In the second part of the article by our technical writer Andrey Starovoitov, we will see how exactly the price for the translation of technical documentation is formed. If you do not want to read a lot of text, see the "Examples" section at the end of the article right away.
You can read the first part of the article .
So, you have approximately decided with whom you will cooperate on software translation. One of the most important moments in negotiations is always the discussion of the price for services. What exactly will you have to pay for?
(Since all translation companies are different, we do not claim that everything will work for you exactly as described below. However, I am sharing my experience here)
1) UI & Doc word
It doesn't matter if you're asking to translate a gui or documentation, translators calculate the fee as "per word". Pay per word is the main point in the price discussion.
For example, you are going to translate software into German. The translation company informs you that the price per word will be $0.20 (all prices in the article are in US dollars, prices are approximate).
Agree or not - see for yourself. You can try to bargain.
2) Linguistic hour
Translation companies have a minimum amount of words that must be sent for translation. For example, 250 words. If you send less, you will have to pay for a "linguistic hour" (for example, $40).
In general, when you send less than the required minimum, companies may behave differently. If you urgently need to translate 1-2 phrases, some can do it for free as a gift to a client. If you need to translate 50-100 words, they can arrange it with a discount of 0.5 hours.
3) UI & Doc word for marketing
Some translation companies have a "special translation" service - most often it is used in cases where something needs to be translated for marketing.
Such a translation will be done by an experienced “linguistic luminary” who knows a bunch of idioms, uses epithets correctly, knows how to restructure a sentence so that the text becomes more attractive, stays in memory longer, etc.
The cost of such a translation, respectively, will be more expensive. For example, if the fee for a simple translation is $0.20 per word, then for a “special” one it will be $0.23.
4) Linguistic hour for marketing
If you need to make a “special” translation, but you send less than the minimum set by the company, you will have to pay for a “special linguistic hour”.
Such an hour will also be more expensive than usual. For example, if for a regular one the price is $40, then for a special one it is about $45.
But again, the company can meet you halfway. If the portion of the text is really small, they can arrange it for half an hour of translation.
5) PM fee
Even at the preliminary negotiations, such a parameter as “pay to the manager” was discussed. What it is?
In large translation companies, you are assigned a personal manager. Everything you need to translate - send it to him, and he already does all the organizational work:
- if your resources need to be prepared for translation, then the manager sends them to engineers (more on this later);
— if the company has a lot of orders and a lot of translators (native speakers) in different countries, then the manager will negotiate which of them is free now and will be able to quickly complete the translation;
– if the translators have questions about the translation, the manager will ask them to you, and then give the answer to the translators;
- if the transfer is urgent, the manager will decide who can work overtime;
- if you need to translate, and translators in another country have a public holiday, then the manager will look for someone who can replace them, etc., etc.
In other words, the manager is the link between you and the translators. You send resources for translation + something for clarity (comments, screenshots, videos) and that's it - then the manager will take care of everything else. He will notify you when the transfers arrive.
For all this work, the manager also receives a fee. Often it is included in the cost of the order, goes as a separate item and is calculated as a percentage of the order. For example, 6%.
6) Localization engineering hour
If what you sent for translation contains many different IDs, tags, etc. that do not need to be translated, then the automated translation system (CAT tool) will still calculate them and include them in the final price.
To avoid this, such a text is first given to engineers who run it through the script, lock it and remove everything that does not need to be translated. Therefore, you will not be charged for these items.
After the text is translated, it is run through another script that adds these elements back into the already translated text.
For such procedures, a fixed fee is taken as an "engineering hour". For example $34.
As an example, let's look at 2 pictures. Here is the text received for translation from the client (with IDs and tags):
And here is what will come to translators after running the text by engineers:
There are 2 advantages here - 1) they removed unnecessary elements from the price, 2) translators do not have to dig with tags and other elements - it is less likely that someone messes up somewhere.
