Why are interpreters so expensive?

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A question I’m asked several times a week.

 

That’s why I keep several ready-to-use answers up my sleeve:

–  An interpreter works as a self-employed professional; he or she pays both company taxes and employee taxes which means that half his or her income is allocated to tax (the same goes for translators).

–  Like all freelancers, interpreters are never sure of having daily work, so their rates are based on an average of days worked per year. Just compare with an external consultant, graphic designer or IT specialist… self-employed professionals cost more than salaried employees, it’s normal.

–  Any assignment, even if only a few hours long, requires at least one day’s preparation (researching specific documentation and terminology, calls and meetings with the client) and travel time (incurring “travel allowance”, at extra cost if the interpreter has to travel the day before the assignment).  That’s why interpreters only apply a rate per day and not an hourly rate: the effort required is the same for 3 hours worth of interpreting as it is for 6 hours.

–   Interpreting is a very tiring profession which does not tolerate any decline in quality or vitality. It requires great concentration and rest times between interventions and assignments to maintain the voice and keep responsive. That’s why interpreters are fussy about planning. What time is lunch? What time are toilet breaks and coffee breaks? How many breaks are there? How many speakers are there? Interpreters can be quite tiring, but that’s because we tire them out too.

–  Specialisation (the fact that they cannot be replaced by the first person who comes along) costs money. Interpreters study for many years, keep constantly up to date and informed on their specialisations, and exercise their interpreting skills even when not working. Often, interpreters will add new language combinations to their skill base and continue training throughout their career. Unfortunately for them, they still need to put food on the table when busy training and not working…

To round off this list, I call upon you – my colleagues. Please comment and let us know your experiences, what your working day involves and your response strategy when clients think you are overpriced!

 

Competitors’ little tricks…

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On the “How much does it cost?” page , I make reference to a method used by several agencies to lower their productions costs: using junior, less expensive, translators and then having translations proofread by senior translators.

I do not approve of this method – not only does it lack ethics, but it can also be a dangerous game to play.

The first risk is inherent to the initial quality of the translation. A junior translator is – as the title indicates – someone who lacks experience. The resulting translation is highly likely to contain clumsy and burdensome phrasing, or even errors in terminology.  Even after correction by a talented linguist, a poor quality text remains mediocre. Style is to translation what ingredients are to cuisine: if you skimp on the basics, you’ll never achieve a high quality dish, even when prepared by a top class chef.

The second risk you run is losing good colleagues. A good professional who is obliged to rewrite texts each time will end up refusing proofreading assignments. Sending a poor text to a good translator for review is like blatantly saying quality is the least of our worries and we are not prepared to correctly pay people with experience. The day you need very high quality work, whether for a translation or for proofreading of a technical text, none of your experienced suppliers will be prepared to take on the work.

And finally, I refuse to apply to linguistic services a policy which would never hold in any other type of service. Imagine your hairdresser offers you a 20% reduction if you have your hair cut by an apprentice, promising to fix any botch-ups if necessary. Imagine if your plumber did something similar when repairing a leak. Would you take the risk? I wouldn’t.

Editing and proofreading

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Often clients ask me if I have translations “proofread” by a second linguist.

In fact, they mean « edited » which involves comparing the source and target texts step by step to ensure that the original has been correctly understood by the translator and to check that there have been no omissions or copy-paste errors for numbers and proper nouns. Editing also involves the correction of writing, grammar and terminology. The editor will also standardise style and glossary for large projects which have required several translators. It is therefore a task which must be entrusted to a translator with the same level of skill and who works in the same languages as the translator(s) who first worked on the translation. This service costs on average 50% of the translation rate (if the translation costs 10, editing will cost 5, for a total production cost of 15).

Proofreading, however, simply involves quickly reading through the translated text to correct the most visible style and grammar errors. Comparison with the source text is only carried out to ensure nothing has been omitted, or when the translated text is incomprehensible. This work is often done within an agency by a project manager (not necessarily a linguist) whose native language is the same as the target language but who does not necessarily have a perfect understanding of the source language (it goes without saying that the agency nevertheless charges the client an « editing » rate). If this task is entrusted to a linguist, he or she will charge up to 20% of their translation rate. Proofreading can also be entrusted to someone who is very competent in the field covered by the text (for example, a surgeon if the text describes new surgical instruments). This person will have precise knowledge of the terms and turns of phrase used in documents written for professionals in the sector, even if he or she does not speak the source language (if the specialist has any questions, he or she is put in direct contact with the translator who can explain what was translated and how). In this case, the rate is as high as – if not higher than – the editing rate.

You can also ask request a ‘Super Deluxe’ service: translation + editing by a second linguist + proofreading by a technician/expert. I dream of one day having such a demanding customer!