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How to charge: source or target language?
Thread poster: bozenalak
bozenalak
bozenalak
English to Polish
+ ...
Feb 21, 2003

Hi,

Could you please tell me how to give a quote? Target or source language? My language pair is English-Polish. If I am given a document to be translated by an agency do they usually provide a wordcount. It\'s just I don\'t want to waiste my time counting every word. Thank you for all your insight.
 
Marc P (X)
Marc P (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 02:04
German to English
+ ...
Location Feb 21, 2003

It depends largely upon where your customer is located. In the UK, for example, the source text is usually counted; in Germany, the target text.



You have to count words manually only if a source text count is needed and you are given hard copy, not an electronic file. Otherwise, use the statistics function in your word processor or one of the dedicated text counting programs.



For a quotation, an approximate figure is usually acceptable. Again, this will ... See more
It depends largely upon where your customer is located. In the UK, for example, the source text is usually counted; in Germany, the target text.



You have to count words manually only if a source text count is needed and you are given hard copy, not an electronic file. Otherwise, use the statistics function in your word processor or one of the dedicated text counting programs.



For a quotation, an approximate figure is usually acceptable. Again, this will depend upon where you or your customer are located.



Marc

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Spencer Allman
Spencer Allman
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:04
Finnish to English
Depends who you are dealing with Feb 21, 2003

In my experience most agencies in the UK count the target text, though some count the source. In Sweden they always count the source whilst in Finland they tend to count the target.



Finnish generates up to 100% more words in English so I have two rates, although I always lose out when the source language text is counted.



Obviously agencies often prefer to count the source in able to give an immediate quote, so you should I think work out what the normal ... See more
In my experience most agencies in the UK count the target text, though some count the source. In Sweden they always count the source whilst in Finland they tend to count the target.



Finnish generates up to 100% more words in English so I have two rates, although I always lose out when the source language text is counted.



Obviously agencies often prefer to count the source in able to give an immediate quote, so you should I think work out what the normal word count rate is between Polish and English. If it is about the same anyway then there is no problem.



Best



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How to charge: source or target language?







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