7) CAT tool breakdown model
For translations, companies use various automated systems called CAT tools (Computer-Assisted Translation tools). Trados, Transit, Memoq and others can serve as an example of such systems.
This does not mean that the computer will translate. Such systems help to create translation memories (Translation Memory), so that later you do not need to translate what has already been translated. They also help to understand which of the previously made translations can be reused in new ones. These systems help to unify terminology, divide the text into categories and clearly understand how much and for what you have to pay, etc.
When you send a text for translation, it is run through such a system - it analyzes this text, compares it with the existing translation memory (if any) and divides the text into categories. Each category will have its own price, and these prices are another point of discussion in the negotiations.
As an example, let's imagine that we contacted a translation company and asked how much it would cost to translate documentation into German. We were told $0.20 per word. And then they name the prices for various categories into which the text is divided during the analysis:
1) Category No match or New words - 100%. This means that if nothing from the translation memory can be reused, then the full price is taken - in our example, $0.20 per word.
2) Context match category – 0%. If the phrase completely matches the one already translated and the upcoming sentence has not changed, then such a translation will be free - it will simply be reused from the translation memory.
3) Category Repetitions or 100% match - 25%. If the phrase is repeated several times in the text, 25% of the price per word will be charged for it (in our example, this is $0.05). This fee is charged for the translator to check how the translation of the phrase will be read in different contexts.
4) Category Low-fuzzy (75-94%) - 60%. If an existing translation can be reused by 75-94%, then it will be charged at 60% of the price per word. In our example, this turns out to be $0.12.
Anything below 75% will be worth $0.20 as a new word.
5) Category High-fuzzy (95-99%) - 30%. If an existing translation can be reused by 95-99%, then a price of 30% of the price per word will be taken for it. In our example, this is $0.06.
All this is not so easy to understand by reading one text.
Let's look at specific examples - imagine that we began to cooperate with a certain company and send various portions for translation.
EXAMPLES:
Batch 1: (translation memory empty)
So, you started working with a new translation company and asked for something to be translated for the first time. For example, this sentence:
A virtual machine is an emulated copy of a physical computer that can be used together with the host operating system.
Commentary: The system will see that the translation memory is empty - there is nothing to reuse. The number of words is 21. All of them are defined as new, and the price for such a translation will be: 21 x $0.20 = $4.20
Portion 2: (let's imagine that for some reason you sent exactly the same proposal for translation as the first time)
A virtual machine is an emulated copy of a physical computer that can be used together with the host operating system.
Comment: In this case, the system will see that such a sentence has already been translated, and the context (the sentence in front) has not changed. Therefore, such a translation can be safely reused, and you don’t have to pay anything for it. Price - 0.
Portion 3: (you send the same sentence for translation, but a new sentence of 5 words was added at the beginning)
What is a virtual machine? A virtual machine is an emulated copy of a physical computer that can be used together with the host operating system.
Commentary: The system will see a new 5-word offer and calculate it at the full price - $0.20 x 5 = $1. But the second sentence completely coincides with the previously translated one, but the context has changed (a sentence has been added ahead). Therefore, it will be classified as a 100% match and calculated as $0.05 x 21 = $1,05. This amount will be taken for the translator to check that the existing translation of the second sentence can be reused - there will be no grammatical or semantic contradictions associated with the translation of the new sentence.
Batch 4: (Let's pretend this time you sent the same message as in Batch 3, with only one change - 2 spaces between sentences)
What is a virtual machine? A virtual machine is an emulated copy of a physical computer that can be used together with the host operating system.
Commentary: As you can see in the screenshot, the system does not consider this case as a change of context - the translation of both phrases in the same order is already available in the translation memory, and it can be reused. Therefore the price is 0.
Portion 5: (send the same phrase as in the 1st portion, only change “an” to “the”)
A virtual machine is the emulated copy of a physical computer that can be used together with the host operating system.
