"Translation industry's leading workplace"

Recently, again for the x-th time, I got a mail from Proz.com asking me to renew my membership, which expired 1-2 years ago.
> *Thank you for using ProZ.com*.
>
> *During good times and bad, as a smart business person, it is important to keep your client flow going, and maintain a high-profile presence in the marketplace--* even if you are fully booked at the moment. As the translation industry's leading workplace, ProZ.com is the number one source of new clients for translators. As you know, the best way to market your services on the site is to be a full member (the site is designed to promote members before non-members).

Well, my personal view is, that based on the very nature of sites like Proz.com, they are basically slave markets, where outsourcers from around the world look for "best rates" = cheapest labor.

So, I answered the lady, who sent me that mail as follows. I can speak ONLY for myself, but believe, quite a number of translators may harbor similar feelings ...

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Thank you for your mail, but ...
I heard all this before. Yet, 10 years of experience with Proz.com has proven beyond any doubt that Proz.com is basically a slave market, where the outsourcers always are looking for "best rates" (= cheapest). And since the market includes the entire world, there are enough places, where people can make a living on rates considered elsewhere to be signficantly substandard.
As far as I can remember I got NEVER ANY job through Proz.com.
That includes the period of my paid membership (waste of money!).
The founder of Proz.com, with a little luck Henry remembers me, has lived and worked in the past in Japan.
I refuse to believe, that HE would ever work for what is offered on Proz.com.

ALL offers - no exceptions - coming through Proz.com have ALWAYS considered me to be too expensive.
Fine. But living in Japan I cannot afford to work for peanuts.
If I were to accept jobs through Proz.com at the offered rates, I would be working (maybe even overtime) and still starving with my family to death.
No thank you.

There has  been no satisfaction with my last membership.
It is highly unlikely that a renewed membership would suddenly produce any mirracles.
None of the funny calculation Henry offers, like if you get one big client in 10 years, even the membership for 10 years would pay off, do work.
I have never ever seen any glint of hope, that this may actually happen.

Dropping the bars ...

Today - again - Edisense in India is bombarding the net via multiple translator sites with its fabulous job offers. Today's offer:
Japanese-English translation; volume: 50,000 pages !!!!!!!
(let's say, they pay 25 USD/page --> 1,250,000 USD !!! WOA.. That would be almost 200 times of my annual income! Let's go get this job.)

AND, hold on to your hat, they publish DIFFERENT job offers in different fields of expertise, ALL OF WHICH have a volume of 50,000 pages (at least 3 -> that would make 150,000 pages, worth something in the neighborhood of FOUR MILLION dollars. Incredible! (exactly: you cannot believe this)

But the requirements have significantly decreased:
* Should have minimum 1 year experience in Academic Translation
-> only ONE year. This used to be at least 5 years. But I guess, they cannot find the required specialists

* Should be a native speaker of either Japanese or English with proven Japanese skills
-> Since this is a translation INTO English, I have difficulties understanding the necessity for being a native JAPANESE?
I guess, the logic in India works differently from the rest of the world ...

用語を統一する

時代の流れでしょうが「用語は全て統一する」のは人間を馬鹿にする一方だと私は信じる。
特許でもない、技術論文でもない文章などを読んでいる人は極めて単調の文章を「楽しんでいる」とはとても思えない！
しかし、もう既に人間は機会（コンピュータ、CATツール等）で左右（支配？）され、言葉/コミュニケーションの良さ/楽しさ失いつつであるようだ。
そのような単調の文章で作製されたアンケート（良く仕事として要求される）を答えながら「嫌だなこれ！」と思う人々から快適な答えが得られるチャンスは低下する一方であろう・・・
同じく所謂「取扱説明書」もそのような単調の文章で書かれていると該当する機械などの使用者は先ず「こんなの読みたくない」と思うであろう。


別にその類の文章を少し面白く、humorously などに書けば（翻訳すれば）損することは何もないし、読んでいる人が好評を受ける可能性はある：「あの会社の商品も良いし、説明書を読んでよく分かるし、面白い」。
得するのはメーカーの筈だ。

私は自分の商売の中でこのような人間をロボット化に企む時代の流れに抵抗し続けるつもりだ。

Highest quality

There is this company in India, Edisense. I have been working for them for a while, but then was found to be "too expensive" and therefore have been dismissed.

I could not help noticing, that they *frequently* put ads of IDENTICAL wording on several major translator sites and ALWAYS are looking
a) URGENTLY for
b) extremely highly qualified translators, who volunteer to
c) work for very little money (peanuts) on
d) extremely large projects.

Like in:
"Subject:
[Urgent] requirement for Japanese to English translators for Medicine. We have served more than 8000 clients, translated over 18000 documents in various languages and are proud to be amongst the top three editing players in Japan.
- We have also successfully partnered with Japan's largest academic publisher, Maruzen, and Dai Nippon Publishing (DNP), the second largest publisher in the world, for their editorial needs.
Our Requirements:
1. Experience in Academic Translation (at least three years)
2. Either native Japanese or native English with proven Japanese skills
3. At least bachelor’s degree (Master’s Degree preferred)
4. Certifications in translation and/or academic translation are preferred
Volume: 100,000 words
Our company is committed to the highest levels of translation quality and we expect our freelance translators to be of the same caliber. If you feel you have the mettle and the translation experience required, come on board!"


