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English to Korean translators horrible pay
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mindmetoo



Joined: 02 Feb 2004

PostPosted: Sun Sep 12, 2004 5:29 am    Post subject: English to Korean translators horrible pay Reply with quote

I'm working with a translator who does English to Korean translations. She translated 4 pages of text (where a page is defined as A4 paper, 25 lines per page) for 30,000 won. That's less than 8,000 won per page. I thought that was a pretty horrid rate. Looking over an old contract for editing work I did for the Seoul city tourism web page, I was paid 15,000 won per page. Assuming 30 minutes per page, that's 30,000 won an hour and I thought that was acceptable.

But boy, 8K per page.

She said translators used to get paid more but the economy has been so crappy and there's such a huge supply of English to Korean translators (or people who claim to be able to do English to Korean translation), everyone has been undercutting each other's prices. 8K, she said, was a generous rate these days. People are willing to work for half that rate.
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Real Reality



Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Sun Sep 12, 2004 5:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wow, she gets 8,000 won per page.

I have seen some foreigners get paid 5,000 won per page for editing and proofreading. Some universities have had this rate for five or more years. Some foreigners do not get paid for editing, proofreading, or translating.

"A few days ago, the medical bill was over 100 thousand won for a simple treatment for a cold at a hospital. Koreans didn't seem to pay that much and I wonder whether hospitals charge high prices because I am a foreigner."
http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?biid=2004070522448
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insamsaram



Joined: 16 Jul 2004

PostPosted: Mon Sep 13, 2004 4:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

no doubt. the supply of people capable of translating English to Korean is huge. Many, many people can do it assuming there is an editing process. Still, it seems low unless you are doing lots of pages. Here, our business manager translated a 76 page document in a few days and he gets payed nothing over his salary. And he did it from Korean to English which is much harder for a Korean.
The same can be said for many jobs in general. In my institution, the korean staff get payed much less for more work. they expect a lot.
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mithridates



Joined: 03 Mar 2003
Location: President's office, Korean Space Agency

PostPosted: Mon Sep 13, 2004 6:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

For Korean to English I've always charged 30000 a page, or 5000 for proofreading, but I can see why the reverse pays so low. Korea's at an awkward stage where not enough people know the language to be called bilingual but enough know it that there's huge competition when trying to get a job in that field.
The best way to make money as a translator is in the EU as one who knows really obscure languages. Estonian to Maltese or Latvian to Greek or something like that.
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kangnamdragon



Joined: 17 Jan 2003
Location: Kangnam, Seoul, Korea

PostPosted: Mon Sep 13, 2004 6:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It is easier for a Korean to translate English to Korean. For best results, a native speaker should translate to one's own native language. As there are fewer native English speakers in Korea, the supply is limited and the fee is higher. Also, there are few native English speakers who actually write and speak. It is a simple matter of economic supply and demand.
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Yaya



Joined: 25 Feb 2003
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Mon Sep 13, 2004 7:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

mithridates wrote:
For Korean to English I've always charged 30000 a page, or 5000 for proofreading, but I can see why the reverse pays so low. Korea's at an awkward stage where not enough people know the language to be called bilingual but enough know it that there's huge competition when trying to get a job in that field.
The best way to make money as a translator is in the EU as one who knows really obscure languages. Estonian to Maltese or Latvian to Greek or something like that.


Five thousand won a page for proofreading? Geez, yet another loser who drives down the wage scale. Twenty thousand won is the norm, buster.
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mindmetoo



Joined: 02 Feb 2004

PostPosted: Mon Sep 13, 2004 9:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

mithridates wrote:
For Korean to English I've always charged 30000 a page, or 5000 for proofreading, but I can see why the reverse pays so low. Korea's at an awkward stage where not enough people know the language to be called bilingual but enough know it that there's huge competition when trying to get a job in that field.
The best way to make money as a translator is in the EU as one who knows really obscure languages. Estonian to Maltese or Latvian to Greek or something like that.


Did you find 5,000 won for proof reading worth your time? I've found most Korean-to-English translations I've edited still need a lot of work. I don't know if it's a reflection of the way Koreans write but the translations I've worked with seem to be loaded with massive compound sentences. They seem to string multiple sentences together with a lot of and's. No affinity for pacing: compound sentence, simple sentence.

It reminded me of the way English majors and J-school students used to write when I was an arts editor. They were seriously the worst writers. It's like people have this fear of the mighty period. "But a period means forget everything you just read! So I need to put all these related ideas together with 'and'."

