Translation - art & business » Money matters »
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Accept fuzzy matches in a CAT tool you don't have???
Thread poster: pcovs
Marc P (X)
Marc P (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 15:09
German to English
+ ...
Well said Apr 20, 2005

Well said, Joeri. As is often the case, this discussion is more about independent translators being assertive in negotiations with customers than about the finer points of translation memory.

Marc
 
Christine Andersen
Christine Andersen  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 15:09
Member (2003)
Danish to English
+ ...
No TM, no discount Apr 20, 2005

That is my attitude.

In my experience CATs improve quality and consistency, but with the kinds of texts I translate, they do NOT increase speed appreciably. So I don't give discounts for fuzzy matches, because there are not many of them, and they have to be double checked when they do come up.

My clients accept this, and I'm still extremely busy.

So my attitude is that we should give the best service we can, with CATs where they are useful (and I have seen ... See more
That is my attitude.

In my experience CATs improve quality and consistency, but with the kinds of texts I translate, they do NOT increase speed appreciably. So I don't give discounts for fuzzy matches, because there are not many of them, and they have to be double checked when they do come up.

My clients accept this, and I'm still extremely busy.

So my attitude is that we should give the best service we can, with CATs where they are useful (and I have seen texts where the CAT does a lot of the work and discounts are OK, but they're not my speciality).

Don't let clients use CATs to press prices across the market, because in the long run they will lose out if good translators can't make a decent living and afford to go on courses, go out and listen to their languages, take time off to see TV and read quality newspapers, buy decent dictionaries (and CATs!!) etc. etc.

We expect other professionals to use the latest new tools and we pay their fees. In these global times they often depend on translators and interpreters to keep up in their professions, so why should we be the poor relatives?

I don't want to be greedy, but offering a good service costs me money, so I expect my clients to respect that and pay me a decent hourly rate, CAT or no CAT.

Happy translating!
Christine ▲ Collapse
 
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Accept fuzzy matches in a CAT tool you don't have???







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