A change is gonna come… April 1, 2010
Posted by Jill (@bonnjill) in Business practices, Translation.5 comments
Everyone is all atwitter about the changes to the ProZ.com’s job posting system. I’m hoping it isn’t an April Fool’s joke and change is truly coming to the ProZ.com job posting system.
First a little background for those of you who are hearing about this for the first time. On February 23, a small group of freelance translators (mainly based in Italy) created a petition to protest ProZ.com’s job policies. As the linked article explains, “The main point of the petition was to ask Proz to stop allowing outsourcers to set rates in the job posting section of the website, in the belief that this facility (for outsourcers to state the rate offered along with the job) is a fundamental distortion of the client – buyer relationship, a distortion that has contributed, the instigators of the petition claimed, to the continuing downward drive in market rates for professional translation services, and the ensuing race to the bottom.” 844 translators signed in support, but the petition was closed early before more translators had a chance to sign it. However, the ProZ.com staff (and Henry D.) sat up and took notice.
ProZ.com has just announced it will remove the pricing field (client-set fees) from job postings and will be posting information concerning the price of professional translation. There will be other changes as well, as yet to be determined. This is a huge change, but I cannot help but think that the damage has already been done. These controls should have been in place from the very beginning. Hopefully these changes will be the first step in stopping the downward spiral of translation prices.
How NOT to publicize your translation software March 31, 2010
Posted by Jill (@bonnjill) in Random musings, Translation.1 comment so far
Robin Bonthrone shared this on the ATA’s German Language Division listserv this morning, and it is just priceless. This translation software promises “perfect translations.” The press release is obviously translated using their software. Not the best advertisement for their product…
Here is just a little foretaste of the text:
About Translation Software:
Always it is a fact that professionals doesn’t get to the right way to approach to solve problem rather they always try to get the work done through simplest way. But they do not realize the fact that things can be done in a simple way by opting the right approach through the correct technology
Yeah, I’m not all that worried about machine translation at the moment…
Are you a self-injuring translator? March 29, 2010
Posted by Jill (@bonnjill) in Business practices, Random musings.5 comments
One of my colleagues posted this to one of my listservs, and I thought it was well-worth sharing with the rest of you. The post is entitled “Toxic Translation: A Twelve-Step Program for Self-Injuring Translators.” We need to keep reminding ourselves that the only behavior we can truly change is our own. My favorite quote from the post is “Translation rates are dropping because translators accept low rates. If you want rates to stop descending, you must take your finger off the elevator button.” If you are unhappy with the way an agency is treating you, you need to stand up for yourself and ask for what you want. And if the agency isn’t able or willing to give you what you want, you need to have the courage to walk away – and most importantly let them know why! If more of us walk away we will be in a better position in the long run. There are good and bad agencies out there. Let’s encourage the good ones and run from the bad ones. We need to stick together. United we stand, divided we fall!
Would you pay to work for a translation agency? March 25, 2010
Posted by Jill (@bonnjill) in Business practices, Tools, Translation.46 comments
There is a very interesting discussion going on at ProZ.com at the moment about Lionbridge’s new plan to have its translators pay a subscription in order to use its tool, Logoport. In other words, translators will now have to pay Lionbridge a subscription in order to be able to work with a system that “has no visible benefits for translators and all the benefits for Lionbridge!”
They are known to be one of LSPs on the lower end of the pay spectrum, so I highly doubt they will be willing to allow their translators to adjust their word rates to factor in the cost of the subscription fee. I can’t imagine this going over very well with its translators, and will not be surprised if it backfires on them. As one translator stated in the discussion, “Working for a low rate, being forced to use their proprietary tool, and being forced to be a customer to their CAT tool business as part of the deal is not quite my idea of an interesting customer…” My issue is that no client should be allowed to force its freelancers to use a tool in order to work with it. If they do, that makes us quasi employees.
Logoport is apparently a “one-way, Internet-based” system. My big question with this Internet-based systems is how can the client maintain quality? For example, I use Trados. When I translate, I translate a rough draft first and then go back, edit it (sometimes several times) and clean it up into the TM. I then edit it one more time to make sure the text flows and sounds like a native English text. I frequently find typos or duplicate words that I missed the first or second time around. A one-way, Internet-based system does not allow that freedom and control that I need to deliver a quality translation.
No thanks, Lionbridge!
Interesting reads for today March 22, 2010
Posted by Jill (@bonnjill) in Business practices, Random musings, Translation.1 comment so far
Fabio, a German-Portuguese translator based in Bonn, Germany (well, Rheinbach), published a great little review of MemoQ with screenshots on his blog this morning. If you are curious about MemoQ you might want to check it out.