Grrr.
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mithridates



Joined: 03 Mar 2003
Location: President's office, Korean Space Agency

PostPosted: Mon Sep 13, 2004 10:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeah, if the sentence structure is horrible then I just charge the rate I do for translating. 5000 assumes that the sentences generally make sense and just need a few improvements.
I'll give you an example.

Viker company is leader of the electronics intrustry, we can find a best products for the customer.
(this is okay)

Is best for find leader is Viker of electric pruduct, and product, grand satiscaction for consumer.
(if the whole thing is like that I would have to just do the whole thing myself)

It also depends on the subject - I can't translate medical terminology for example, I don't understand it in either language.


Once when waiting for somebody in the subway a lawyer approached me and asked if I had twenty minutes - I said I did and he took me off to his office where he had a four-page document that needed a few corrections and I got paid 25000 right on the spot for that. He was interesting, he had a tight deadline and just ran off to the station to find an English person to check it. I like that sort of energy.
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kangnamdragon



Joined: 17 Jan 2003
Location: Kangnam, Seoul, Korea

PostPosted: Mon Sep 13, 2004 10:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I know you speak English well, but the problem with that is that the guy does not know that. Not every foreigner in Korea speaks and writes English well and can edit properly.
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mindmetoo



Joined: 02 Feb 2004

PostPosted: Mon Sep 13, 2004 11:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

mithridates wrote:
Yeah, if the sentence structure is horrible then I just charge the rate I do for translating. 5000 assumes that the sentences generally make sense and just need a few improvements.
I'll give you an example.

Viker company is leader of the electronics intrustry, we can find a best products for the customer.
(this is okay)

Is best for find leader is Viker of electric pruduct, and product, grand satiscaction for consumer.
(if the whole thing is like that I would have to just do the whole thing myself)

It also depends on the subject - I can't translate medical terminology for example, I don't understand it in either language.


Once when waiting for somebody in the subway a lawyer approached me and asked if I had twenty minutes - I said I did and he took me off to his office where he had a four-page document that needed a few corrections and I got paid 25000 right on the spot for that. He was interesting, he had a tight deadline and just ran off to the station to find an English person to check it. I like that sort of energy.


Ha. Sweet. There's a Korea U professor I chat with at a Starbucks from time to time. He's writing a book on Korean politics. It will be in Korean but he'll publish an english table of contents (to aid researchers) and asked me if I could edit his one page TOC. Hell, yeah. I wouldn't even charge him. Sometimes it's good to make friends with the well connected, like SKY profs and lawyers. They know people.

This guy seems like a bit of a big shot. Every day a car comes to pick him up. He's got a driver and some young lovely who comes into Starbucks to collect him and walk him to his car with an umbrella if it rains. It's funny to watch. He might be a guy worth doing a 30 minute favor for.
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JongnoGuru



Joined: 25 May 2004
Location: peeing on your doorstep

PostPosted: Mon Sep 13, 2004 11:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

mithridates wrote:
For Korean to English I've always charged 30000 a page, or 5000 for proofreading.


I'd've sworn you were a native speaker. Confused

Seriously though, those are pretty decent page rates...


































for the early 1990s. Shocked
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mithridates



Joined: 03 Mar 2003
Location: President's office, Korean Space Agency

PostPosted: Mon Sep 13, 2004 11:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Perhaps I should have kept my rates a secret? It usually is just something I do from time to time, usually for people I know.
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mithridates



Joined: 03 Mar 2003
Location: President's office, Korean Space Agency

PostPosted: Mon Sep 13, 2004 11:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Mindmetoo, which Starbucks? I have yet to visit all of them in Seoul.
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Son Deureo!



Joined: 30 Apr 2003

PostPosted: Tue Sep 14, 2004 4:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

JongnoGuru wrote:
mithridates wrote:
For Korean to English I've always charged 30000 a page, or 5000 for proofreading.


I'd've sworn you were a native speaker. Confused

Seriously though, those are pretty decent page rates...


for the early 1990s. Shocked


May I ask what more standard rates are for translating and editing?
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mindmetoo



Joined: 02 Feb 2004

PostPosted: Tue Sep 14, 2004 5:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

mithridates wrote:
Mindmetoo, which Starbucks? I have yet to visit all of them in Seoul.


Look. If your thing is to visit all the Starbucks in Seoul during your one year contract, then let me warn you that's MY thing. So please get another thing! Smile
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