Translation shortening Thread poster: Emaleu Nemaleu Flore
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Dear Colleagues,
A client wants me to shorten translations that were done by another translator.
I have never done this before and I wish to know how I should charge.
Thanks in advance for your help!
| | | | | I suppose that this is an edition task, | May 20, 2015 |
So you may charge accordingly.
| | | | Erik Freitag 
Germany
Local time: 06:35
Member (2006)
Dutch to German
+ ...
The only sensible way to do this is to charge by the hour.
| | | | | Charge by hours | May 20, 2015 |
Why not charging this service by your work hours rate? Take steps in fully hours.
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Thanks Erik and Matthias, I think that's what I will do!
| | | | LEXpert
United States
Local time: 23:35
Member (2008)
Croatian to English
+ ...
What will they be used for? Usually gisting or abstracting by translators is done in order to avoid a translation of the entire document when only selected information is of interest/use to the client and/or to determine if they have sufficient interest in the document to translate it in its entirely. If the full translation has already been done, there doesn't seem to be much point...
Certainly, you should charge hourly in any case. I would ask the client for very clear directives about w... See more What will they be used for? Usually gisting or abstracting by translators is done in order to avoid a translation of the entire document when only selected information is of interest/use to the client and/or to determine if they have sufficient interest in the document to translate it in its entirely. If the full translation has already been done, there doesn't seem to be much point...
Certainly, you should charge hourly in any case. I would ask the client for very clear directives about what kind of information they want retained, and what they are OK leaving out. Personally, I've found that this type of work can be fraught with misunderstandings about what can be retained/removed. If possible, ask for examples of previous abridgments, or if there are several files, have them give you feedback on one before you proceed with the others. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Your normal editing rate plus shortening percentage | May 20, 2015 |
As an alternative, I suggest that you charge your normal rate for editing plus the percentage by which you are supposed to shorten the translation.
| | | | Diana Coada (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 05:35
Portuguese to English
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| Agree with Rudolf | May 20, 2015 |
It doesn't seem to make much sense at this stage, but in any case, I'd make sure I follow Rudolf's advice.
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Rudolf Vedo CT wrote:
What will they be used for? Usually gisting or abstracting by translators is done in order to avoid a translation of the entire document when only selected information is of interest/use to the client and/or to determine if they have sufficient interest in the document to translate it in its entirely. If the full translation has already been done, there doesn't seem to be much point...
Certainly, you should charge hourly in any case. I would ask the client for very clear directives about what kind of information they want retained, and what they are OK leaving out. Personally, I've found that this type of work can be fraught with misunderstandings about what can be retained/removed. If possible, ask for examples of previous abridgments, or if there are several files, have them give you feedback on one before you proceed with the others.
Thank you Rudolf.
I followed your advice and it was very helpful.
Thanks again!
| | | | DZiW (X)
Ukraine
English to Russian
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| Make sure what they want | May 20, 2015 |
Of course, we learned how to separate important ideas from secondary, how to compress via generalization, how to concatenate sentences, how to replace complex/compound structures/participles, how to rearrange sub/micro/topics, how to restructure wording, how to use (shorter) synonyms and so on, but what is the purpose?
If the target is, say, 50% words or 2/3 number of chars, then it's one way, if it's about pleonasm/empty/parasite words, then it's quite different, if somethin... See more Of course, we learned how to separate important ideas from secondary, how to compress via generalization, how to concatenate sentences, how to replace complex/compound structures/participles, how to rearrange sub/micro/topics, how to restructure wording, how to use (shorter) synonyms and so on, but what is the purpose?
If the target is, say, 50% words or 2/3 number of chars, then it's one way, if it's about pleonasm/empty/parasite words, then it's quite different, if something else, then another way.
If possible, ask for a list of 'bad' words.
Good luck.
[Edited at 2015-05-20 15:21 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Daryo
United Kingdom
Local time: 05:35
Serbian to English
+ ...
| what exactly do they want? | May 20, 2015 |
have they given you any target?
Do they want a shorter version of a full translation?
Have they compared the number of characters in FR and in EN and concluded from the ratio that the translation is ways more verbose than it ought to be? And now want another version of a "normal" translation where this ratio will be "normal"?
If that is the case, just translate it again from scratch and charge accordingly - better for you AND better for them.
Most importan... See more have they given you any target?
Do they want a shorter version of a full translation?
Have they compared the number of characters in FR and in EN and concluded from the ratio that the translation is ways more verbose than it ought to be? And now want another version of a "normal" translation where this ratio will be "normal"?
If that is the case, just translate it again from scratch and charge accordingly - better for you AND better for them.
Most important: have you seen the ST and the translation? Be careful not to let yourself in a nightmare job that is supposed to be "just few changes ..."
OTOH if they want some sort of "digest" or "overview" than charging by the hour is a sensible approach -
Given that's it's much more difficult to be short and to the point than being verbose, I would even suggest the price for the "normal" translation increased by 20% (or 30% or more).
Yes, exactly that: charge them more if they a shorter translation.
If it sounds crazy, it's not; to make an analogy with programming computers, any beginner can write bloatware, but you need a lot of knowledge to write programs that are quick and don't waste computer's resources. ▲ Collapse
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