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Discount for repeated words?
Thread poster: Paula Borges
mediamatrix (X)
mediamatrix (X)
Local time: 04:31
Spanish to English
+ ...
Y n’t sn nthng’ yt! Feb 14, 2011

Whn y sbmt yr nvc, dn’t frgt r dscnt fr vwls. ny txt cn b prfctly wll ndrstd by r mchn prfrdng systm vn f ths sprfls lttrs r mttd, s w wll nt py fr thm.

MdMtrx

PS: Lt's b thnkfl thy dn't cnt 'y' s vwl!


 
Paula Borges
Paula Borges  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:31
Member (2010)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Exactly Feb 15, 2011

Michele Fauble wrote:

Paula Borges wrote:

I couldn't think of a better reply than "If that is the case, why don't you use machine translation?


We don't translate words. We translate meaning, i.e., we understand the meaning of a source language sentence and reformulate it in the target language.



Charging by word is just one way to charge for it. It's not even the standard in Brazil, where we generally use another unit we call "lauda" (approximately 300 words each), others charge by hour. I can't help but suspect maybe this client made a mistake he is unwilling to admit, as this is too surreal to be true.


 
imatahan
imatahan  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 05:31
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Paula, no way! Feb 15, 2011

this = isto, este, esta
that = isso, esse, essa

These are repeated words in English, but not on the translated text in Portuguese!!!

Mr. Whittaker, I loved your story!


 
Yasutomo Kanazawa
Yasutomo Kanazawa  Identity Verified
Japan
Local time: 17:31
Member (2005)
English to Japanese
+ ...
Is the end client aware of this? Feb 15, 2011

I was wondering whether the end client told this particular agency that s/he wouldn't be paying for the repeated words such as 'this' and 'that', or is it a conspiracy on the agency's side and charge full amount to the end client and not pay for the repeated words to the translator so their share would be bigger?

I'm really curious.


 
Laurent KRAULAND (X)
Laurent KRAULAND (X)  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 10:31
French to German
+ ...
Probably not... Feb 15, 2011

Yasutomo Kanazawa wrote:

I was wondering whether the end client told this particular agency that s/he wouldn't be paying for the repeated words such as 'this' and 'that', or is it a conspiracy on the agency's side and charge full amount to the end client and not pay for the repeated words to the translator so their share would be bigger?

I'm really curious.

(my emphasis)

Probably not... as the agency has certainly done the whole sales pitch down to the last comma.


 
Jaroslaw Michalak
Jaroslaw Michalak  Identity Verified
Poland
Local time: 10:31
Member (2004)
English to Polish
SITE LOCALIZER
Clueless... Feb 15, 2011

Come on, give them a break... They are probably completely clueless.

What happened, probably, was they met someone at one conference or another...

"Hey, Mike... You still doing the management in the translation business?"
"Yep, what else could I do? I don't have the brains to be a translator..."
(Note: This is just this one manager! I know for a fact that most PMs are brilliant, especially those that work with me! Love you all, keep 'em coming!)
"Why
... See more
Come on, give them a break... They are probably completely clueless.

What happened, probably, was they met someone at one conference or another...

"Hey, Mike... You still doing the management in the translation business?"
"Yep, what else could I do? I don't have the brains to be a translator..."
(Note: This is just this one manager! I know for a fact that most PMs are brilliant, especially those that work with me! Love you all, keep 'em coming!)
"Why sweat it? Squeeze those suckers and hit them when it hurts: apply a Trados rate."
"What the banana is Trados rate? What the banana is Trados?"
"It's simple... You just don't pay them for repeated words and you will swim in money!"
"Gee, I must try this! Even though I don't understand a word of it, I've noticed myself that in those texts they use the same words over and over, cheaters them! I don't have this Trade-in thing, though, I will have to think of some other way..."

You see? Not really harmful, just clueless. Leave them be, they're probably beyond help anyway.
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xiaoshuchong
xiaoshuchong
China
Local time: 16:31
Chinese to English
+ ...
It's their excuse Feb 15, 2011

Laurent KRAULAND wrote:

Paula Borges wrote:
(.../...)

I got a reply saying this was because of their new policy: discounts for repeated words (such as 'it' "this' and 'that', etc.) He claims repeated words do not need to be retranslated. I couldn't think of a better reply than "If that is the case, why don't you use machine translation? That's exactly what they do. They work for free, I do not".

Mind you, they expect top quality and the smallest of typos is an excuse for a rude email.

I'm just wondering if this is the standard anywhere in the world? Does anybody accept this?