Comment: The system sees this change and calculates that the existing translation is 97% reusable. Why exactly by 97%, and in the following example, with a similar slight change, by 99%? Segmentation rules are hardwired into the internal logic of the system by its developers. Read more about segmentation . Usually, the default segmentation rules are used, but in some systems they can be changed to improve the accuracy and accuracy of text breakdown for different languages. You can read more about how you can change the segmentation rules in memoQ .
So, the ability to reuse a translation 97% places words in the High-fizzy category, and, according to our example, the price for such a translation will be $0.06 x 21 = $1,26. This price is taken for the fact that the translator checks whether the translation of the changed part in meaning and grammatically contradicts the rest of the translation, which will be taken from the system's memory.
The given example is simple and does not reflect the importance of such a check. But in many cases it is really important to make sure that the translation of the new part in conjunction with the old remains "readable and understandable."
Portion 6: (we send for translation the same phrase as in the 1st portion, only after “computer” a comma is added)
A virtual machine is an emulated copy of a physical computer that can be used together with the host operating system.
Comment: Here everything is the same as in the 5th portion, only the system, according to its internal logic, determines that the existing translation can be reused by 99%.
Portion 7: (we send for translation the same sentence as in the 1st portion, but this time it has a different ending)
A virtual machine is an emulated copy of a physical computer that can be used together with the most popular OSs.
Commentary: The system will see that the ending has changed and will calculate that this time the existing translation can be reused by 92%. In this case, the words fall into the Low-fuzzy category, and the price for this translation will be calculated as $0.12 x 21 = $2,52. This price is taken not only for translating new words, but also for checking how the old translation agrees with the new one.
Portion 8: (we send a new sentence for translation, which is the first part of the sentence from the 1st portion)
A virtual machine is an emulated copy of a physical computer.
Comment: After analysis, the system sees that the existing translation can be reused by 57%, but this ratio is not included in either High-fuzzy or Low-fuzzy. According to the agreement, everything below 75% is treated as No match. Accordingly, the price is calculated in full, as for new words - $0.20 x 11 = $2,20.
Portion 9: (we send a sentence that is half of the previously translated phrase and half of the new one)
A virtual machine is an emulated copy of a physical computer that can be treated as a real PC if you work with it via RDP.
Comment: The system sees that the existing translation can be reused by 69%. But, as in the 8th serving, this ratio does not fall into either High-fuzzy or Low-fuzzy. Accordingly, the price will be calculated as for new words: $0.20 x 26 = $5,20.
Portion 10: (we send a new sentence for translation, which consists entirely of the same words as the previously translated sentences, but only these words are in a different order)
An emulated physical computer working together with the host operating system is called a virtual machine.
Commentary: Although all these words were previously translated, the system sees that this time they go in a completely new order. Therefore, it classifies them in the New words category and calculates the price for the translation in full - $0.20 x 16 = $3,20.
Portion 11: (we send for translation a certain text in which one sentence is repeated twice)
Do you want to save money? Buy Parallels Desktop and use both Windows and macOS applications on one computer without having to restart. Do you want to save money? Call us now and get a discount.
Comment: After parsing, the system sees that one of the sentences is used twice. Therefore, 6 words from the repeated sentence are placed in the Repetitions category, and the remaining 30 words are in the New words category. The cost of such a transfer will be calculated as $0.05 x 6 + $0.20 x 30 = $6,30. The price for a repeated sentence is taken to check that its translation (when translated for the first time) can be reused in a new context.
Conclusion:
After agreeing on prices, a contract is signed in which these prices will be fixed. In addition, an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) is signed - an agreement under which both parties undertake not to disclose the partner's internal information to anyone.
According to this agreement, the translation company also undertakes to provide you with a translation memory in the event of termination of the contract. This is necessary in order not to be left with an empty trough if you decide to change the localizer. Thanks to the translation memory, you will have all the previously made translations, and the new company will be able to reuse them.
Now we can start cooperation.
Source: habr.com