| Старонкі тэмы: [1 2] > | Translation SW changing the way we work Аўтар тэмы: Vincent Lemma
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Vincent Lemma 
Італія
Local time: 16:54
італьянская → англійская
+ ...
Hello All,
So, today I get a call from an agency that I have worked with for 4 years.
They say that they are calling all translators to say that all jobs will be MT by a company developed SW and that all we need to do is revise the text.
Of course, they say, this means that jobs now are only revision and so rates applied will be that for revision on MT.
Initially, I was a bit upset as this customer supplied a good workflow (and income), which now I need to get from new cu... See more Hello All,
So, today I get a call from an agency that I have worked with for 4 years.
They say that they are calling all translators to say that all jobs will be MT by a company developed SW and that all we need to do is revise the text.
Of course, they say, this means that jobs now are only revision and so rates applied will be that for revision on MT.
Initially, I was a bit upset as this customer supplied a good workflow (and income), which now I need to get from new customers or other sources of work.
So, what is the outlook for our line of work? Personally, I have vast knowledge in the tech. fields (also applied) and just fell that I should not be selling my services for the cost of a revision (let the SW do it I say).
Has this ever happened to any of you, or do you expect it to?
I feel that SW will indeed improve in the future and that perhaps we (translators) need to change the way we work and/or services offered.
Please share your experiences and opinions.
Cheers! ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tom in London
Вялікабрытанія
Local time: 15:54
Член (ад 2008)
італьянская → англійская
So I don't know. So of course this is a step back for translators. So you would actually have a lot more work to do, for less money because, so, the quality of the MT would be terrible. So.
So I would say no. So the outlook for us, whether we like it or not, is that robotisation is going to put us all out of work. So it's the same for so many people who do other types of work.
So that's how it's going to be. So we have to decide what to do about it. So all suggestions a... See more So I don't know. So of course this is a step back for translators. So you would actually have a lot more work to do, for less money because, so, the quality of the MT would be terrible. So.
So I would say no. So the outlook for us, whether we like it or not, is that robotisation is going to put us all out of work. So it's the same for so many people who do other types of work.
So that's how it's going to be. So we have to decide what to do about it. So all suggestions are welcome.
[Edited at 2019-11-19 10:59 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Vincent Lemma
Італія
Local time: 16:54
італьянская → англійская
+ ...
ПАЧЫНАЛЬНІК ТЭМЫ | Quite assertive and I agree | Nov 19, 2019 |
Tom in London wrote:
So I don't know. So of course this is a step back for translators. So you would actually have a lot more work to do, for less money because, so, the quality of the MT would be terrible. So.
So I would say no. So the outlook for us, whether we like it or not, is that robotisation is going to put us all out of work. So it's the same for so many people who do other types of work.
So that's how it's going to be. So we have to decide what to do about it. So all suggestions are welcome.
[Edited at 2019-11-19 10:59 GMT]
So I agree, Tom. We are not just revisers, but many of us have hands-on experience in many of the fields we work in, such as with architecture and myself with electrical/mechanical engineering.
Do not want to sell my knowledge short
| | | | Tom in London
Вялікабрытанія
Local time: 15:54
Член (ад 2008)
італьянская → англійская
As a niche translator myself (Italian to English, specialised in architecture, city planning, history of cities and architecture, technical construction documents, real estate, valuations, PhD theses, etc) the kinds of texts I translate cannot be handled by machines. So I'm actually thinking of increasing my rate. I just need to develop a very targeted marketing strategy (if I could be bothered to do it)  ... See more As a niche translator myself (Italian to English, specialised in architecture, city planning, history of cities and architecture, technical construction documents, real estate, valuations, PhD theses, etc) the kinds of texts I translate cannot be handled by machines. So I'm actually thinking of increasing my rate. I just need to develop a very targeted marketing strategy (if I could be bothered to do it) 
[Edited at 2019-11-19 11:24 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Please excuse my ignorance but what do you mean by SW?
| | | | Samuel Murray
Нідэрланды
Local time: 16:54
Член (ад 2006)
англійская → афрыкаанс
+ ...
Vincent Lemma wrote:
Please share your experiences and opinions.
Well, you've already taken a step in the right direction to reduce the amount of work that is required, by writing "SW" instead of whatever the full form is that "SW" stands for. (joke, sorry)
Vincent Lemma wrote:
Of course, they say, this means that jobs now are only revision and so rates applied will be that for revision on MT.
Well, that's a bummer. It means that either you diversify and become a reviser, or you look for another client. However, note that if you do decide to become a reviser, what they're asking for is NOT revising. What they're asking for is translating for a cheaper rate, using pre-inserted words that you might be able to use as a typing aid. If it is truly revising, then they should be paying you by the hour (and believe me, revising machine translation isn't much faster than just translating from scratch).
I have vast knowledge in the tech[nological?] fields (also applied) and just felt that I should not be selling my services for the cost of a revision.
Something vaguely similar happened to me: for one of my clients, I also used to be quite skilled at doing a certain type of translation, and then the client changed their workflow to something that not only reduced the amount of work I was able to do but also ignored the skill I had and tried to replace it with a convoluted QA system.
Has this ever happened to any of you...?
