Rates adjusted for cost of living

I'm wondering where certain companies find translators to do their work, especially localization companies from India and China. I get requests sometimes from these companies asking for translations and they are willing to pay at most 3 cents per word. I don't know anyone who is willing to work for 3 cents per word! Not in Western Europe anyhow. Normally I just tell them my standard rate (4x as high) and they go away but sometimes they persist at which point I tell them I'm willing to edit their text at 3 cents per word but will send it back if its too poor.

I would really like to know where they get translators that charge so little.

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Say Cheese!

Sometimes you get a great experience out of a project. A while ago we were translating documentation for a digital camera when the client asked if they could use a few pictures of the translation team in some promotional material. We said OK of course, and never heard anything further. Few weeks later we saw the packaging on the shelf in the store and lo and behold, the photos were on the back of the box in a collage-like layout!

That was great to see!

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Culture Clash

I have been working with a Japanese client for quite some time now on a project which should have taken far less time. I think its simply a difference in cultures and business practices but the project manager I work with has no authority whatsoever. For every decision which needs to be made, there are 3 bosses on his side who need to give their written approval!

In the future I will be taking the extra effort into account when I work with certain clients and certain cultures. I have wasted far too much time waiting.

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