Translation Article: Quick Answers to General Questions

Quick Answers to General Questions

By Roger Chriss,
Language Realm,
U.S.A.

rbchriss@languagerealm.com
www.languagerealm.com

Get the List of 4,500+ Translation Agencies Now!
No Recurring Membership Fees!

In case you haven't the time or inclination to read through all of the articles, or did and now find yourself stumped as to where you saw some particular idea or suggestion, or perhaps have a specific question that was not addressed in detail in the text of the article series, I have assembled here some common questions and answers, many inspired by students in my course at the Monterey Institute of International Studies on the translation profession, others from correspondence with professional translators and new entrants to our industry. I hope your own questions are answered in this article, but if not, please contact me and I will do my best to provide you with an answer. And if your question turns out to have general applicability, it will appear in a future version of this article.

General Business Questions

Q: How many hours per week do you work? How much vacation can you take?

A: I work roughly 30 hours per week, though that includes not just translation but also all the other business matters I have to attend to, plus study of my languages and the subjects I work in. I take about three weeks of vacation per year, including national holidays. Typically I take a week or so off in the summer and a week around New Year's, plus various days here and there that I use to create long weekends.

Q; How much money can one make as a translator?

A: The minimum is $0.00, or rather less than that, as it is possible to spend more than you earn, and therefore have net loss for a given year. On average, a starting freelance translator should expect to make less than $25,000 in the first year, though some people do manage to make more, and some less. An established freelance translator makes roughly $40,000 to $45,000 per year, from what I've heard, and some do make over $55,000. These averages, derived from a lot of hearsay and anecdotal evidence, are merely guidelines, and will vary considerably depending on your native language, work into foreign languages pays more than work into English does in the United States in general, as well as on your subject specializations. Also, what you earn ultimately depends on your rates and how many words you can translate per day, so learn to negotiate and to translate faster.

Q: What are average market rates at present in the United States?

A: Check Aquarius for a detailed survey of current rates in the United States for various language combinations. A global average might be something in the neighborhood of $0.11 per word, though this is a rough estimate that includes both into- and out-of-English translation in all subject areas. Obviously, a translator working from English into Japanese doing highly technical work and providing DTP and other ancillary services for direct clients can earn a great deal more per word. On the other end, a translator working from Spanish into English on material for the U.S. government would be paid a lot less.

Q: I hear stories of translators making $125,000 or more per year. What's the deal?

A: First, people tend to lie about two things in life: money and sex. They usually claim to have or get more of it than they really do. That said, I suggest you adjust any claims you hear downward by 10% or so, then consider the difference between gross and net income. For a technical translator working from English to languages like German, Chinese, or Japanese for direct clients, providing editing, proofreading, DTP, and printing services, the gross income for a given year could well exceed $125,000. After expenses though, particularly associated with hiring people to do the editing, proofreading, etc., chances are this person would be making around $80,000. To put this another way, I have only heard one credible claim of a person making over $100,000 per year, and that translator made clear the fact that he did nothing but translate for 365 days straight, in technical areas of defense technology from English to Russian. So yes, in principle, such income is possible, but in practice, you shouldn't expect it.

Q: What can I do if I want to earn more?

A: Translate more words or charge more per word. The former depends on your translation speed and skill, whereas the latter depends on your clients and your business savvy.

Q: I have so much work that I am thinking of starting a translation agency. Any advice?

A: Congratulations. I am thrilled to receive such a question. The only suggestion I can offer you is that I am available to do translation work… but seriously, I suggest you consult with any and all community services for people starting a business, as well as checking with an attorney to make sure you comply with all applicable laws, and so forth. In other words, move steadily and carefully through the process of going from a sole-proprietorship to a corporate entity with employees and contractors.

Preparation for the Field

Q: How do I know when my language skills are good enough to translate?

