Word rate for MTPE and daily output
Thread poster: Julia Glasmann
Julia Glasmann
Julia Glasmann
Germany
Member (2006)
English to German
+ ...
Nov 24, 2020

First off, I know that a lot of translators are firmly against accepting MTPE (machine translation post editing) jobs - I am not a fan either, but since two of my long-term clients have recently approached me asking whether I could do some MTPE jobs for them, I am thinking about it. Please let's not turn this thread into a discussion about whether or not to accept those jobs at all

Secondly, I know this question has b
... See more
First off, I know that a lot of translators are firmly against accepting MTPE (machine translation post editing) jobs - I am not a fan either, but since two of my long-term clients have recently approached me asking whether I could do some MTPE jobs for them, I am thinking about it. Please let's not turn this thread into a discussion about whether or not to accept those jobs at all

Secondly, I know this question has been raised before, but I feel that the quality of MT has improved dramatically over the last few years, requiring less PE, which in turn has an impact on rates, so I am raising it again.

Last but not least, I realize that - as with any translation - rates depend on different factors - language combination, topic, quality of the MT, etc. - I am just trying to get a basic idea.

So to those of you who do MTPE - how much do you charge per word (+ your language combo, please) and how many words approximately can you handle per day (i.e. 8 hours)?
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ELVIS EDUARDO
 
Thayenga
Thayenga  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 17:36
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
A fair rate... Nov 24, 2020

... would be your normal hourly rate. This way you are being compensated for the actual time you are/will be spending on each project. A per word rate is not advisable.

Depending on the size of the projects, you could also charge your hourly rate for 15, 30, or 45 minutes. You could also "collect projects until you can invoice a certain (hourly rate based) amount.


Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Peter Motte
 
Peter Motte
Peter Motte  Identity Verified
Belgium
Local time: 17:36
Member (2009)
English to Dutch
+ ...
How to determine it? Nov 24, 2020

Thayenga wrote:

... would be your normal hourly rate. This way you are being compensated for the actual time you are/will be spending on each project. A per word rate is not advisable.


Good advise, but how to determine that before you take on the job?
Clients prefer certainty about what they have to pay in the end.


 
Thayenga
Thayenga  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 17:36
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
Experience Nov 24, 2020

Peter Motte wrote:

Good advise, but how to determine that before you take on the job?
Clients prefer certainty about what they have to pay in the end.


Usually you know how many words or pages the job contains. As an experienced translator you can estimate how how long will take you to complete the job after reading only a few - far apart - paragraphs. Accepting poor quality MT's is not advisable, either, because then you would have to read through the entire file... additional time the client would have to pay for.

You might want to set your estimate a little higher. Clients love it when the final invoice is lower than expected.


Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
 
Julia Glasmann
Julia Glasmann
Germany
Member (2006)
English to German
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Ask for sample of source text and MT Nov 24, 2020

Peter Motte wrote:

Thayenga wrote:

... would be your normal hourly rate. This way you are being compensated for the actual time you are/will be spending on each project. A per word rate is not advisable.


Good advise, but how to determine that before you take on the job?
Clients prefer certainty about what they have to pay in the end.


I kept Thayenga's advice in mind and twisted it a bit: I asked the client for a sample of the source text and respective MT translation and post-edited the sample for five minutes to see how many words I could realistically do in that time. Then, I took the number of words per five minutes x 12 to determine how many words I could manage in one hour, then x 8 to determine the possible output per day. One day = 8 hours = hourly rate x 8 divided by number of words/day = word rate for PE.

What I learnt from this little experiment is to insist on seeing not only a sample of the source test, but also of the MT, because the differences in the translation quality can be huge!


Elena Kharlamova
Jessica Noyes
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Ingvild Karlsen
András Illyés
 
nini24
nini24
United States
Local time: 11:36
English to Chinese
+ ...
Thayenga wrote: "collect projects until you can invoice a certain (hourly rate based) amount" Jul 7, 2022

"collect projects until you can invoice a certain (hourly rate based) amount"

I'm sorry, I don't quite understand what does this sentence mean? Thanks.


 


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Word rate for MTPE and daily output







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