tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20155610.post3942012237189501537..comments2024-03-06T02:46:19.929+00:00Comments on Translation Tribulations: Cheap translation, like coffeeKevin Lossnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14727800526216764023noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20155610.post-60571076548041265012011-03-13T17:00:06.483+00:002011-03-13T17:00:06.483+00:00"...people who can't tell the difference ..."...people who can't tell the difference between good coffee and pretty bad coffee. [...] I have a choice between a house brand, which costs about two dollars less, and the Starbucks brand."<br /><br />Your comparison is faulty: Starbucks is to good coffee as Transperfect to good translation.Riccardohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08033214185364578008noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20155610.post-89345292648818399672011-03-10T21:50:43.221+00:002011-03-10T21:50:43.221+00:00I posted this on TranslatorsCafé.com :)I posted this on TranslatorsCafé.com :)Laurent Kraulandhttp://www.krauland.biznoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20155610.post-85878045589912646542011-03-10T12:11:04.977+00:002011-03-10T12:11:04.977+00:00I quite agree.
In fact, if you underprice good qu...I quite agree.<br /><br />In fact, if you underprice good quality work, your clients may assume low confidence in your abilities. Which is probably true. Clients often assume low confidence means low actual ability, but in an industry like ours - where we make our own success rather than being given promotions - that may be difficult for some.<br /><br />When setting rates, a translator should consider things like their client acceptance rate, their client retention rate, their client comments, their client engagement, what peers say about their work (in linguistic and business terms), their unique industry expertise in their specialisms, as well as their various signs of quality (memberships and, if applicable, ProZ KudoZ score and - somewhat more importantly - answer acceptance rate.Rosehttp://translatorsteacup.lingocde.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20155610.post-60258029515833944612011-03-10T11:20:25.908+00:002011-03-10T11:20:25.908+00:00In some parts of the world there are many people w...In some parts of the world there are many people who can't tell the difference between good coffee and pretty bad coffee. I am possibly one of them. At my local Food Lion or Farm Fresh supermarket, I have a choice between a house brand, which costs about two dollars less, and the Starbucks brand or something like that.<br /><br />I buy the house brand most of the time because both brands taste very similar.<br /><br />As long as people can tell the difference between real translation and garbage produced by MT, edited MT and subprime translators, real translators should be in good shape.<br /><br />I for one think that unlike with different coffee brands, it is quite easy to tell the difference between real translation and the fake stuff.<br /><br />With translation, I think that most people can tell the difference quite easily. And smart customers will hopefully realize that the cheap stuff is too expensive (car Le bon marché coûte cher, comme on dit on Français).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com