Rates in Technical Translation
Jan 21
Reminder: this is only a recap of the French article. To read the full post, click on the French flag on the upper right corner of the page.
This is certainly a vast question: what rates for technical translations? I will not give numbers, as it is almost impossible to determine a fixed price for an intellectual service. But here are some pieces of advice to set a fair price.
So how should you choose your rates? It all depends on the type of text, the deadline, your skills, the languages, etc. To get an idea of the market, the French translators association SFT conducts an annual survey. For 2008, you can see that the average rate for an English to French translation is €0.12 per word, but can reach €0.40! Whereas Finnish to French seems pretty lucrative with an average of €0.31.
The translation agency TradOnline and the European Council for Literary Translators also published rates surveys (links below). Also, here are some great blog loaded with essentials tips.
- Naked Translations: "10 Tricky Situations Translators Might Find Themselves In and How To Get Out of Them" and "More translators' tricky situations";
- La Parole Exportée, on completely unacceptable rates;
- Thoughts on Translation: Avoiding beginner’s mistakes;
- About Translation, with 4 posts for young translators on résumés, sending it out, contacting prospects and translation tests.
Download the translation rates surveys of the SFT, TradOnline and the CEATL.
