| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Poll: Do you translate differently depending on whether you are paid based on the source or target text? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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Mario Chavez (X) 
Local time: 12:53
English to Spanish
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| A different perspective | Dec 7, 2014 |
Gianluca Marras wrote: Maria Amorim wrote:
I understood this question from another perspective: if the rate is based on the target text then one should be double conscious on avoiding “unnecessary” words. Otherwise this question could be seen as unethical. Whatever the perspective is, this kind of approach would be unethical.
I'm with Maria on this one. Don't be so sure, Gianluca. I knew of at least one translator who would pad her paragraphs with unnecessary words to inflate the wordcount.
Most translation agencies moved from the per-target wordcount pay to the per-source wordcount pay many years ago.
Having said that, I think the question in this poll is poorly worded, it sounds like an accusation, like those US government forms: “Have you done drugs in the last six weeks?” or “Have you ever been a member of the Nazi party?”
A better question would be Would a translator be justified in translating differently depending on whether the payment is based on source or target wordcount?
| | | | | (There is) more than one way of skinning a cat, some (of them are) longer than others | Dec 7, 2014 |
Paid on target, writing "in spite of" rather than "despite" or "at this moment in time" rather than "now" would triple/quintuple your income without affecting the quality or validity of your translation at all
Only a mug would pay that way because there's just no financial or ethical incentive to be succinct
| | | | Helen Hagon
Local time: 17:53
Member (2011)
Russian to English
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| Always use source word count | Dec 7, 2014 |
I always play safe and base quotes on the source word count. The source text is set in stone and cannot be changed, so it is a firmer foundation on which to base any calculations or negotiations. My target texts are usually 20-25% longer than the originals, and you never know the exact word count until after the work is completed, so this could potentially give rise to disputes.
| | | | Balasubramaniam L.
India
Local time: 22:23
Member (2006)
English to Hindi
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SITE LOCALIZER | Doing so would cost you more time, and hence would be costly to you | Dec 8, 2014 |
If in order to earn a few more pennies, you pad up each sentence with extra words to inflate the final word count, you actually end up spending more time in doing the translation, and thus consuming more of that limited, unreplenishable commodity - the time available to you. The fastest way to do a translation is to intuitively do it without consciously thinking about it. You also get better flow in the translation by this method.
I tend to agree with the view expressed by some here... See more If in order to earn a few more pennies, you pad up each sentence with extra words to inflate the final word count, you actually end up spending more time in doing the translation, and thus consuming more of that limited, unreplenishable commodity - the time available to you. The fastest way to do a translation is to intuitively do it without consciously thinking about it. You also get better flow in the translation by this method.
I tend to agree with the view expressed by some here that it is impossible for a competent translator to produce a substandard translation even if he tries. Any translator's output would be uniformally good or bad depending on his talent, skill, experience and expertise in the subject. No translator can manipulate any of these aspects consciously and produce variations in his translation. ▲ Collapse
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Mario Freitas
Brazil
Local time: 13:53
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
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| Payment based on target text? | Dec 8, 2014 |
I have seen that very few times in my 28 years as a translator, and always with clients that were not used to this kind of service. Honestly, that doesn't exist in the translation market.
| | | | | Some people prefer to pay only based on English words, it seems | Dec 8, 2014 |
Mario Freitas wrote:
I have seen that very few times in my 28 years as a translator, and always with clients that were not used to this kind of service. Honestly, that doesn't exist in the translation market.
I prefer to charge based on source word count. However, for my main working pair, which is Chinese into English, many of my clients (especially those in Europe and North America) prefer to be charged based on English words, i.e. target word count. So well, I satisfy them. Either way, I am fine as I have different rates for English and Chinese words, and they will end up paying more or less the same amount (the English and Chinese word counts are significantly different in any pair of equivalent documents).
| | | | 564354352 (X)
Denmark
Local time: 18:53
Danish to English
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| Two different issues here | Dec 8, 2014 |
It's one thing to consider changing your translation in order to make more money by adding (unnecessary words). That's clearly unethical.
It's a completely different issue whether you charge by number of target words rather than by number of source words. That's simply a practical issue.
In my experience, the standard is to charge by source words, which I prefer, regardless of the fact that most of my work concerns texts that increase by up to 20 % when translated into ... See more It's one thing to consider changing your translation in order to make more money by adding (unnecessary words). That's clearly unethical.
It's a completely different issue whether you charge by number of target words rather than by number of source words. That's simply a practical issue.
In my experience, the standard is to charge by source words, which I prefer, regardless of the fact that most of my work concerns texts that increase by up to 20 % when translated into my primary target language (English). It's simply the easiest way to give quotes, and obviously, you allow for the increase in words when you fix your rates.
I have just one, minor, client who insists on my charging by target words, which makes sense to them, as in their case, the target word count (English to Danish) will practically always be lower than the source word count. I oblige them, as they only account for a small part of my turnover. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Pointless day 2 comments nobody will see | Dec 8, 2014 |
@Gitte - I normally expand less than 10% to your 20% in the same language pair. If I "unethically" expanded by twice that amount instead to inflate my bill, it would still be fewer words than you charge...
@Balasubramaniam - I disagree entirely. In English at least, being wordy requires less effort than being succinct. I dictate in a relatively wordy fashion and when I edit I reduce the size of the text quite considerably, which takes a fair amount of time. That's my choice; I don'... See more @Gitte - I normally expand less than 10% to your 20% in the same language pair. If I "unethically" expanded by twice that amount instead to inflate my bill, it would still be fewer words than you charge...
@Balasubramaniam - I disagree entirely. In English at least, being wordy requires less effort than being succinct. I dictate in a relatively wordy fashion and when I edit I reduce the size of the text quite considerably, which takes a fair amount of time. That's my choice; I don't think it's a matter of ethics.
I think it's just too easy to leap on that ethical high horse when this is clearly not something people here deal with in reality.
It's all academic though - in the long term customers would just pay you less per word. ▲ Collapse
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564354352 (X)
Denmark
Local time: 18:53
Danish to English
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| Expanding text, not price | Dec 8, 2014 |
Chris S wrote:
@Gitte - I normally expand less than 10% to your 20% in the same language pair. If I "unethically" expanded by twice that amount instead to inflate my bill, it would still be fewer words than you charge...
Maybe I didn't make myself clear, but by charging for the vast majority of my work (from Danish into English) based on the source word count, I LOSE the possible additional 10-20 % that I could charge if I based my invoices on the target word count.
The odd client out that I mentioned still retains the benefit, as in their case, I translate from English into Danish, which means that the number of words in the target text SHRINKS by 10-20 %.
However, it makes no difference to me, as my prices are set accordingly. 
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Gitte Hovedskov, MCIL wrote: However, it makes no difference to me, as my prices are set accordingly.
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