I was aghast to read that students in the Manalapan-Englishtown, New Jersey elementary schools will learn Spanish from a computer next year instead of being instructed by a foreign language professional to save money. This is not a good trend at all. I can’t imagine school administrators trying to outsource teaching mathematics from a computer or videotape. Why do they think this will be a good idea? Teachers are there to answer questions and make sure students are pronouncing things properly. No computer will be able to do that!
And finally, Price for Profit and Sanity is a good article about the “good, fast cheap – pick two” mantra. As the author explains, small business owners should quote services using ‘good, fast or cheap’ matrix. In our case, every customer wants a “high quality” translation “to be completed in a very short time (because they failed to plan ahead) for very little money (because they failed to establish adequate budgets).” In reality we can only reasonably offer two out three. It is a very interesting article.
Übersetz das doch mal kurz March 12, 2010
Posted by Jill (@bonnjill) in Business practices, Fun stuff, German culture, Translation.1 comment so far
The German radio channel WDR3 featured a commentary yesterday about the work of translators that you German-speaking readers might enjoy hearing (warning: it’s in German). The title is Übersetz das doch mal kurz (Can you translate this quickly for me?). The speaker talks about how people expect translators to work quickly and compares translation and dental work, which I think is a good comparison. After all, no one expects a dentist to quickly fill a cavity at a low rate – and people expect dentists to know what they are doing because they have had the training. Enjoy!
And, thanks to Roland Grefer, here is a link to the MP3 in case you want to save it.
The squeaky wheel DOES get greased… March 10, 2010
Posted by Jill (@bonnjill) in ATA.4 comments
I am proud to announce that I just got an e-mail from ATA President-Elect Dorothee Racette in which she informs me that ATA has negotiated no charge for Internet access for those staying at the conference hotel at this year’s ATA conference. WOOOHOOO!!! She told me “Thanks for your effort and advocacy on this matter. This is fresh off the press and it’s OK to spread the word.” This is the best news EVER!
How do you handle illness? March 9, 2010
Posted by Jill (@bonnjill) in Business practices.8 comments
The Freelance Folder published a very timely blog post yesterday called How to Tell When It’s Time to Take a Break. I just got back from a week in Florida. What was originally intended to be an active vacation turned out to be a working vacation. I went to the Keys with my mother, who has been suffering from a health issue. That combined with the fact that the weather was abnormally cold meant I agreed to take on translation work while down there. However, the abnormally cold temperatures made me sick… and have forced me to take the last two days off. I have spent the last two days sleeping and avoiding the computer. I have a couple translations to work on, so I will most likely be back at the computer tomorrow. I was curious how most of you handle illness. The Freelance Folder contends you do everyone a favor when you take time off when you are sick because the quality of your work suffers. I was talking to a friend who is also a freelancer (albeit a lawyer with her own practice), and she was telling me I am too hard on myself and that I needed to tell my clients I was sick and get an extension. I am rarely sick, so it is quite a strange concept for me. I would love to hear what you all have to say on the subject. Do you tough it out or do you listen to your body and take time off?
Trying to decide about the 51st ATA conference February 16, 2010
Posted by Jill (@bonnjill) in ATA, Random musings.7 comments
Hi everyone,
Maybe some of you can help me decide what to do about the 51st ATA conference. I toyed with the idea of sitting this one out (mainly because I would like to enjoy ONE Halloween with my nieces before they are too old to trick or treat), but knowing how much I enjoy them and how beneficial they are I am most likely going to attend this year in Denver. I am now trying to decide whether I should present and whether I should submit a proposal for a preconference seminar or one-hour session and what I should present on. Most of you regular readers are familiar with the things I am passionate about – including getting started as a freelance translator, proper formatting in Word, word counts, PDFs and OCR, Internet privacy, ergonomics and work-life balance. Many of you have probably attended one or more of my sessions over the past 8 years. So I ask you, dear readers, what would you like to see me present? Would you like Corinne and I to present our preconference seminar on How to Succeed as a Freelance Translator again? Would you like a preconference seminar on PDFs and OCR? Would you like me to present an hour session on how to set tabs and format documents in Word to look like the source text? Do you have another idea I haven’t even considered? I would love to hear from all of you in the comments. The deadline is March 8th, so I need to make a decision soon. Thanks for your help!
TGIF: Love in any language February 12, 2010
Posted by Jill (@bonnjill) in Fun stuff, TGIF.4 comments
I have loved this song since we sang it in high school – accompanied by sign language interpreters. Since Valentine’s Day is this weekend I thought it was only fitting. I hope you enjoy it and have a great weekend.
Musings from an overworked translator 