Translator’s Professional Information

Personal Information

Full Name: Marcus Prihminto WIDODO
Education: -Graduate: Master of Business Administration
Major: General Business

Minor: International Business

-Undergraduate: Architecture

Job type: Translator / Editor / Copywriter / Trainer
Language Pairs English to INDONESIAN
INDONESIAN To English

Year Started Translating: 1983
Organization Type: Full-time Freelance
Address: Jln. Belik II / 2 A
Surakarta 57124

Central Java - INDONESIA

Email: [email protected]
Alternative email: [email protected] Telephone / Cellular phone: +6287882232277 Scheduling and Distribution

Location: Surakarta – Central Java - INDONESIA
Time zone: Jakarta, GMT + 7
Availability: Mon Tues Weds Thurs Fri Sat Sun
Times: 24 hours 24 hours 24 hours 24 hours 24 hours 24 hours 24 hours
Style of English: American: ___√__ British: __√___ Both: ___√__

Specializations

Work experience in the subjects of:

Accounting √ Engineering / Manufacturing / Utilities √ Medical / Pharmaceutical √
Environment √ Health & Beauty √ Property / Real Estate √
Religion √ IT / Internet / Computing Public Relations √
Inspirational subjects √ Insurance √ Purchasing / Procurement √
Banking & Finance √ Humanities √ Culture √
Building / Architectural √ Logistics √ Transportation / Shipping / Logistics √
Catering / Hospitality √ Marketing √ Travel / Tourism √
Education
.
√ Media / Publishing √ Social Sciences √


Work undertaken

Types of work undertaken:

Research reports √ CV √ Promotional Materials √
Books √ Keynote speech √ Dissertation √
Brochures √ Newsletters √ Technical Data Sheets √
Proposal √ Presentations √ Training Manuals √
Feasibility studies √ Environmental analysis report √ User Guides √


Qualifications

My undergraduate formal training was in architecture and my post graduate training was in Business Administration. But my experience spans from being an editor in a magazine, an editor of the largest publishing company in Indonesia, a faculty member, a trainer, and a professional manager. My first experience in translation was in 1983 (more than twenty three years ago) when I was on my first year of college. Translation was how I earned my money to finance my formal study while I was also an editor of a small magazine in religious matters. After graduating from the university, I joined the largest publishing company where I was an editor for science books. There I started my experience in translating university text books. First I translated pure engineering books (for instance, ‘STEEL STRUCTURES, Design and Behavior, Emphasizing Load and Resistance Factor Design’, Third Edition, Charles G. Salmon & John E. Johnson, Harper – Collins, +1100 pp.), then management books (for instance, MULTINATIONAL BUSINESS FINANCE, Ninth Edition, David K Eiteman, Arthur I Stonehill, & Michael H. Moffet, Addison Wesley, +800 pages), followed with books in social sciences (for instance, ‘JAPAN’S ROLE IN ASIA, Lim Hua Sing, Times Academic Press, +400 pp.) and eventually almost in any subject. I changed my formal job from being an editor to being a faculty member in one of the most prestigious Indonesian universities (i.e., University of Indonesia), while I still continued my job as a freelance translator. After getting a scholarship to join a post graduate education in business administration, I joined an international training company (i.e., The Covey Leadership Center Indonesia), and later I joined an industrial machinery and equipment trading company where I was a manager representing high end products in oil and gas technologies. Even when I was in formal job, translation has always been my own personal business. Since I quit the company, I have been a full time freelance translator up to now and perhaps I will still be a freelance translator forever. It is almost a second nature for me.
Now, most of my jobs are documents. They range from formal documents such as proposals, feasibility studies, environmental analysis reports, even dissertation of a doctor candidate, to the more informal ones such as keynote speech of a minister or a governor.
Skills

As you can see from the above description, at first I translated most materials in engineering / technical related subjects, then in management / business subjects, then in social sciences, and now almost in any subject. Perhaps because of my high school training, I am also very fond of translating inspirational materials, including religious subjects, because it is very rewarding not only for the money but for its enriching effect. But most of all, I enjoy reading things of any subject. That is why translating is almost not like a job for me, but it is like a game I enjoy most in addition to get paid for doing the thing I like most.

CAT Tools

Though I have Trados in my computer, but most of my clients prefer not to use any CAT tool. Most of them prefer manual translation, in which everything is very much customized to meet the specific needs of the client. More over, translation is more a work of art than a mass product.

Rate

Rate is basically negotiable. A US Translation company pays me US$ 0.10 (ten cents) per source word for translation and US $0.05 per source word for proofreading. But you can always propose your own preferred rate. Most likely I will agree with your proposal, because for me the money is not the most important thing in this business. It is the satisfaction of the client that counts most.

Rate for repetitions

If you translate manually, then almost there is no repetition at all, because every word should in practice be translated differently if the context is different. For my personal preference, I would avoid any repetition even if two sentences are exactly the same. I would prefer to express them differently so that you are not bored and you can enjoy the translation work as if you go to a landscape where you prefer not to see the same scenery.

Hourly rate

I have never calculated my rate on an hourly basis, but I think it should be more or less equivalent with the amount of money I can have by translating on word count basis. In average I can translate around 500 – 800 words per hour.