Rate for translating sound files.
Thread poster: Jian Chen
Jian Chen
Jian Chen
Local time: 01:10
Chinese to English
+ ...
Jun 30, 2003

I've been approached by several clients regarding to sound file translation. Is per target word or per minute the industry rate? If it is by word, is twice your normal translation rate fair? If it is by minute, is $5.00 per minute fair? Please help. Thank you very much.

 
murat Karahan
murat Karahan  Identity Verified
Türkiye
Local time: 08:10
English to Turkish
+ ...
It's just normal Jul 1, 2003

I wouldn't say fair though since you have to rewind, listen, translate, therefore it would take longer than doing text translation.
I'd charge per minute of audio material. But you should take into account the nature of the material; is it an instruction tape, are there many gaps or is someone speaking like a machine gun? Is it a clearly recorded? If the speaker is a fast talker I'd definitely charge per word.
But this price could be a little low in your language pair. Don't forget
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I wouldn't say fair though since you have to rewind, listen, translate, therefore it would take longer than doing text translation.
I'd charge per minute of audio material. But you should take into account the nature of the material; is it an instruction tape, are there many gaps or is someone speaking like a machine gun? Is it a clearly recorded? If the speaker is a fast talker I'd definitely charge per word.
But this price could be a little low in your language pair. Don't forget to charge double if the client asks for a transcription. You could also count the words in 1-2 minutes of the audio and see which is more to your benefit, per word or per minute.
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pkb (X)
pkb (X)

Local time: 05:10
French to English
Transcribe, then translate Jul 4, 2003

Jian (or are you Chen?),

I don't think anybody could do a proper job of translation directly from a tape.

You need an audio typist to transcribe the file first, and then you translate the text as usual.

My wife earns her living as a French audio typist and would charge 16 GBP (what's that - 26 USD?) per 1000 words for a French transcription. Your rates may differ !

I hope that's helpful.

Philip


 


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Rate for translating sound files.







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