Simply put: it is ridiculous! This agency must be at the verge of bankruptcy if they implement such policies.


Agree.
---Since he thinks that "that" ,"this" do not need to be re-translated, but he shoud also know that the language is just strings of letters. Should these be ignored either?
----Excuses at all or he is "at the verge of bankruptcy" .
^_^


 
Paula Borges
Paula Borges  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:31
Member (2010)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
something like that! Feb 15, 2011

Jabberwock wrote:

Come on, give them a break... They are probably completely clueless.

What happened, probably, was they met someone at one conference or another...

"Hey, Mike... You still doing the management in the translation business?"
"Yep, what else could I do? I don't have the brains to be a translator..."
(Note: This is just this one manager! I know for a fact that most PMs are brilliant, especially those that work with me! Love you all, keep 'em coming!)
"Why sweat it? Squeeze those suckers and hit them when it hurts: apply a Trados rate."
"What the banana is Trados rate? What the banana is Trados?"
"It's simple... You just don't pay them for repeated words and you will swim in money!"
"Gee, I must try this! Even though I don't understand a word of it, I've noticed myself that in those texts they use the same words over and over, cheaters them! I don't have this Trade-in thing, though, I will have to think of some other way..."

You see? Not really harmful, just clueless. Leave them be, they're probably beyond help anyway.


Hopefully we're talking about one clueless PM who's now too proud to admit the mistake. I still cannot believe this is an actual policy.


 
Buck
Buck
Netherlands
Local time: 10:31
Dutch to English
Utterly ridiculous Feb 15, 2011

Hi. If this is going to be their policy from now on, I would tell them that from now on, it will be my policy to translate every word in the text once and put them in a table in alphabetical order. The client can then put them in the right place in the translation.

 
Yasutomo Kanazawa
Yasutomo Kanazawa  Identity Verified
Japan
Local time: 17:31
Member (2005)
English to Japanese
+ ...
LOL Feb 15, 2011

Buck wrote:

Hi. If this is going to be their policy from now on, I would tell them that from now on, it will be my policy to translate every word in the text once and put them in a table in alphabetical order. The client can then put them in the right place in the translation.


Yes, similar to playing a new version of Scrabble, maybe?

[Edited at 2011-02-15 12:09 GMT]


 
Aude Sylvain
Aude Sylvain  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 10:31
English to French
+ ...
also my understanding (or hope) Feb 15, 2011

Paula Borges wrote:

Jabberwock wrote:

Come on, give them a break... They are probably completely clueless.
(...)

You see? Not really harmful, just clueless. Leave them be, they're probably beyond help anyway.


Hopefully we're talking about one clueless PM who's now too proud to admit the mistake. I still cannot believe this is an actual policy.


Yes, also my understanding.


 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 10:31
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Characters Feb 15, 2011

Paula Borges wrote:
I got a reply saying this was because of their new policy: discounts for repeated words (such as 'it' "this' and 'that', etc.) He claims repeated words do not need to be retranslated.


It's a good think you're not paid per character, otherwise you would have been paid for only 26.


 
Adrian Grant
Adrian Grant  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:31
Portuguese to English
+ ...
Dr. Johnson Feb 16, 2011

It's a neat trick. Almost admirable for its audacity.

Using such a system the agency could get a whole dictionary translated, paying only for each word being defined, and getting all the definitions for free.


 
Alexandre Chetrite
Alexandre Chetrite
France
Local time: 10:31
English to French
About rate for repetitions Feb 16, 2011

Hello,

Just to know: how do you determine your rate for repetitive words? Do you just take an arbitrary rate, or do you take a certain percentage of your standard rate?


 
Williamson
Williamson  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:31
Flemish to English
+ ...
Trados-discount: based upon an illusion? Feb 16, 2011

Repetitions from what?
From previous translations/translation memories.
How can you know in advance how many exact matches there will be in your translation, based upon a previous translation if every translation is unique (a sentence in language A can be rephrased in many different ways in language B)and yes... how to determine the exact percentage?
By the %-age an agency wants to squeeze out of a translator's work and sell at its full rate?



[Ed
... See more
Repetitions from what?
From previous translations/translation memories.
How can you know in advance how many exact matches there will be in your translation, based upon a previous translation if every translation is unique (a sentence in language A can be rephrased in many different ways in language B)and yes... how to determine the exact percentage?
By the %-age an agency wants to squeeze out of a translator's work and sell at its full rate?



[Edited at 2011-02-16 17:23 GMT]
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Discount for repeated words?







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