If they actually did have these large projects from Japanese companies/universities AND would be paying the doctors/professors/scholars they are looking for a decent amount of money for their work ...the last thing I saw was 5 Yen/Japanese character, which is about 50% of the usual/acceptable rate ...
then they would not have to look all the time so frantically for new(?)
translators.
That seems to be the most natural conclusion that comes to my mind.
Probably not only my, but also the mind of a lot of other people ...

Extra payments?

Regarding jobs posted on internet sites or spread through lists, are often announced to be "rush jobs". Like for example the giant TransPerfect Translations ALWAYS sends "urgent" job offers:
"We have this urgent translation / proofreading assignment available.
DEADLINE: ASAP"

The funny thing is, I have NEVER seen any offer of higher rates offered precisely because this is a rush job. If you call a taxi after midnight or order a suit that has to be finished the next day = rush job: it is a "matter of course", that the customer has to pay higher than normal prices for the service or product.
How come then, that translation agencies, like aforementioned TransPerfect constantly request rush jobs (which not infrequently require working through the night!), but don't even think of offering a little extra money for the extra effort/time?
I think, this is not only a very rude behavior, it is exploitation in the worst sense of the word of highly specialized, precious manpower = translators.

If people want to have appealing translations, then the workers (translators), who are sometimes literally "toiling" to straighten things out, should be treated a least politely and preferrably be paid what is "right" and not "peanuts" that will drive them into starvation.

Again, Transperfect slavery

Again, Transperfect slavery offers:
On October 8, I received the following (removed details):
"Hi all,
How are you? Please excuse this blast email but this project requires some urgency. I'd like to introduce a new job to you that requires translation from EN>DE. It consists of 4 pdf files w/ approx 6500 new words. 
I can offer $390 for the translations and will need this back to me by 12PM EST Monday 10/11. If this doesn't work for you please let me know what will."

Although I do not feel being addressed at all, I did answer:
"Good morning
Wonderful 0.06 (quite worthless) USD per source word ... for a **RUSH** job ......
Where do the translators live, who can survive working for peanuts like that???"
The result was am "amazing" increase in the rate from 0.06 to 0.07 USD:
"Hi Thomas,
So sorry for the rate.  I would really appreciate your help for this project though.  Is there any way you can meet me at a rate of .07/word for this?  Let me know.  I would really like to work with you for this one."

Although I should have left this at it, I composed an answer.
Mainly because I do not like being considered a cheap unit of expendable labor:

"Good morning from Japan
Please don't tell me, that you are NOT aware, that the so-called "international standard rate" (even on Proz.com) would be something like 0.10-0.12 USD - NOT taking into account the rush job nature.
Even that rate is at least 35% below my normal rate. (you are offering me 30% of my usual pay ...)
Then, the USD is not worth anything these days. When I signed up with TP many years ago, it was something like 140-150 Yen to the USD.
Today it is 81 to the USD. But I have NEVER seen or heard any offer of compensation from TP.　Funny, when the exchange rate changes, the next morning I have to pay different prices in the supermarket across the street ...

Apparently, the people at TP consider this kind of modern slavery normal.
I do not . I have to survive too and for that end I need to work for at least decent rates.
But I am sure you will have no problems at all finding someone among the approximately 300 English-German translators on your list　(in the past one of your PM has been to clever as to make the list of mail addresses visible to ALL translators on that list - it is public　knowledge now), who is just dying to work for peanuts.
Maybe people living in rural China or India won't have any problems with that.

In short: no thank you.
Please find someone else."

I am (always) under the firm impression, that companies like Transperfect exploit the situation, that the entire world can see their job offers and force translators into cheap labor - on which many ultimately cannot survive. What remains then, are the so-called "best offers" and people, like the Korean lady I wrote about before, who claims to be able to translate in "native quality". And the clients ...?? Do they not notice? Are not capable of telling the difference? Or maybe they just don't care ... and give s**t about quality ...
In any case the final victim will be the people, who are supposed to/have to read the translated material.

Koran/Chinese quality

A while ago I received a mail from someone, who apparently wanted to offer her services to potential clients. I am definitely not one of the smartest persons and similarly not the world's best translator, but I believe the "quality" offered here is MUCH too close to "Chinese quality" than can be tolerated. At least, if someone is looking for acceptable, or possibly even good translation. Please form your own opinion:

"Freelance Translator from Beijing

Dear Sirs,

I am a freelance translator with more than ten years experiences.

I am a Korean but leave in China with my husband who is a Chinese.

So I can do English<>Chinese<>Korean natively.I can use Trados

myself.The rate is 0.08-0.12USD per word,extra 30% fee if use Trados.

First cooperation, I can provide a free testing. If need, I can send you my CV."

Expecting a translation of "native quality" seems to be an illusion at best.