Training for Translators: Blog - Page 208 of 245

Mar 30 2009
Corinne McKay

Some thoughts on feedback and the translation process

Sorry for the unannounced week of silence here at Thoughts on Translation; I went on vacation for a week and suddenly became violently allergic to using my laptop… but it seems that the bad reaction has now passed and Thoughts on Translation is back at the treadmill and ready to open up some new topics.

So, let’s talk about feedback and the translation process. One of the things I enjoy about working with direct clients is that I’m in control of the translation workflow, and I get direct feedback on my work from the person who I hire to do the editing. When I work for direct clients, I do the translation, then I send it to my editor, then I review her comments and if there are any that I have questions about, we talk about them together before preparing the final version of the document to send off to the client. However, the feedback flow normally ends there; a client will sometimes offer a sound bite assessment of a translation — “it was great, just what we needed” or “could you make the tone a little more casual?” or something along those lines, but my sense is that very few translators received detailed feedback from their clients.

When one works with a translation agency, things often go a little differently. Although it’s not a good practice, there are some agencies that don’t proofread the translations they receive at all, they simply forward them to the end client and assume that the translator has done an excellent job. Obviously everyone’s business model is different, but I decline to work with agencies that do this, simply because I think that every translation needs to be seen by at least two sets of eyes, and at agency rates I cannot afford to hire a second translator to edit my translations before I submit them. A second category of agencies are those that have their translations proofread by someone who reads the target language but may or may not read the source language. Finally, there are some high-quality agencies that have their translations reviewed by a second translator working in the same language combination as the person who did the translation; very quality-conscious agencies might even have these two people collaborate, the way my editor and I do when we work with direct clients. In all cases, agencies may or may not send the translator any feedback that they get from the end client.

These various feedback models raise a few questions. How can translators improve their work if they don’t get detailed feedback on it? How can clients provide feedback without getting into a “your word against mine” situation with their freelancers? Who should be the ultimate authority when it comes to a choice of words? Should agencies be obligated to provide the translator with the final version of their document as it was sent to the end client?

This topic sprang to my mind because I’ve recently come across some sticky issues involving feedback. One involved a translator whose work was butchered by an editor before being sent to the end client who then complained about the quality of the translation, and one involved my own unpleasant experience with an agency that assured me my work would be edited by a second French>English translator and then didn’t follow through. I agree that the QA and feedback process has its issues: QA and feedback take a lot of time; if you’re working on 3,000 words due tomorrow, the collegial back and forth with your editor probably takes time that you don’t have; in addition I think that agencies are simply not in the business of providing continuing education to translators, and they’re afraid that if a translator receives a poor review of his/her work, it will lead to conflict. However, lack of feedback is also a problem because it deprives translators of the opportunity to improve their work, and leaves translators wondering what happened if they’re suddenly dropped by a regular client.

Personally, I firmly believe that the best process is for a translator and an editor to work together, with the editor’s suggested changes going back to the translator. In addition, I’m fortunate to have gotten to the point in my business volume that I can ask about an agency’s QA and feedback process and decline to work for them if they don’t meet what I consider an appropriate standard. However, I’m not so sure about the best model when there isn’t time for this three-step process to happen. Anyone have feedback stories to share, or suggestions to offer?

Mar 19 2009
Corinne McKay

Link: the psychology of passive barriers

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a big fan of the personal finance blog Get Rich Slowly, and I was particularly enthralled by a recent guest post (by Ramit Sethi, whose own blog is I Will Teach You To Be Rich). Ramit’s post on the psychology of passive barriers (subtitled “Why your friends don’t save money, eat healthier or clean their garages”) really struck a note with me. Ramit picks up on ideas promoted in some recent bestsellers like Freakonomics and The Tipping Point, and gives some powerful examples of the ways in which seemingly small barriers can lead to success or failure. As Ramit says, “I think the source of 95%+ of barriers to success is…ourselves. It’s not our lack of resources (money, education, etc). It’s not our competition. It’s usually just what’s in our own heads. Barriers are more than just excuses — they’re the things that make us not get anything done. And not only do we allow them to exist around us, we encourage them. There are active barriers and passive barriers, but the result is still the same: We don’t achieve what we want to.”

