Job Discussion Forums

[Seb Mel]

My boss recently asked me to check some translations. Without thinking, I said "sure", then found out how much work it was.

Luckily, she asked me how much I wanted to be paid after I'd seen the papers. They're complex translations of articles some scientists at the local university want to submit to various journals. If I didn't have a science background I probably wouldn't have been able to unravel them, so I think that I should be paid a relatively high amount for my work. I asked the boss how much the standard rate is, but she got evasive. So my question is, how much do native speakers checking translations usually charge?

Thanks.

[simon_porter00]

sworn translations of documents PL to ENG cost approx 40zl per page (or 1125 characters) in Warsaw. You're reading a technical document, which requires complex language knowledge not just of grammar but of scientific terminology. I certainly wouldn't be able to do it and turn down the job. So bearing all of the above in mind (and although you're not translating, but proof reading) i'd go for about 20zl a page.

Mind you, i've never done proof reading before, nor know proof reading rates, so i might be horribly over market value.

*****************

Just done some research on the net, proof reading seems to come in at 5zl ish a page.

[dynow]

something like this i would think would still have to be looked at with time in deepest consideration.

[sparks]

I'd say go for at least 20 zl a page unless it's just a matter of adding an article here and there. Also it should really depend on how much work you put into it. If they are a mess (like someone translated them from a dictionary, you could even charge more). Of course, it depends on your situation, who's paying and what not. If it's a company paying for it--go higher and tell them that the documents require specialist knowledge.

[phantombedwetter]

It's also mind-numbingly tedious!

A few pages of proof reading and you're throwing the noose over the branch eagerly awaiting the 'Doncaster dangle'.

I would only entertain the idea if I was starving, incapacitated, lobotomised and sectioned in Broadmoor using a headwand enabled keyboard.

[simon_porter00]

I guess that means that you woudn't do it then phantom?

I remember proof reading an online translation for a video presentation selling leather products - nothing dodgy mind you. Got aid 450zl for 3 hours work. Mind you, i then had to be recorded doing it.

[Nauczyciel]

A friend of mine is an experienced translator from Polish to English. The person who usually proofreads for him is a professor emeritus at one of the UK's universities. He takes 10-15 zlotys per page (1800 characters), depending on the complexity of the text. However, if the text contains so many mistakes that he needs to practically write a new one, he charges as if it was a regular translation.

[Richfilth]

If you're just proofing rather than translating, then 20zl is way too high, as that's what a non-accredited translator should be getting.

I did a few theses for some postgraduates and charged my usual hourly teaching rate for skimming; about 20 pages an hour. If they want anything more than copy mistakes corrected (i.e. stylistic recommendations, rewriting copy) then of course up the price. As has been commented, it's mind-numbingly tedious, but no more so than sitting at your in-laws' dinner table for the entire Easter weekend.

If you can make 500zl for sitting in a cafe on a Sunday afternoon with a red pen, go for it.

[phantombedwetter]

[Harry from NWE]

I now work as a full-time proofreader/editor. The firm I work for charges clients more than 85 Euro per hour for my time. I am expected to proof an average of four pages per hour. Sometimes I do twice that many pages, sometimes I do half that many (tax matters and environmental matters are particularly intense). Work out for yourselves what my hourly rate is.

That said, the firm is a top-tier firm and some of the people bill at above 600 Euro per hour. I doubt that clients even notice my billings. And overtime is not an option, a 50 to 60 hour working week is entirely normal. If you think that proofreading is boring, try doing it for 24+ hours straight. If you can't, don't apply.

[sparks]

85 Euros an hour for proofreading? 50-60 hours/week? Are they looking for well-qualified native speakers?

[Harry from NWE]

[Seb Mel]

Turns out that the amount that they wanted to pay me was way too little considering how complex and time consuming the work was, but we agreed on a better solution: I'm now giving privates to the head of the department at the university, so when they want a translation done, we'll work on it together during lesson time, which means no planning for that day, and I get my standard hourly rate.

[dynow]

by the way, are there many job opportunities listed online somewhere looking for natives to do proofreading?

how difficult would it be to find someone either online or in your city looking for native speaker proofreaders?

i would consider trying it during a day off each week if it meant i could do it from my apt. and make a few hundred per day. i read over many of my students' papers each week and don't really mind doing it. if i was getting paid for it, i guess it wouldn't be that bad.

[maniak]

I do translation and proofreading from polish to english, its enjoyable work if not sometimes mind numbing. I try to stay away from proofreading though, the work involved is sometimes on par with translation, let alone when I'm given just the translated text thats been probably run from google translations and cant make heads or tails of what the hell I just read. It's incredible..

So how much... proofreading is about 12zl 1400words, translation is minimum 25zl, plus or minus complexity, timeframe, etc etc.

Of course what my firm charges is two-three times that. Przysiegly tlumaczenie or accredited/expert translators is incredible money.. 75zl about 1500 words...
I would guess the european average for freelancers is someplace around .02-.03 euro cents a word??