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What's the current rate for translation and proofreading for German-English/English-German?
Thread poster: NHNYC
NHNYC
NHNYC
United States
English to German
+ ...
May 29, 2019

Hi!

I'm starting to work with an agency in the field of translation/editing/proofreading of German-English and English-German texts and I don't know what the current rates are for these services. Which rates should I offer and is it better to offer a rate per word, per line or an hourly rate?

Thanks!
Nadine
 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 06:18
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
Some ideas May 29, 2019

NHNYC wrote:
I'm starting to work with an agency in the field of translation/editing/proofreading of German-English and English-German texts and I don't know what the current rates are for these services.

It's very much a "piece of string" type of question, I'm afraid, so don't expect any consensus (if indeed anyone is willing to divulge their thoughts). But a good starting point is the tool that's right here on ProZ.com: https://www.proz.com/?sp=pfe/rates . Rates there are derived from a statistical analysis of what members say they get paid -- or want to get paid.

Which rates should I offer and is it better to offer a rate per word, per line or an hourly rate?

Your own rate may differ for many reasons: your age, experience and background (which may involve qualifications and/or non-translation experience) play an important part. A specialist in a subject area will obviously command a higher rate, whereas a generalist, and particularly one translating into anything other than their native language, would normally expect less.

By far the most common way of quoting for translation is per source word, although I believe per line is common in German (with a line having a specific number of words/characters). Target word is used at times (e.g. for scanned PDFs and hand-writing) and pages are used in special cases (e.g. birth certificates and driving licences). All types of revision need to be charged per hour of your time, as you have no control over the quality of the writing you receive.

Min Fang
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Tina Vonhof (X)
Maria da Glória Teixeira
Jacek Sierakowski
 


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What's the current rate for translation and proofreading for German-English/English-German?







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