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amt17
Community Member

How Much Does it Cost to Hire a Translator?

Article from Upwork's Hiring Headquarters "Hiring Tips":

 

How Much Does it Cost to Hire a Translator?

 

Type of TranslatorAverage  Hourly Rate
Popular Languages (Chinese, Spanish, German, Japanese, etc.)$15-30+
Niche Languages (Swedish, Korean, Finnish, etc.)$20-35+
Specialists (Marketing, Copywriting, Technical, Industry)/More Experienced $35-45+

*Reflect rates charged by freelancers on Upwork in North America with over 1,000 hours and 90% success rate.

 

 

Is Upwork lending a helping hand in keeping fees down and creating wrong expectations for clients?

16 REPLIES 16
jr-translation
Community Member


Annette E wrote:

Article from Upwork's Hiring Headquarters "Hiring Tips":

 

How Much Does it Cost to Hire a Translator?

 

Type of TranslatorAverage  Hourly Rate
Popular Languages (Chinese, Spanish, German, Japanese, etc.)$15-30+
Niche Languages (Swedish, Korean, Finnish, etc.)$20-35+
Specialists (Marketing, Copywriting, Technical, Industry)/More Experienced $35-45+

*Reflect rates charged by freelancers on Upwork in North America with over 1,000 hours and 90% success rate.

 

 

Is Upwork lending a helping hand in keeping fees down and creating wrong expectations for clients?


No, they are telling clients that they should use machine translation for some languages.
The most widely spoken languages from some of the largest economies include German, Chinese, Arabic, Hindi, Spanish, and Portuguese, to name a few. As a result, there are far more available translators for these languages, and also more accessibility to accurate machine translation which can in some cases preclude the need for a translator.



No, they are telling clients that they should use machine translation for some languages.

 

...As a result, there are far more available translators for these languages, and also more accessibility to accurate machine translation which can in some cases preclude the need for a translator.


 

Excellent marketing strategy! Don't hire a freelancer on Upwork - use machine translation! Smiley LOL


Jennifer R wrote:
No, they are telling clients that they should use machine translation for some languages.
The most widely spoken languages from some of the largest economies include German, Chinese, Arabic, Hindi, Spanish, and Portuguese, to name a few. As a result, there are far more available translators for these languages, and also more accessibility to accurate machine translation which can in some cases preclude the need for a translator.

If I needed something translated to/from Japanese, I would definitely hire a competent translator. It's a highly contextual language, and most machine translation I've seen is hilariously bad.


Michael S wrote:

Jennifer R wrote:
No, they are telling clients that they should use machine translation for some languages.
The most widely spoken languages from some of the largest economies include German, Chinese, Arabic, Hindi, Spanish, and Portuguese, to name a few. As a result, there are far more available translators for these languages, and also more accessibility to accurate machine translation which can in some cases preclude the need for a translator.

If I needed something translated to/from Japanese, I would definitely hire a competent translator. It's a highly contextual language, and most machine translation I've seen is hilariously bad.


**bleep**, that makes me feel so nostalgic. 

Screen Shot 2019-10-07 at 10.54.00 PM.png

(I think this one is from China.)

It gets even better when you throw OCR into the mix, as Google Translate demonstrates...

 

Screenshot_20180321-023515.png

 

That's supposed to be a warning sign telling people to hold onto their hats and luggage, because the wind-blast / pressure wave / whatever you wanna call it coming off the trains can make you lose those items (the trains go through there at about 200mph, all of 5 or 6 feet away).


Renata S wrote:

Screen Shot 2019-10-07 at 10.54.00 PM.png

(I think this one is from China.)


That's...wow... Even using Google Translate would have been better. Apparently "office" is the only thing they got right. Google says 伤残评定办 is "Disability Assessment Office." How they got "Office of Mayhem Evaluation" is beyond me. (And yes, it's Chinese).


Michael S wrote:

Renata S wrote:

Screen Shot 2019-10-07 at 10.54.00 PM.png

(I think this one is from China.)


That's...wow... Even using Google Translate would have been better. Apparently "office" is the only thing they got right. Google says 伤残评定办 is "Disability Assessment Office." How they got "Office of Mayhem Evaluation" is beyond me. (And yes, it's Chinese).


This is what happens when people translate in the wrong direction (i.e., into a non-native language). I used to edit for someone who spoke reasonable English but had a habit of choosing words based on the limited explanations in pocket translators. This led to a lot of highly creative and fascinating statements. It did, however, make editing them a lot more interesting as well. 

Looking at this online definition, I can see how someone might have misinterpreted the meaning. 

Screen Shot 2020-01-19 at 12.34.40 AM.png

I'm bilingual and my brother is trilingual: we both agree that we've never seen a complete document ever get translated correctly when passed through a machine translator. You'd be better off going with one of those $5/hr translators.


Varun G wrote:

I'm bilingual and my brother is trilingual: we both agree that we've never seen a complete document ever get translated correctly when passed through a machine translator. You'd be better off going with one of those $5/hr translators.


Yes, then you pay for google with some minor changes by somone that believe to know the target language because the went to school at some point.

You'd think Upwork might have found a translator or someone who knows something about translation to write that drivel...

simonelinke
Community Member


Annette E wrote:

Is Upwork lending a helping hand in keeping fees down and creating wrong expectations for clients?


Yes.

(And instead of providing the necessary tools for more professional client/freelancer communication to manage expectations, they will charge the translator via Connects whenever a less informed client doesn't provide essential information or has unrealistic expectations that would require a quick Q&A before submitting a proposal (just lost 6 Connects).)

I can't believe they are doing that. I am not even a translator but I spot easily lots of mistakes in material that goes through machines. It's laughable in most cases.

 

By the way, since when Japanese is a popular language? Upwork, are you kidding?


Sergio S wrote:

I can't believe they are doing that. I am not even a translator but I spot easily lots of mistakes in material that goes through machines. It's laughable in most cases.

 

By the way, since when Japanese is a popular language? Upwork, are you kidding?


Only as a target language. Who cares about the source language.

Translation

Getting it Right

 

"What about translation software? If you’re pressed for time and want to get the gist of something for your own use (in-bound), translation software may be helpful. It is certainly fast. And you can’t get much cheaper than free. But as a general rule of thumb, don’t use raw computer output for anything out-bound without the express agreement of your clients. It’s simply not suitable: you run the risk of looking inarticulate. Even stupid. Careful editing of machine output by skilled human translators is one option, although not all translators will accept such assignments. Many insist texts generated by computer programs are so skewed that it’s faster to start from scratch."

 

 


Sergio S wrote:

I can't believe they are doing that. I am not even a translator but I spot easily lots of mistakes in material that goes through machines. It's laughable in most cases.

 

By the way, since when Japanese is a popular language? Upwork, are you kidding?


I think they're estimating popularity based on the size of the country's economy. And Japan is one of the largest economies in the world.

 

And while I doubt it figures into their estimation since it was already written, there's probably a sizeable uptick due to the Olympics being in Tokyo this year.

VladimirG
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Annette,

 

Thanks for sharing the article. I'll follow up with the team to review the points you raised and check if we need to update the article.

 

To address one of the concerns shared on the thread, I'd just like to note that this article was posted almost two years ago, which doesn't affect the valid points you (participants on this thread) raised as successful professionals from the field in question. We'll follow up with an update once we receive an update from our team.

~ Vladimir
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