Hi everyone, friends, travelers, colleagues and budding translators! After an interesting and somewhat hilarious time in Vancouver I am back at it again. The workshop went well and everyone seemed a little more inspired, including me. Based on feedback from participants I have decided to add Claudi’s advice as well as some translation resource related links. No names will be mentioned – don’t worry!

Although it was a somewhat dreary-looking day in Vancouver you could still see the mountains. Pretty spectacular!

Looking down Granville St.

After the workshop I nearly got lost taking the bus from Denman St. over to the South Granville area. The bus drivers in Vancouver like to add some adventure to your life by suddenly turning off the regular route and heading off in a completely different direction. I suggested to my fashionable friend that we stay on the bus to see where it would take us … but we did jump ship in the end (hungry!). After three busses (instead of the usual one) we made it to her place for yummy food and to watch a dramatic foreign movie with comedic subtitles like: “You get it? We don’t just total such Wisniaks, but sharpen the knife and cut to the bone.” Huh? Great times!

Claudi’s advice

Question: Claudi, how much should I charge for my work as a translator or interpreter?

Claudi’s advice: Know your own worth and do your research. How much do you want to earn per hour? How much does the market hold? Are you looking local or national/ global? Are you charging per word (translation), per hour (editing/ proofreading, community and court interpreting) or per day (conference interpreting). What is your language combination? How high is the demand for your languages? The supply? What do your colleagues charge? Talk to them. Analyze rate surveys done by T&I associations and on translation related websites. Tip: If you set a rate and loose the next couple of contracts lower it a bit and see what happens. The trick is finding just the right rate for you and fine tuning it and your business as you go along.

Some related links:

www.proz.com, www.translatorscafe.com/cafe/communityrates.asp

 www.uottawa.ca/association/csict/represum.pdf

www.tcworldinfo/index.php?id=227

If you find this blog mildly entertaining and useful, and you wish to give back, please donate to my “travel and translation fund.” Just use Paypal to send your donation to my paypal address CEichbauer@etctranslation.com .

Signing off for today… Your Traveling Translator