A: The short answer is: your skills are good enough to translate when you can actually translate. In other words, try to translate something, for instance a copy of a financial report, a software guide, a research article in a scientific publication, a legal brief. If you can work through the material at a rate of a couple thousand words of translated text within one day and without making any significant errors, you are probably ready to translate. Of course you may need to have a professional check your work to make certain that your success is real.

Q; What can I read to be better informed about the translation industry?

A: There are a few publications that I strongly recommend you refer to regularly. They are print publications like "Language International", "Multiling", and web publications like Accurapid's "Translation Journal". In addition, the ATA Chronicle, as well as publications from regional and chapter organizations like the NCTA are worthwhile from time to time. Beyond these, you should be reading magazines, journals, and books related to the subjects you translate in, as well as keeping abreast of your languages through whatever means are available to you.

Q: Are there any textbooks on translation?

A: The question really is: Are there any textbooks on translation for your language combination and subject areas? The answer thus depends on which languages you know and what subjects you want to translate in. The short answer is no, if only because there are so few textbooks available, and most are of limited value, that you should assume none exist unless you hear otherwise. Posting a message on sci.lang.translation on Usenet should get you an answer particular to your needs.

Q: What about books to learn more about my subject areas?

A: Textbooks are appropriate. Buy recent editions of college- and even graduate-level textbooks for the subjects you plan on translating. If you plan to do financial translation, get books on accounting, managerial finance, tax law, and so forth. Then study the books as though you had to prepare to understand questions and even answer some, if not all, of them, and evaluate the language in the books with an eye toward translation. In other words, find and learn words you do not already know, terminology you are unacquainted with, and particular phrases or idioms unique to that subject area. It will be easier to do this study in your native language of course, though there is considerable value to working through such books in all of your languages.

Q: What about software to study or practice my languages?

A: There are any number of good software packages for studying and learning languages, though most of them will not take you much beyond the level of an advanced college student. A translator needs to be far, far beyond that level, so the software might be a good way to review basics, keep up aural comprehension skills, and maybe study terminology (if the package in question includes a vocabulary module that you can add words to), it will not provide much in the way of practice for professional translation.

Q: How do I find good dictionaries?

A: I wish I knew. Most translators, particularly those working in technical fields, struggle with this problem. Years can pass before new terms in computers, finance, or what have you appear in print, so translators often rely on parallel reading to find good translations for new terms (parallel reading is the processing of reading two versions of one text), sharing their own term lists via the Web, and checking with clients and experts in the subject fields they work in. Good dictionaries do come along though, and they cause enough of a stir among translators that posting a message on Usenet in sci.lang.translation should provide plenty of ideas.

Business Practice

Q: My clients keep making unreasonable demands. How can I stop them?

A: Tell them to stop. Explain in simple, succinct terms what your limits are, then ask them to respect those limits, if only because you will provide them with higher quality work as a result. If they refuse to honor those requests, consider finding new clients.

Q: I am going to be late with a translation–

A: Stop right there. You should never submit any translation late. If you know you can't finish an assignment on time, tell the client as soon as possible, preferably when you first receive the document. Service your client either by suggesting a new delivery schedule, perhaps with incremental deliveries, or by finding another translator to team up with to finish the assignment on time. Clients that receive work on time are happy clients, and happy clients give you more work.

Q: I don't like deadlines…

A: Then don't be a translator.

Q: My clients keep abandoning me. How can I keep them?

A: Do quality work at a fair price, submitting completed translations on time, and your clients will come back. Anything less and you run the risk of losing clients. Also, be sure that your clients really are abandoning you. Translation is a feast or famine industry; just because you don't hear from a client for a while doesn't mean you've been abandoned. They may just not have any work for you that week or month. Be patient, and have lots of clients.

Q: How many clients should I have?

A: As many as afford you a good living, is the short answer. I suggest you follow the 80-20 rule, that is 80% of your work should come from 20% of your clients. This means you should have a few principle clients, three or four translation agencies and vendors, who keep you busy with a regular supply of work, and then another ten to twenty clients who come to you from time to time with smaller jobs. Also, keep track of your clients; no business relationship lasts forever, and you never know when one of your major clients may suddenly have little need for you. Always be on the lookout for a new major client, in other words, and for signs that a current major client is providing less work.

