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Translation - art & business » Money matters »
Premium for Arabic dialects?
Thread poster: Kristen Canavan
Kristen Canavan
Kristen Canavan
French to English
+ ...
May 25, 2020

I work from a lesser-spoken dialect of Arabic (Dèrija) to English. I am doing my first non pro-bono subtitling project in this language pair. The client has asked what an audio transcription + translation would cost. I have a set rate per source word of .10 per word, but what I don't know what to quote per audio minute transcribed.

From what I've read, some of you had said that for an Indoeuropean language to English, the rate can be between $5 to $10 per audio minute. The range ... See more
I work from a lesser-spoken dialect of Arabic (Dèrija) to English. I am doing my first non pro-bono subtitling project in this language pair. The client has asked what an audio transcription + translation would cost. I have a set rate per source word of .10 per word, but what I don't know what to quote per audio minute transcribed.

From what I've read, some of you had said that for an Indoeuropean language to English, the rate can be between $5 to $10 per audio minute. The range of course allows the translator to consider the number of speakers, sound quality, speed, etc. My question is though, can you set a particular price "premium" simply for having a lesser served language pair? ▲ Collapse
 
Fouad El karnichi
Fouad El karnichi  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 18:24
Arabic to English
+ ...
Rate May 25, 2020

Two weeks a colleague received a similar offer from India. Their rate was $2 per audio minute....and it includes both annotation and translation:). He did not reply to them at all.

Could you believe it? lesser spoken variety with such a pathetic price? ridiculous?. I think their variable is the supposed ' low cost' of livelihood in those countries...that is what they think. In India they do not know that some countries in North Africa could be as expensive as some European countr... See more
Two weeks a colleague received a similar offer from India. Their rate was $2 per audio minute....and it includes both annotation and translation:). He did not reply to them at all.

Could you believe it? lesser spoken variety with such a pathetic price? ridiculous?. I think their variable is the supposed ' low cost' of livelihood in those countries...that is what they think. In India they do not know that some countries in North Africa could be as expensive as some European countries.

My modest suggestion: If it is from "darija" or into " darija" and if your client is not from Inida, I suggest you go ahead with a 15% to 20% increase on your median rate. I presume it is from " Darija" in your case? not the other way around...right? ▲ Collapse


Kristen Canavan
 
Kristen Canavan
Kristen Canavan
French to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Location should not dictate income May 25, 2020

Thanks, Fouad for your reply. It's true that translators from "less-developed" countries aka the Global South often get ripped off or outright exploited.

Yes, that is correct. I am translating from Dérija to English, not the other way around.
 


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