Many of his examples made a lot of sense to me on both a personal and a professional level. When I started running again after my daughter was born, I joined a running training club and the coach gave some excellent suggestions of how to eliminate passive barriers to exercising: before you go to bed, put your running clothes on the bathroom floor so that you step on them in the morning; put a list of running routes of various distances on your front door so that you don’t have to think about where to go; make a running date with a friend that is so early in the morning that you wouldn’t dare call them to cancel for fear of waking up the whole household at 5:30 AM. Passive barriers also go the other way, as in Ramit’s example of freezing your credit card in a block of ice; if you say you’re really only going to use it for emergencies, why not keep it where it takes some effort to get at it? After reading this article, I realized that this phenomenon is one reason why our family watches very few movies; we own only a few DVDs and don’t have Netflix, so procuring a movie involves biking or driving to the library or video store. Normally when I’m confronted with that option, I just choose to do something else.

I think that we can apply these passive barrier techniques to many aspects of freelance translation work too. In my case, I habitually avoid doing banking tasks and accounting because I just despise them. Because I despise these tasks, I seek out passive barriers that are “preventing me from getting the job done.” Can’t find the calculator, don’t have any more deposit slips, etc. This habit got so bad that I came within a couple of dollars of bouncing a check from my business account at the same time that I had over $4,000 in payment checks sitting on my desk. So, I created an “accounting kit” which is within arm’s reach of my desk. In it I keep my business account checkbook, deposit slips, envelopes, stamps, a calculator and (the clincher) my favorite roller-ball pen, which I only allow myself to use for doing accounting. A little gimmicky? Sure! But it gets the job done; I find that now, I don’t enjoy accounting any more than I used to, but at least I do it.

Any thoughts on the passive barriers that you need to add to or remove from your work life?

Mar 18 2009
Corinne McKay

Lowering your translation rates, continued

There were so many excellent comments on my last post about translation rates that I think the topic deserves another post. First, thank you to everyone who commented; I think that your insights are more valuable than what I originally wrote, because they represent the viewpoints of people in all different language combinations, geographic areas, levels of experience, etc.

A few new thoughts:
-It goes without saying that the higher up you are in the market, the easier things get (in my experience!). Once you pass a certain price point, you are almost sure to be working with clients whose only concern, or even primary concern is not price. That isn’t to say that mid and upper-level clients aren’t concerned about money, but I really think that these types of clients are more focused on quality, responsiveness, turnaround time, knowledge of their products and services, etc. than they are about badgering you for a rate cut. The highest-paid translators I know make 40something cents per word; my rates aren’t in that ballpark, but they’re high enough that I feel like I’ve progressed beyond the reverse auction mentality that characterizes the lower end of the market.
-Jill Sommer wrote a great post about rates today; it has some great advice. Jill points out that if you’re going to lower your rates past a certain point, why not do a different job all together? I have to agree with this; if I were making $20 an hour translating, I’d rather look at other careers.
-The currency issue is an interesting one, and I can really see arguments on both sides. In one sense, if I have some clients who pay more than others strictly because of currency exchange differences, I don’t see much harm in offering to harmonize the rate I offer those clients. In another sense, I agree that clients are usually more comfortable being billed in their own currency, and that the currency exchange equation goes both ways. Those of us who bill in euros and spend in dollars have been riding high for the past few years, but the pendulum may swing the other way at some point.
-I made the point about objective data because I am very guilty of this kind of nutty thinking. If you asked me if my current workload is higher, lower or about the same as last year, I’d say lower. But when I recently did my accounting, I found that I’ve actually earned about 25% *more* than I had at this time last year. Honestly, I think that this is because a) I listen to NPR too much and b) the beyond-depressing economic news is all around us. So, really really force yourself to look at *your* data, and remember that the world’s economy is not your economy.
-I really agree that you can’t blame customers for getting used to discounts if they’re repeatedly offered discounts. In a micro example of this that mirror’s Fred’s story about the mail-order business in France, I’ve found that if you buy something from Sierra Trading Post and then don’t buy anything else for a while, they’ll take the initiative to e-mail you a coupon for 20% or even 25% off. Now I don’t buy anything from them unless I receive that coupon; this probably works well for a huge retailer, but it’s not such a great business model for a provider of high-quality professional services.

