Trados Studio - do translators charge for cross-file repetitions? Thread poster: liz green (X)
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liz green (X)
Local time: 12:32
French to English
My customer has performed a Studio analysis of several files that I am translating. Of approximately 8000 words, about 3000 are cross-file repetitions and he has excluded these from the purchase order, i.e. he has factored in new words and fuzzy matches (there are very few fuzzy matches) only, ignoring completely the cross-file repetitions. To my mind, a cross-file repetition involves as much processing by a translator as a 100% match would. Now, I'd normally charge for 100% matches, albeit at a... See more My customer has performed a Studio analysis of several files that I am translating. Of approximately 8000 words, about 3000 are cross-file repetitions and he has excluded these from the purchase order, i.e. he has factored in new words and fuzzy matches (there are very few fuzzy matches) only, ignoring completely the cross-file repetitions. To my mind, a cross-file repetition involves as much processing by a translator as a 100% match would. Now, I'd normally charge for 100% matches, albeit at a discounted rate that varies according to the files/customer involved. So I'm feeling a little short-changed here. There's not a vast amount of money involved in this case but there's definitely a principle to uphold. What do other translators think? ▲ Collapse
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LEXpert 
United States
Local time: 06:32
Member (2008)
Croatian to English
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| Aren't they just regular repetitions? | Sep 16, 2016 |
Aren't cross-file repetitions just regular repetitions that happen to appear in more than one file? Do you charge for repetitions if there is only one file?
100% matches in the analysis come from the TM, and the original match may be from a poor previous translation, or from a translation in a different specialty where the context is not applicable.
In that sense, reps generally take less work than 100% matches.
You can usually open all the files in the project at once and aut... See more Aren't cross-file repetitions just regular repetitions that happen to appear in more than one file? Do you charge for repetitions if there is only one file?
100% matches in the analysis come from the TM, and the original match may be from a poor previous translation, or from a translation in a different specialty where the context is not applicable.
In that sense, reps generally take less work than 100% matches.
You can usually open all the files in the project at once and autopropagate throughout the project, so the "cross-file" part shouldn't make any difference unless the files are entirely unrelated.
[Edited at 2016-09-16 10:14 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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I have been able to find some clients who will pay for cross-file repetitions. The last time it happened (about two months ago), I was paid 20% of my rate for such repetitions.
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| Hi hi, ha ha | Sep 16, 2016 |
liz green wrote:
...Of approximately 8000 words, about 3000 are cross-file repetitions and he has excluded these from the purchase order, i.e. he has factored in new words and fuzzy matches (there are very few fuzzy matches) only, ignoring completely the cross-file repetitions...
No pay for repetitions (or 100% matches), no reread in context. There are ways to hide/skip/lock them when translating and rereading so that the work you're not paid for doesn't interfere.
Stupid outcomes are not your responsibility. It may be ok without checking repeats, or it may lead to serious claims from the end customer. Let them choose the option they see is the fittest and have them clean up the mess if it hits the fan.
Make sure you state that when you deliver and state how much you charge per hour (a lot) for proofreading.
Philippe
PS: all customers in their right mind who don't pay for 100%/repeats have a round of editing after translation to cover potential issues with them. Those who don't don't know anything about CAT tools.
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| This annoys me | Sep 16, 2016 |
As far as I'm concerned anything that I process with my CAT tool should be paid for. If a client locks the segments then I'm happy for them to not to be included, but other than that, I charge. If it's my responsibility I want to be paid for it. It does seem to be a growing trend for agencies to try to apply a zero rate to certain match categories.
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| Anything I spend time on needs to be paid for | Sep 16, 2016 |
I also like to look at the file and see what kind of matches they are. If there is a large chunk of of text, e.g. a chapter or columns of repetition, that I do not need to bother with then I am happy not to charge for it.
However, most matches or repetition occurs within the context of a text and although I may not have to change anything, I will still have to read it several times and that takes time, even if the segments are locked.
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Lianne van de Ven
United States
Local time: 07:32
Member (2008)
English to Dutch
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| If it doesn't need to be processed, don't submit it or lock it. | Sep 17, 2016 |
Rachel Waddington wrote:
As far as I'm concerned anything that I process with my CAT tool should be paid for. If a client locks the segments then I'm happy for them to not to be included, but other than that, I charge. If it's my responsibility I want to be paid for it. It does seem to be a growing trend for agencies to try to apply a zero rate to certain match categories.
I also have a growing concern over content that "does not have to be processed." If not, then please lock it or don't send it to me, but don't leave it up to me and my software to manage this content without any compensation.
Most clients pay about 30% for 100% matches, cross-file or not, which is sometimes still not enough. In fact, some type of content is identical in English but needs adjustment in my target language (Dutch). This applies for example to clinical trials/consent forms for adults and children. The style in Dutch needs to be adjusted for children while the English versions are identical. I have to create double entries in the tm (ctrl+shift+U in SDL Studio) which always need to be checked.
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liz green (X)
Local time: 12:32
French to English
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks everyone for your interesting mix of responses.
I forgot to say in my original post that the customer sent the documents as stand-alone files - not a Studio package or TM in sight. So it seems they want the advantages of CAT tools without doing any of the groundwork themselves.
I've said I want more money and they're not happy...
[Edited at 2016-09-19 10:34 GMT]
[Edited at 2016-09-19 10:35 GMT]
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