Q: How can I get rid of a bad client?

A: There are two approaches. One: Charge the client enough that whatever makes them "bad" becomes worth your time and effort. If they persist in using you, at least you'll feel better about working with them. Two: Tell the client you are too busy to accept work. Once you do this a few times, most clients will stop calling. Between these two strategies, you'll manage to get rid of all undesirable clients. This problem, by the way, doesn't seem to happen very often.

Q: How long should I wait for payment?

A: When you accept a job, you should confirm with the client how long their pay cycle is. Add a few days to whatever you are told to allow for weekends, holidays, slow mail, and check-writer's cramp, and if payment doesn't arrive by that time, then politely inquire about your payment.

Q: What if I do everything you suggested in your articles and still have not been paid?

A: If you have truly done everything, then you have been to court with a lawsuit for breech of contract and somehow managed to lose. Under those conditions, there is nothing I can suggest. If however you have merely been patient and sent some reminder letters or faxes, then you have to increase the pressure by threatening to take legal action, to involve the Better Business Bureau and local or national translation organizations, and to broadcast to all other translators the specifics of the client's behavior. This threat, which I've used only once in seven years, almost invariably results in prompt, courteous payment. If the threat does not result in payment, then follow through with the threat. You may still not get paid, that is for the courts to decide, but you will make a clear statement to the translation vendor.

Q: My client is deducting 10% from my invoiced amount, claiming I did a bad job. What do I do?

A: Did you do a good job? Did you request specifics about their claims? Did they back up the claim with an independent review? If you really did a bad job, accept the deduction gracefully, offer to make any changes or improvements for free, and hope you didn't just lose a client. If however you feel the client is being unreasonable in their assessment of your work, or worse even, perhaps trying to squeeze you to increase their profit margin, then you must prepare to fight. Demand firmly but politely to see detailed documentation of their claim, preferably reviewed by a third party. If they do not respond immediately, treat the situation like any other invoice in default. Issue the threats and see what happens. By the way, for newcomers to the profession, this happens very, very rarely. For reasons explained in the article on ethics, translation agencies and vendors cannot afford to play these kinds of games.

Q: My client went out of business and I lost $16,000 in invoices. Can I do anything about it?

A: You what!?!? How could you possibly do that?! Never, never leave that much money outstanding. Invoice incrementally for all large projects, demand prompt payment, hold the rest of the project hostage if payment is not forthcoming, and if the client seems to be floundering, bail. Rats abandon sinking ships; no reason to stay around yourself. Okay, all that said, if the client really has gone into Chapter 11, then you have to join the line of creditors, usually a long one, and hope that as the company restructures or is sold off, some money comes your way. In other words, you should simply never get yourself into a situation like this in the first place.

Taxes and Finances

Q: Do I have to pay taxes?

A: Yes. Translators, like all self-employed people, are required to file annual tax returns to the IRS, plus to any state or local agency where they live, if necessary. In addition, the IRS and state tax agencies expect a quarterly tax payment which represents an estimate of what you owe for that quarter. Called Estimated Tax Payments, these payments are due by April 15 for the quarter starting January 1 and ending March 31; by June 15 for the quarter starting April 1 and ending May 31; September 15 for the quarter starting June 1 and ending August 31; and January 15 for the quarter starting September 1 and ending December 31. There is a penalty for underpayment (including no payment) of estimated taxes, though if your estimates are close the penalty is minimal.

Q: Should I use an accountant or professional tax preparer?

A: You should do your taxes on your own at least once in your professional life, preferably using tax preparation software. This will help you understand the taxation process so that you can either plan and prepare your taxes more accurately on your own or work more efficiently with a professional in the future. Eventually your taxes may become sufficiently complicated that a professional is justified. To date I have not used one, though I know plenty of translators who do.

