| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | How much to pay an amateur Thread poster: EileenF
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EileenF 
Local time: 06:31
Member (2008)
Norwegian to English
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My son has a business that compares different insurance providers. He is hiring a high-school, native Spanish speaker, to translate the site into Spanish, and is wondering what would be a fair payment rate. My initial thought is that if you are using an amateur, you shouldn't be paying professional rates, and you should have the translation reviewed by a professional to ensure, well, that it is professional. Would much appreciate any other input my fellow translators might have.
| | | | Gerard de Noord
France
Local time: 12:31
Member (2003)
English to Dutch
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| A professional website deserves a professional translation | Apr 29, 2017 |
EileenF wrote:
My son has a business that compares different insurance providers. He is hiring a high-school, native Spanish speaker, to translate the site into Spanish, and is wondering what would be a fair payment rate. My initial thought is that if you are using an amateur, you shouldn't be paying professional rates, and you should have the translation reviewed by a professional to ensure, well, that it is professional. Would much appreciate any other input my fellow translators might have.
What can we do if f an entrepreneur can't be convinced by a professional tranlator who also is his own mother?
Cheers,
Gerard
| | | | Erik Freitag
Germany
Local time: 12:31
Member (2006)
Dutch to German
+ ...
| Amateur rates? | Apr 29, 2017 |
Well, if you take the definition literally, an amateur will work for free, and the quality of the translation will not necessarily be worse than that of a professional translation.
Switching to the more colloquial definition of the word "amateur": Using an amateur translator and a professional editor will lead to a translation that is not only still suboptimal, but typically also even more expensive than what two professionals would have achieved.
You just can't have yo... See more Well, if you take the definition literally, an amateur will work for free, and the quality of the translation will not necessarily be worse than that of a professional translation.
Switching to the more colloquial definition of the word "amateur": Using an amateur translator and a professional editor will lead to a translation that is not only still suboptimal, but typically also even more expensive than what two professionals would have achieved.
You just can't have your cake and eat it. Pay amateur rates and get amateur work. If you want to get professional work, pay professional rates. Following your suggestion, you will end up paying professional rates, but still getting amateur work.
Just don't do it. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | A question to put to your son | Apr 29, 2017 |
EileenF wrote:
My son has a business that compares different insurance providers. He is hiring a high-school, native Spanish speaker, to translate the site into Spanish, and is wondering what would be a fair payment rate. My initial thought is that if you are using an amateur, you shouldn't be paying professional rates, and you should have the translation reviewed by a professional to ensure, well, that it is professional. Would much appreciate any other input my fellow translators might have.
As a parallel, ask your son to hire a high-school student to compare insurance provders and then ask him to review the work produced.
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Sheila Wilson
Spain
Local time: 11:31
Member (2007)
English
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| There are amateurs and amateurs | Apr 29, 2017 |
It's really very worrying to hear that.
Much as I hate to admit it, there are amateurs around who are quite capable of delivering an adequate translation. But these are people who have years and years of experience working in the subject area, and are also used to using two languages. They might be retired, often younger people who have taken early retirement but still have active minds, or occasionally they'll be unemployed. One thing they are NOT is high school kids.
... See more It's really very worrying to hear that.
Much as I hate to admit it, there are amateurs around who are quite capable of delivering an adequate translation. But these are people who have years and years of experience working in the subject area, and are also used to using two languages. They might be retired, often younger people who have taken early retirement but still have active minds, or occasionally they'll be unemployed. One thing they are NOT is high school kids.
Does your son realise that a word-for-word translation of his website is not going to help him enter a foreign market? On the contrary, it will be a massive impediment. What's perhaps more important, does this high school "translator" know that?
How much investment goes into a company's expansion into a new markwt abroad? Are amateurs used at every stage of the expansion process? Or is it just the website translation that's singled out for cutbacks - even though that website is going to be the company's voice in the new market. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | the work must be done correctly | Apr 29, 2017 |
An incorrect or poorly done translation is useless. The "amateur" must be able to produce the same quality as a professional. If he can manage to do so, he should be paid the professional fee. Only, it will take him 4X as long to do it (so his effective hourly pay is 25%).
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 12:31
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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EileenF wrote:
My son ... is hiring a high-school native Spanish speaker to translate the site into Spanish, and is wondering what would be a fair payment rate.
Well, it sounds like your son knows that he is taking a risk and that the translation may not be of a good standard. He is giving this high-school kid an opportunity to learn translation skills through actual practice. This project will also teach the translator something about responsibility, and that is why he must be paid (for if the job is unpaid, the translator will have no urgency to complete the job and may succumb to temptation to drop out of the project when the going gets tough).