-As Kevin pointed out, I also have to keep saying that I would rather work less than work more and earn less. Personally (and of course this is partially based on the fact that my husband has a stable, salaried job and thanks to our “urban Amish” lifestyle, we have a significant financial safety net), the idea of working less is actually not unappealing at all, in that it would give me time to work on some non-paying projects that I’ve relegated to the back burner. Everyone’s mileage may vary here; if you’re a single parent living paycheck to paycheck, obviously your decision may be different, but it’s good to see that others agree about this!

Mar 17 2009
Corinne McKay

Lowering your translation rates: why/why not

Lately it seems that many freelancers are considering lowering their rates because of the worldwide economic downturn. In most cases, I think that lowering your rates is an unwise business decision that devalues not only your own work, but the work of other translators as well. In addition, I really believe, based on my own experience and that of other translators, that the market for high-quality translation services is still very strong. However, I’ve recently spoken with a couple of people who have lowered their rates and feel good about the decision, so I think it’s worth looking at the why/why not equation that’s at work.

First, before you make any rate-related decisions, force yourself to look at some objective data. Are you really experiencing more “work drought” periods than last year, or does it just feel that way because the economic news is so bad? How much money have you earned as compared to the same time last year? How do your existing rates compare to what other translators in your language combination charge (you can get some information about this from the ATA compensation survey or from online rates surveys)? Are your clients asking for rate cuts, or are you just assuming that your rates are too high? Do you have a track record of attracting clients at your current rates, or are your rates set too high for your level of experience or for your language combination?

Because I am really not in favor of lowering rates, let’s talk about the disadvantages of lowering your rates. Most importantly, I think that if you look for work that pays less than what you’re currently charging, you’re bound to find it. Then, you’ll be overloaded with low-paying work and you’ll be unable to take on higher-paying work when it inevitably comes in. In addition, you really want to avoid the low rate treadmill: when you charge low rates, you have to work more, which can harm the quality of your work and your enthusiasm for doing the work, but you quickly get into a situation where you really have no choice except to work very long hours because your rates are so low. If your rates are high (not ridiculously high, but high enough that you have a built-in safety margin), a few days without work isn’t a crisis, and can even be a welcome chance to catch up on your accounting, spruce up your website or update your online profiles. If you’re working for low pay, you can’t afford the luxury of even a day without work.

In addition, I just think it’s very hard to put a positive spin on telling your clients that you’re willing to work for less than you’ve been charging. No matter how you couch it, it’s hard to avoid sounding as if you’ve realized that your work is worth less than what you’ve been charging, and that’s just about the worst impression you can give to a client.

On the other hand, you have to eat, right? Especially if you’re single/the family breadwinner/have little or no savings cushion, there comes a point where low-paying work is better than no work. In addition, there are translators whose rates are optimistic given their level of experience, specializations and/or language combination. So, if you decide that you really have no choice other than to cut your rates, try to do it as pragmatically as possible. Rather than a generic “You’re right, I’m not worth it! Whatever you want to pay me is fine…” e-mail to your clients, think about how to cut your per-word rate but maintain as high an hourly rate as possible. If you have a client who sends you easy work (very little to look up, doesn’t require complex formatting, client is painless to work with, etc.), offer them the lower rate first. See if clients will take on some of the time-consuming aspects of your work (such as formatting or PDF conversions) so that you can concentrate on the translation.

So far, my work volume and rates are both higher than they were last year; I say this not to brag about my business, but to say that the bottom certainly hasn’t fallen out of the translation industry. At the same time, I think that if I were faced with a shortage of work at my current rates, I would rather work 20% less than charge 20% less, then use the extra time to market to higher-paying clients, work on some non-paying projects or just have more leisure time and enjoy it. Before you surrender and lower your rates, it’s also important to be honest with yourself about your marketing efforts. If you haven’t sent out a resumé in five years, that’s a better starting point than cutting your rates with your existing clients.