Q: Does the tax software really work?

A: Yes, it does. I have been using tax preparation software since 1993 and spend only about two hours per year doing my federal and state taxes. You of course have to keep accurate, efficient records throughout the year in order to have the tax preparation process go that smoothly, but you should have such records anyway, as a part of your business.

Q: How can I figure out what I owe?

A: Until you have all the numbers for the entire tax year, you can't figure out your tax burden precisely. You can however use the Tax Estimator on the Quicken web site to get a rough estimate of your federal tax burden.

Q: What if a client doesn't send a 1099-MISC form? Say, for instance, they go out of business…

A: Employers that work with independent contractors are required by law to send out a 1099-MISC form by the end of February of the year after the tax year for all amounts in excess of $650.00. Note that the exact time and amount for a 1099-MISC form varies from year to year; consult with IRS forms and reference material for details. In any event, if you don't have a 1099-MISC form from an employer that owes you one, first contact the employer and see if that can get you one. If you can't find the employer, for instance, if the employer has gone out of business, contact the IRS. You will be given a 1099-MISC form to create for yourself, and you will have to supply evidence to justify the amount you place on it. Evidence includes check stubs and invoicing records. That will suffice for the IRS, which after you submit this mock 1099-MISC form will provide you with a confirmation letter some weeks later.

Q: Do I pay U.S. taxes on money I earn from translation vendors and clients in other countries?

A: Yes, unless there is a tax treaty to the contrary. Consult with a tax advisor or the IRS for details on how to report such income and if there are any special considerations.

Q: Are translators ever audited?

A: Yes they are. I know some who have been audited regularly and others who have been translating as freelancers for over 10 years without a single audit. Prepare your return neatly, accurately, and honestly, and your odds of an audit plummet. Also, an audit is not tantamount to the end of the world. If you have been honest and have all your paperwork, the process is a minor annoyance. If not, then you are in trouble and I can't help you.

Legal Issues

Q: Are translators ever sued?

A: I have heard about translators being threatened to be sued, but I personally know of no instance of a company actually suing a translator. Readers who know otherwise might do me the favor of filling me in on the details. Based on what I have heard from attorneys, employment experts, and translation agencies, suing a translator just isn't worth the time and money.

Q: Should translators have professional liability insurance?

A: This doesn't seem useful at this point. The insurance itself is unlikely to cover you when you need it, and the fact you have coverage could make you more attractive target for a lawsuit. An effective policy to have with clients is that you will provide "good-faith, best effort" translations. Then as long as you do so, you shouldn't need liability insurance.

Q: Should I incorporate?

A: Perhaps. It depends on how you want to function as a business entity. For most freelance translators, incorporating is probably not worth the time and money required. For some though, it may well be. Consult with an attorney, or read through some books on small-business management to get more ideas as to whether or not you should incorporate. I suspect you'll never have to, and I strongly urge you to work in the translation industry for a year or two before you do it, but ultimately it may be justified.

Equipment

Q: What software should I own?

A: A current version of Microsoft Office, including Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, is absolutely required. You should also have Internet software, including software to handle FTP and point-to-point file transfers, compression and decompression of archived software, and file format conversions. In addition, an HTML editor is quite useful for working on Web translations, and some kind of terminology or glossary management software, perhaps a general database application, or perhaps a dedicated system, is useful. Finally, depending on your languages, MAT software like Trados or Translation Manager 2, among others, is useful if not vital.

Q: What about dictating translations? My wrists and hands hurt…

A: My wrists and hands hurt, too, from time to time. And I do use dictation software, both Dragon Systems' Naturally Speaking and IBM's ViaVoice (parts of these articles were dictated, by the way). I find the software efficient and accurate, up to a point. But owed in part to the complexity of the documents I work on and to some peculiarities in my English pronunciation, borne of knowing other languages, perhaps, using the dictation software is rather slow compared to typing, and often just not practical, due to formatting issues, proper nouns, such Japanese personal names), and mathematical expressions. Perhaps the next generation of the software will be more useful, but until then I suggest you learn various exercises to maintain strength and flexibility in your upper extremities, and avoid hobbies such as bongo-playing, wood carving, or leatherworking. If you are uncertain as to how such software works or what it might be like for a translator, see my Voice Input Review.

