Would You Be Happy With These Rates? Thread poster: Stephen Kent
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Hi, I have a general question for Japanese to English translators (particularly those resident in Japan).
I have about 5 years experience as a translator and I believe that my work is of a high standard and am capable of handling fairly technical and specialised subject matter in a few different fields. However I am not very good at negotiating rates. I mainly work for one company and my rates are as follows:
6 yen/Japanese character (translation)
2.5 yen/English ... See more Hi, I have a general question for Japanese to English translators (particularly those resident in Japan).
I have about 5 years experience as a translator and I believe that my work is of a high standard and am capable of handling fairly technical and specialised subject matter in a few different fields. However I am not very good at negotiating rates. I mainly work for one company and my rates are as follows:
6 yen/Japanese character (translation)
2.5 yen/English word (native check/proofreading)
1900 yen/hour (time based work, sometimes including checks)
Would you be satisfied with these rates?
Any information about market rates would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Massimiliano Sgai (X)
Japan
Local time: 01:22
Japanese to Italian
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| Alex Farrell (X) 
Japan
Local time: 01:22
Japanese to English
| You should get double that | Nov 13, 2013 |
If you're working on documents like patents, scientific research papers, manuals for complex heavy machinery or something else on that level, then you should be getting twice what you're being paid now. My advice is to stop putting all your eggs in one basket and start searching for better-paying companies so that you can turn down some of the assignments from the one you're working for now.
Good luck!
| | | | Stephen Kent
Local time: 01:22
Japanese to English
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TOPIC STARTER
マッシさん、情報をありがとうございます。参考になります。
主に翻訳会社から仕事を引き受けて、直接クライアントから案件をもらったことがまだありません。
Alex, I don't usually translate things that are quite as complex as the items you mentioned, but I do financial and IT stuff and I suspect that I should be getting more than I am. Thank you for your advice.
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The problem with the J->E market is the relatively large number of native Japanese speakers translating into English. Well, I suppose that this is a problem only if you are not a Japanese native, so it depends on your perspective, really. But I can tell you that Japanese companies (including direct clients) generally do not expect to pay high rates for translation. Of course it depends on the field and technical level, but even for technically complex documents most J->E translations that... See more The problem with the J->E market is the relatively large number of native Japanese speakers translating into English. Well, I suppose that this is a problem only if you are not a Japanese native, so it depends on your perspective, really. But I can tell you that Japanese companies (including direct clients) generally do not expect to pay high rates for translation. Of course it depends on the field and technical level, but even for technically complex documents most J->E translations that I have seen from Japanese companies (by way of proofreading jobs, TMs, etc.) are not done by native English speakers.
Because of this, it is difficult to earn decent rates translating for Japanese companies. I think that the best plan of attack would probably be to work on finding direct clients or agencies in the West, rather than working for domestic ones here. European or American clients are more likely to pay a decent rate to ensure that they end up getting readable English, whereas many Japanese clients can't read English well enough to tell whether what they received is a diamond or dog poop. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Stephen Kent
Local time: 01:22
Japanese to English
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TOPIC STARTER | Higher Rates For Scarcity? | Nov 18, 2013 |
Yes, I see what you mean about the native Japanese speakers translating into English (as I understood it, one of the fundamental rules of translation is that you translate into your native language). However, the companies that insist on using native English speakers to do Japanese to English translations sometimes seem to have a problem finding such translators when they need them, which is why I thought that the rates should probably be higher given that they are a relatively rare resou... See more Yes, I see what you mean about the native Japanese speakers translating into English (as I understood it, one of the fundamental rules of translation is that you translate into your native language). However, the companies that insist on using native English speakers to do Japanese to English translations sometimes seem to have a problem finding such translators when they need them, which is why I thought that the rates should probably be higher given that they are a relatively rare resource. The point you made about Japanese companies generally being unable to understand if a translation is of high or low quality is a valid one though, and I think it causes a quite a few problems.
Thanks for the advice about finding western agencies, I think I will look into that. ▲ Collapse
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