Forum: Japanese / 日本語
Topic:チェックとエディティングの時間
Poster: Yuski
Post title: It's a dangerous agreement that you should stay clear of
They’re not unfair or unrealistic deadlines if the original translations were of good quality requiring little or no editing. But judging from what you describe, they sound like ridiculous offers.
A 50% cut if the clients complain? This is totally unacceptable. If the clients insist on such unrealistic speed, they do so at their own risk! It’s not the translator who should be held accountable. And the translation company has an obligation to explain this to their clients. If they cannot be made to see the light, then simply refuse to take the jobs! Please. Accepting such jobs only exacerbates the downward spiral of translation fees, and the quality of life for translators (and translation companies too, in the long run). In fact, it could just be an underhanded way for the client or translation company to get dirt cheap translations. It’s an unreasonable, arbitrary and dangerous agreement that you should stay clear of.
The kind of work you describe would often warrant an extra fee for extra speed. But even if they promised to pay you twice your normal rate, the moment they cut your fees by 50% you would only earn the same as what you normally earn, i.e., you would’ve ended up working under extreme pressure for nothing. Of course, in your case you would be much worse off, because presumably you were offered NO extra fee.
[Edited at 2013-06-07 06:24 GMT]
Topic:チェックとエディティングの時間
Poster: Yuski
Post title: It's a dangerous agreement that you should stay clear of
They’re not unfair or unrealistic deadlines if the original translations were of good quality requiring little or no editing. But judging from what you describe, they sound like ridiculous offers.
A 50% cut if the clients complain? This is totally unacceptable. If the clients insist on such unrealistic speed, they do so at their own risk! It’s not the translator who should be held accountable. And the translation company has an obligation to explain this to their clients. If they cannot be made to see the light, then simply refuse to take the jobs! Please. Accepting such jobs only exacerbates the downward spiral of translation fees, and the quality of life for translators (and translation companies too, in the long run). In fact, it could just be an underhanded way for the client or translation company to get dirt cheap translations. It’s an unreasonable, arbitrary and dangerous agreement that you should stay clear of.
The kind of work you describe would often warrant an extra fee for extra speed. But even if they promised to pay you twice your normal rate, the moment they cut your fees by 50% you would only earn the same as what you normally earn, i.e., you would’ve ended up working under extreme pressure for nothing. Of course, in your case you would be much worse off, because presumably you were offered NO extra fee.
[Edited at 2013-06-07 06:24 GMT]