Yes, one of my biggest clients who used to put a high value on quality translations switched over the "inhouse" machine translation systems for most of their jobs... and the "inhouse" tool is worse than Google Translate (so... whenever I get such jobs, I'm often tempted to just use Google Translate, for it'll be quicker and better).
[Edited at 2019-11-19 12:00 GMT]
| | | | Vincent Lemma
Італія
Local time: 16:54
італьянская → англійская
+ ...
ПАЧЫНАЛЬНІК ТЭМЫ
Tom in London wrote:
As a niche translator myself (Italian to English, specialised in architecture, city planning, history of cities and architecture, technical construction documents, real estate, valuations, PhD theses, etc) the kinds of texts I translate cannot be handled by machines. So I'm actually thinking of increasing my rate . I just need to develop a very targeted marketing strategy (if I could be bothered to do it)
[Edited at 2019-11-19 11:24 GMT]
My texts can be highly specialized with lots of nitty-gritty components, or may require knowledge of device to render the text properly. In other words, machine translation just makes it more complex to revise that translating from scratch. Maybe I should up my rates too and go for the marketing bit
| | | | Vincent Lemma
Італія
Local time: 16:54
італьянская → англійская
+ ...
ПАЧЫНАЛЬНІК ТЭМЫ | SW = software | Nov 19, 2019 |
Teresa Borges wrote:
Please excuse my ignorance but what do you mean by SW?
Sorry technical and computer deformation
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Tina Vonhof (X)
Канада
Local time: 08:54
галандская → англійская
+ ...
| It's not revision, it's re-writing | Nov 19, 2019 |
I had already decided that I didn't want to have anything to do with MT but recently I accepted a 'revision' job without realizing at first that it was actually a machine translation. It turned out that word use, word order, verb tenses, etc. all needed changing. Even so, to do my best job I would have needed another three days. I told the PM afterwards that I would rather have translated the text from scratch, that it would have taken less time at probably about the same cost to them, and that ... See more I had already decided that I didn't want to have anything to do with MT but recently I accepted a 'revision' job without realizing at first that it was actually a machine translation. It turned out that word use, word order, verb tenses, etc. all needed changing. Even so, to do my best job I would have needed another three days. I told the PM afterwards that I would rather have translated the text from scratch, that it would have taken less time at probably about the same cost to them, and that I would never accept that type of job again. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Happened to me | Nov 19, 2019 |
Vincent Lemma wrote:
Has this ever happened to any of you, or do you expect it to?
It did indeed happen to me with a relatively new client that switched to PEMT. They asked me if I wanted to sign on to do PEMT, but I had to decline due to past bad experiences. And that was the end of that. It's disappointing, but not the end of the world. If all my clients switch to PEMT then I'll just find another job.
| | | | | What should happen | Nov 19, 2019 |
Vincent Lemma wrote:
They say that they are calling all translators to say that all jobs will be MT by a company developed SW and that all we need to do is revise the text.
Of course, they say, this means that jobs now are only revision and so rates applied will be that for revision on MT.
All the translators they are calling should put their professional hats on, together or individually, and decide what their policies will be regarding this, according to their professional judgment. First they have to observe, professionally, how well this SW works, and whether it does, in fact, improve the translation process. Not because some software marketer managed to impress your client who is not a translator. You (plural) need to assess whether you want to work with this tool. If a learning period is needed to master it, of course you would charge a fee for that. And finally, you'd probably choose to charge by hour rather than by time. If it takes less time than translating from scratch would do, then everyone wins. But if it takes more time, the client may decide not to go this route.
What cannot happen is for a customer to make decisions about how the professionals he hires will work, without consulting the professionals. That is illogical. It can only happen if all translators who work for a company agree with the setup.
| | | | toasty
Італія
Local time: 16:54
Член (ад 2013)
італьянская → англійская
I've had a few clients bring up machine translation and I've said no every time, for the same reasons you all have mentioned. Mainly that MT revision takes longer than just translating the thing myself, so why on earth would I accept less money to do so?
Sadly, it seems that MT is indeed the future for much of the industry. It may make sense for mechanical/technical texts, but when it comes to marketing, fashion and history it's a load of nonsense.
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Kay Denney
Францыя
Local time: 16:54
французская → англійская
I have been "tricked" like Tina into revising MT. Guaranteed headache!
So I increased my rate for revision and proofreading, making sure that it costs as much as translating from scratch when the translation to be revised is not up to par.
Basically I worked out how much it would cost to translate the source file, then divided that sum by the number of hours I would need to revise the target file if produced by MT, to determine my hourly rate.
| | | | Tom in London
Вялікабрытанія
Local time: 15:54
Член (ад 2008)
італьянская → англійская
Kay Denney wrote:
I have been "tricked" like Tina into revising MT. Guaranteed headache!
So I increased my rate for revision and proofreading, making sure that it costs as much as translating from scratch when the translation to be revised is not up to par.
Basically I worked out how much it would cost to translate the source file, then divided that sum by the number of hours I would need to revise the target file if produced by MT, to determine my hourly rate.
One of the added annoyances about revising MT is that you have to ask for the original text to be sent to you.
| | | | Samuel Murray
Нідэрланды
Local time: 16:54
Член (ад 2006)
англійская → афрыкаанс
+ ...
Tom in London wrote:
One of the added annoyances about revising MT is that you have to ask for the original text to be sent to you.
Those of us that use CAT tools typically have the original source text built-in to the file itself.
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