Q: My child stuffed a peanut butter sandwich into my floppy disk drive, and now I can't finish my translation…

A: Children and business computers do not mix. I have seen 12-year-olds take down fault-tolerant Cray Supercomputers, and I myself as a small child have managed to crash more than one mini-computer. If at all possible, keep your business system away from younger family members and household pets. If not possible, purchase and use a utility that lets you lock out people and effectively shut down the computer when you are not using it. And, of course, keep backups of all your work so that you lose the absolute minimum possible should anything go wrong.

Q: Should I get MAT software like Trados, Déjà-Vu, or IBM's TM2?

A: That depends on what languages you work with and what kind of material you are translating. In general, if you are working on documents that represent new versions of older material in Romance or Germanic languages, then MAT will probably be essential; your clients may even insist you have one or more MAT packages. By contrast, if you are translating original research from Japanese to English, MAT software will not be at all useful. For more ideas on this subject, see the section on MAT software in Article V: Translator's Home Office.

Accreditation and Professional Organizations

Q: Is the ATA exam worth taking?

A: Perhaps. Many translation vendors view the ATA exam with some skepticism, in part because the exam is so brief and general as to provide only a minimal assessment of a translator's skills, and in part because the grading of the exam is highly subjective, and therefore some skilled, experienced translators do not pass, while less capable individuals pass. Also, the exam is expensive, requiring you to become an ATA member, then pay a fee to take the first tier or the exam, then another fee to take the second tier, and finally to keep your membership active if you want to claim accreditation. On the other hand, the ATA exam is a recognized credential, one of few available in the United States, and so for a new translator who has no academic training, certification, or any other evidence of translation ability, it is probably worthwhile.

Q: Are there other accreditation exams?

A: Yes. The U.S. State Department has exams for interpreters, which could be used to demonstrate translation ability because of the mistaken idea that those who can interpret can translate. The United Nations also offers exams, though the requirements for taking those exams preclude all but the most experienced translators from applying. There are schools in the country that offer various forms of academic training, with a degree or certification at the end of the process, and so are worth considering for some people.

Q: Is the ATA worth joining?

A: The answer depends on how you want to spend your money. The ATA, one could argue, does not offer much for its membership fees. On the one hand, many translators seem to feel that participating in the local chapter organizations gives them far more of what they need and choose not to join the ATA. There are plenty of translators, however, who enjoy and seem to benefit from their ATA membership. If you plan to take the ATA accreditation exam, you will have to join. If you are new to the profession, you might find better uses for your money, at least until you are more established.

Q: Can a translator succeed without joining any organizations?

A: Yes, absolutely. The ATA and various chapter organizations offer many services of varying degrees of utility, but none of it is indispensable.

Miscellaneous Issues

Q: Should I learn another language?

A: Sure, why not?

Q: Any in particular?

A: You already know how much effort learning a language is, so I suggest you pick one that inspires you. Don't try to predict the long-term translation market. Doing so appears harder than predicting the NASDAQ over the next twelve months or the weather over the next ten years.

Q: What if I disagree with you about something you wrote in this or the other articles?

A: By all means, tell me. If I am mistaken, or if the information can be improved, I'll make all necessary changes as soon as possible. If we have a difference of opinion, then we may have to agree to disagree, though I try to offer differing opinions where possible and appropriate in the articles.

Q: I sequenced the mammoth as you suggested in Article V. Now what? Its hungry, not to mention large and smelly.

A: I made no such suggestion, though if you went ahead and tried, then succeeded, my congratulations. And if you did, you are missing your calling by being a translator.