I would suggest 20% of the average professional fee. I do not think of this as undercutting professional translators, for clearly your son has extra motives.
My initial thought is that ... you should have the translation reviewed by a professional to ensure, well, that it is professional.
Well, if you son intends to actually use the translation, then he should definitely try to find a professional translator who is willing to check and correct the translation. This will be a learning experience for the kid, as well. In fact, it may be more productive not to wait under the entire site is translated before involving the proofreader.
| | | | Jacob Z. (X)
United States
Local time: 03:31
Spanish to English
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| Quote of the Day | Apr 30, 2017 |
Gerard de Noord wrote:
What can we do if f an entrepreneur can't be convinced by a professional tranlator who also is his own mother?
If we'd have a Quote of the Day section in this forum, this post would very likely make it!
To be fair, the reality is that everyday "entrepreneurs" dispense with professional translators and opt for inadequate measures.
I'd ask if the lower fee for the high-school student plus the fee for the professional reviewer would be cost/ time saving. But than again if this is really about giving the neighbour's kid an opportunity for getting experience and some cash, I'd happily give up to half of the going rate.
| | | | Ilan Rubin (X)
Russian Federation
Local time: 13:31
Russian to English
| The wrong question | Apr 30, 2017 |
You pay the rate for the job, not the person
If it's perfect you pay the professional rate. Otherwise you pay that minus the cost of fixing it.
And I expect there's a tax "gain" somewhere too 😊
| | | | DZiW (X)
Ukraine
English to Russian
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| amateur/novice/budget/low-end | Apr 30, 2017 |
Although the context is wide, there're two notions:
1) an amateur is rather new to what he tries to accomplish--not enough relevant skills and knowledge yet;
2) most amateur jobs are done hastily and carelessly.
Ok, there's an 'entry position', 'probationer', or 'trainee'; however, I don't think there's any 'amateur payment' in the biz world--only the result matters.
By the way, how about an 'amateur method of payment', in cigarettes? Would a 'little used' b... See more Although the context is wide, there're two notions:
1) an amateur is rather new to what he tries to accomplish--not enough relevant skills and knowledge yet;
2) most amateur jobs are done hastily and carelessly.
Ok, there's an 'entry position', 'probationer', or 'trainee'; however, I don't think there's any 'amateur payment' in the biz world--only the result matters.
By the way, how about an 'amateur method of payment', in cigarettes? Would a 'little used' bubblegum do?
[Edited at 2017-04-30 11:06 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Why not Google Translate? It's free | Apr 30, 2017 |
EileenF wrote:
My initial thought is that if you are using an amateur, you shouldn't be paying professional rates, and you should have the translation reviewed by a professional
Hiring a high-school student for a website translation is a terrible idea. The checker will probably have to redo the whole thing and charge full rates anyway.
Sandra
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Ilan Rubin (X)
Russian Federation
Local time: 13:31
Russian to English
| Give the kid a break... | Apr 30, 2017 |
Sandra& Kenneth wrote:
EileenF wrote:
My initial thought is that if you are using an amateur, you shouldn't be paying professional rates, and you should have the translation reviewed by a professional
Hiring a high-school student for a website translation is a terrible idea. The checker will probably have to redo the whole thing and charge full rates anyway.
Sandra
How do you know in advance that the whole thing will have to be redone? Do you know the particular student and their abilities?
I could translate lots of Russian texts when I was 18-19, and I wasn't even a native Russian speaker. I was just dedicated to learning and maybe this student is too.
| | | | MK2010
United States
Local time: 06:31
Member (2017)
French to English
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| Ricki Farn
Germany
Local time: 12:31
English to German
| What currency? | Apr 30, 2017 |
My mother and her neighbour, both educated amateurs, have translated the newsletter of a tiny international needlecraft organisation for years. It takes ages, they love it and hate it and despair over it, rinse and repeat, until it's pretty damn perfect every time.
There is no money involved. They are paid in needlecraft patterns and loving assistance when their own thread and yarn are rebellious. They consider this form of payment a positive luxury.
So what's the curre... See more My mother and her neighbour, both educated amateurs, have translated the newsletter of a tiny international needlecraft organisation for years. It takes ages, they love it and hate it and despair over it, rinse and repeat, until it's pretty damn perfect every time.
There is no money involved. They are paid in needlecraft patterns and loving assistance when their own thread and yarn are rebellious. They consider this form of payment a positive luxury.
So what's the currency for an insurance website? Insurance advice? Beer? Chocolate? ▲ Collapse
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