CAT-tool match-levels, rates etc. Thread poster: Matthias Staudt
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Hello,
some agencies (usually the ones working with TRADOS, I suppose) offer their rates per word for “no match”, sometimes with lowering rates, depending on the match-level (in %).
- Is there a common practice about that ?
- All this confuses me, because I believe one generally can´t just leave untouched a fuzzy-match as offered by the CAT-tool? (so everything should be paid as “no match” and this discussion perhaps doesn’t make sense ?).
- Additional questi... See more Hello,
some agencies (usually the ones working with TRADOS, I suppose) offer their rates per word for “no match”, sometimes with lowering rates, depending on the match-level (in %).
- Is there a common practice about that ?
- All this confuses me, because I believe one generally can´t just leave untouched a fuzzy-match as offered by the CAT-tool? (so everything should be paid as “no match” and this discussion perhaps doesn’t make sense ?).
- Additional question: does Trados create statistics of a translated document with total numbers of matches, %-levels of each, etc? – I work with WORDFAST and still haven´t seen that.
I haven´t got a very long experience with these things - so thank you very much for any hint or opinion 
Matthias Staudt ▲ Collapse
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Hynek Palatin 
Czech Republic
Local time: 09:21
Member (2003)
English to Czech
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| Sliding scale | Sep 16, 2004 |
Is there a common practice about that ?
Many agencies use this so called sliding scale. But the exact figures are quite different. Some translators object against this system, I guess you will see their posts soon. I also recommend searching the forums, there were already several discussions on this topic.
All this confuses me, because I believe one generally can´t just leave untouched a fuzzy-match as offered by the CAT-tool?
Sure, you should always proofread (even the 100% matches, especially if the translation memory was provided by the agency). As for the fuzzy (non-100%) matches, sometimes you just need to change one word, so it's easier than translating the whole segment again. On the other hand, it's the CAT tool (paid by you, not by the agency) that makes it easier.
does Trados create statistics of a translated document with total numbers of matches, %-levels of each, etc?
Yes, it does. It's called Analysis. All major CAT tools can do that.
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| Common practice, but a bad one in my view... | Sep 16, 2004 |
- Is there a common practice about that ?
Unfortunately, yes, Trados even suggests how to charge for the different matches (they used to have a .pdf file somewhere on their site). This topic has been discussed several times on the fora; just search for "matches" and you will find several good opinions on the subject.
- All this confuses me, because I believe one generally can´t just leave untouched a fuzzy-match as offered by the CAT-tool? (so everything should be paid as “no match” and this discussion perhaps doesn’t make sense ?).
It's difficult to say, since situations vary. Even a 100% match does not mean you don't spend time there since the word/segment may have a different meaning in the new context. Besides, are we talking of a 100% match with your own TM or one supplied by the company? Did the company pay for your Trados copy?
On the other hand, people claim that it does seem unfair to charge the same for a header or footer that is repeated on every page of your 200-page manual. And yet the same people cannot foresee that on page 4 you may stumble upon an obscure term that will take you 2 hours to solve...
All in all, I think you shouldn't charge less since *you* made the investment in time and money to buy and learn how to use a CAT tool, not to offer a discount, but to increase your own productivity. I personally would only consider a discount in 100% matches against a TM provided by the company.
But, by all means, I encourage you to read all the opinions in other threads before making up your mind.
Good luck!
[Edited at 2004-09-16 13:22]
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James Calder
United Kingdom
Local time: 08:21
Spanish to English
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| Absolutely right Rossana | Sep 16, 2004 |
[quote] Rossana Triaca wrote:
All in all, I think you shouldn't charge less since *you* made the investment in time and money to buy and learn how to use a CAT tool, not to offer a discount, but to increase your own productivity. I personally would only consider a discount in 100% matches against a TM provided by the company.
[quote]
Matias,
I was offered one such job yesterday but turned it down; I didn't invest a significant amount of money in Trados so that agencies could offer discounts to their clients for repetitions. If they want to buy Trados or any other CAT tool for the translators they use, then they might have a case.
Very cheeky if you ask me.
Yours
James Calder
[Edited at 2004-09-16 13:13]
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Henk Peelen
Netherlands
Local time: 09:21
Member (2002)
German to Dutch
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SITE LOCALIZER
My scheme:
Match................Payment
0-74 %...............100 %
75-99 %...............66 %
100 % & repetitions...33 %
In my opinion (some three years / 3 million words experience with Trados), this has proven to be reasonable.
Like Hynek and Rosanna say: 100 % matches need to be proofreaded. I think the 33 % payment is about one's proeefread rate.
Stating another obvious point: it's an average. Sometimes 100 % matches are worthless, especially... See more My scheme:
Match................Payment
0-74 %...............100 %
75-99 %...............66 %
100 % & repetitions...33 %
In my opinion (some three years / 3 million words experience with Trados), this has proven to be reasonable.
Like Hynek and Rosanna say: 100 % matches need to be proofreaded. I think the 33 % payment is about one's proeefread rate.
Stating another obvious point: it's an average. Sometimes 100 % matches are worthless, especially when you get a TM from the client. But don't forget either that the value of a sentence is context-sensitive (think about a phrase in a title, a table and under a figure), cas-sensitive and so on. Next to that, for instance translating form English to a lnguage with far more felction can mean the translation of the word set could urely grammatical be translated in about 5 manners. Subdivision by the meaning of the nouns and verbs will render ??? possibilities.
Or what about "I can't miss you"? It can have at least three meanings:
1) Be sure I'll hit you
2) I can't live without you
3) No change I'll miss you (because I don't love you)
In the target language you probably won't like to see meaning 2 interchanged with 1 and 3!
So a 100 % match can very easy be 100 % wrong.
Next to that, some words in one language have zig translations in other languages, see for instance http://www.proz.com/post/152396 for the Dutch word 'gezellig'.
Partly agreeing with James, I never use my scheme if a TM isn't provided. Phone calls or mails like "Would you consider translating a text with 9500 words no match and 230 words 100 % match & repetitions" are very common, often meaning they don't provide a TM. Seems ridicilous to give deduction for some occasional reps.
[Edited at 2004-09-17 14:32] ▲ Collapse
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Marc P (X)
Local time: 09:21
German to English
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| CAT-tool match-levels, rates etc. | Sep 16, 2004 |
matist wrote:
some agencies (usually the ones working with TRADOS
There you have it. Any system in which the buyer sets the price is flawed.
Marc
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Matthias Staudt
Spain
Local time: 09:21
Spanish to German
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TOPIC STARTER
Many many thanks to everyone -- your comments helped me a lot making up my mind
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