with the instructions you had received, any changes to the translation should not be done for free: charge for them (after informing the customer that you intend to do so, and at what rate).
Riccardo
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| Agree with Riccardo | Feb 9, 2004 |
I agree that you should charge for the changes. However, make sure that the end client is aware that you followed style instructions and that these are additional changes, custom-style. I would charge per hour.
Good luck, I know that it is an uncomfortable situation to be in, but it is not your fault as a translator.
Gayle
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lien
Netherlands
Local time: 15:40
English to French
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| Period/non period | Feb 9, 2004 |
Jürgen Brauch wrote:
The issue is period/no period after bullet lists. Whereas my approach is consistent with the corresponding style guide instructions, the client's new instructions are not.
Could someone once for all tell me what are the rules about the periods in a bullet list ? I could not find some consistent.
By the way, you charge by the hour. I have to do some change, moving text, and the client himself proposed to charge me by the hour.
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| Agree with Riccardo and Gayle | Feb 9, 2004 |
Their reasoning is sufficient, somewhere there has to be a limit of obligingness and this one is well defined, as you explained.
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Carlos Moreno 
Colombia
Local time: 08:40
English to Spanish
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| My fault / Client's fault | Feb 10, 2004 |
Dear friend,
If it was a mistake you made, it is your duty to correct it, no charge. If it is a change the client requests, be it for cosmetic reasons, an error in the order, or a last-minute update, then by all means the client should pay for it.
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Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 15:40
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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| Styles differ, but here're some pointers | Feb 10, 2004 |
lien wrote:
Could someone once for all tell me what are the rules about the periods in a bullet list ? I could not find some consistent.
Styles differ from language to language, from science to science, and most importantly, from client to client (or from client's third grade teacher's superstition to client's third grade teacher's family tradition).
Or: Why do you put a space before the question mark? You see, some nations do, and some don't.
But let me give you a good rule of thumb for Afrikaans, and then you can comment.
1. If the sentence directly preceding the bullet list does not end on an ESP (for example a comma or nothing), then you can't have complete sentences in the bullet list, and therefore each bullet point (except the last) must start with lowercase and end on either a comma or a semi-colon.
2. If the sentence directly preceding the bullet list ends on an end-of-sentence ESP (like a full-stop), then you must have complete sentences in the bullet list, and therefore each bullet point must start with a capital and end with an end-of-sentence ESP (preferably a full-stop).
3. If the sentence directly preceding the bullet list ends on a colon, then you can chose whether to have complete sentences in the bullet points or not. From here onwards styles differ so much that I won't comment.
For example, if you choose not to have complete sentences in the bullet list, then some people consider the entire bullet list one long sentence and apply rules accordingly, whereas others don't.
ESP = CAT jargon for "end-of-segment-punctuation". In Afrikaans typical ESPs are colons, semi-colons, full-stops, exclamation marks and question marks (of which colons and semi-colons are not end-of-sentence ESPs).
[Edited at 2004-02-10 07:08]
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Jürgen Brauch
Germany
Local time: 15:40
Member (2003)
English to German
TOPIC STARTER | Thanks for all your answers | Feb 10, 2004 |
Thank you all for your answers, which made the point very clear for me!
Jürgen
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