Chile Forum

Hi all,
Anyone have any idea of rates of pay for translating documents.
I freelance to a company (teaching) and they may have some work for me in translating company documents (job functions)
but I've no idea of how people charge.
Is it by the word, by the hour, or by the grace of God?

I've got limited experience so far of translating technical documents... but the thing is I hhave never actually charged until now...

Help.

Jamie

i haven't a clue but it should be easy to figure out since there are on line sites that offer that service. A bad computer translation is free but if you want a human they charge. babelfish.com is one but I'm sure there are dozens.

xxx

Try asking around at proz.com for some information on rates in Chile. 12 US cents p/word would be a minimum rate for corp translations.

Anyone have a current feel for the outside of Santiago CLP price for Spanish to English translations:

(1) per word
(2) document (like a resume)
(3) other non tech/legal/med document

xxx

Oh yeah.

This might put translation rates in perspective.

We charge clients 15,000 pesos a page ( page is 225 words) (including legal documents), and it is done by one of the top translators in Chile and perhaps South America. For example, among other things she was the interpretor for the Dali Lama, head of translation department for Emel Chile when it was owned by an American company, and has done the live interpretation for the Oscars on Chilean TV at least 3 times in recent years. Legal documents also get reviewed by an English speaking attorney for legal consistency of meaning after the translation.

Now, I would caution we don't generally give those rates for just anyone off the street. Normally they are expenses related to other work we are doing for clients, such as court cases in other countries where we are also charging much more money for legal services.

xxx

I just got very interested in this topic, I own a small bi-lingual magazine in Vieques (that doesn't make money but is self sustaining), a legacy from my sister, http://www.Viequesevents.net. The minority share holder, and managing editor recently had a minor stroke. I just received a communication the he is not allowed to work anymore. My Spanish (and English) is not good enough to do the other part of his job which was the translation and editing. Yikes

Any other translators out there? Or experience with semi- to professional- level translations and if so, any stories to share?

Some of my translation work is for a CL government agency and the rate they pay is sub-market. Now I need to bid for doing a book for an NGO, translation plus editorial, low-tech, vocabulary not terribly esoteric, non-Chilean (thank god) Spanish to English. Any recent experience to bear on this? Is earlier USD$,12 per word still a normal or reasonable rate in Chile for a book-length project?

tanks

I am now a full blown publisher and we pay .05 per word.
http://www.viequesevents.net