Where can I find a proofreader as a freelance translator?
Thread poster: marijaflora
marijaflora
marijaflora
Australia
Local time: 02:47
Bosnian to English
+ ...
Oct 20, 2020

Where/how can I find a proofreader that won't charge an arm and a leg?
I used an excellent proofreaders services for a previous job, but he charged upward of $50 for 1000 words which can sometimes be even more than the client is paying me for my translation in the first place!

So how can I find a proofreader that will be cost effective.


I would appreciate any guidance.

Thanks


 
Barbara Carrara
Barbara Carrara  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 16:47
Member (2008)
English to Italian
+ ...
... Oct 20, 2020

Hi

I don't think finding a good professional is going to be difficult, but the fee you will have to fork out obviously depends on the quality of your translations.
I take it we are talking into-English translations. Right?
And in areas you are competent in/comfortable with. Correct?
If the professional you hire has to do more than fixing typos, grammar, punctuation..., then their services will invariably fall into the editing category, which is inevitably going to
... See more
Hi

I don't think finding a good professional is going to be difficult, but the fee you will have to fork out obviously depends on the quality of your translations.
I take it we are talking into-English translations. Right?
And in areas you are competent in/comfortable with. Correct?
If the professional you hire has to do more than fixing typos, grammar, punctuation..., then their services will invariably fall into the editing category, which is inevitably going to cost you more than straightforward proofing.
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marijaflora
Morano El-Kholy
Kevin Fulton
P.L.F. Persio
 
Elena Feriani
Elena Feriani
Italy
Local time: 16:47
Member
French to Italian
+ ...
If you translate into your mother tongue Oct 20, 2020

you shouldn't need one. You can use QA tools for tags, number mismatch and similar issues. The agencies usually will send your work to a proofreader anyway.

Jorge Payan
 
marijaflora
marijaflora
Australia
Local time: 02:47
Bosnian to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Proofreading Oct 20, 2020

@Elena
I feel that I need proofreading so that I can be confident/have guidance on whether I am making the correct word choices.
I am translating into English. I speak English at a native level (due to being born in an English speaking country), so I have no issue with the actual wording. What I lack confidence with though is where I should translate things literally, vs where I should change the wording to flow more naturally in English, what percentage of the text is acceptable to
... See more
@Elena
I feel that I need proofreading so that I can be confident/have guidance on whether I am making the correct word choices.
I am translating into English. I speak English at a native level (due to being born in an English speaking country), so I have no issue with the actual wording. What I lack confidence with though is where I should translate things literally, vs where I should change the wording to flow more naturally in English, what percentage of the text is acceptable to change etc.
My main worry is whether I am changing the wording too much and it is actually verging on being copy writing/editing.

Sometimes text is dramatically written using certain wording that really isn't the way it would have be written/spoken in English.
Do I leave the translation a bit awkward sounding so that it doesn't verge on copy writing territory and have too many changes etc?

[Edited at 2020-10-20 18:02 GMT]

[Edited at 2020-10-20 18:03 GMT]
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jyuan_us
jyuan_us  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 11:47
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
+ ...
Title-less Oct 20, 2020

Marijaflora wrote:
I am translating into English. I speak English at a native level (due to being born in an English speaking country), so I have no issue with the actual wording. What I lack confidence with though is where I should translate things literally, vs where I should change the wording to flow more naturally in English, what percentage of the text is acceptable to change etc.


There is usually a way of balancing up between being literal and translating by meaning. However, if being literal makes it impossible to produce an accurate and idiomatic target language text, you can forget about "being literal". In my opinion, we should never pursue literal translation at the expense of having the accuracy and readability of our translation compromised.


Philippe Etienne
Oriana Bonan
 
IrinaN
IrinaN
United States
Local time: 10:47
English to Russian
+ ...
More details please Oct 20, 2020

Marijaflora wrote:

he charged upward of $50 for 1000 words .



What was left of your translation after he did his part? Did he do a serious revamp? Did you find it "too personal" meaning that there was editing for the sake of editing?

5 cents/word may be a bit too high for proofreading a good quality work. Or, it's a decent hourly rate for EDITING but then again, 1000 words per hour is way too slow for an editor who is knowledgeable about the subject and is dealing with good quality.

From the results you saw, do you believe that he was rather happy than unhappy with your work?

edited for typo

[Edited at 2020-10-20 20:57 GMT]


 
Elena Feriani
Elena Feriani
Italy
Local time: 16:47
Member
French to Italian
+ ...
@marijaflora Oct 21, 2020

Thank you for replying. I thought you were concerned about typos.
In this case, I agree with Jyuan_us. If you want to have a cheaper option, you can hire a monolingual proofreader that will only look at you English version and correct the parts that sound awkward or non-idiomatic.
If you are a native speaker, though, you should be able to spot issues on your own when reading the English version. If something sounds unclear or odd, it shouldn't be there.


 
Matthias Brombach
Matthias Brombach  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 16:47
Member (2007)
Dutch to German
+ ...
I fully understand ... Oct 21, 2020

Marijaflora wrote:

Where/how can I find a proofreader that won't charge an arm and a leg?
I used an excellent proofreaders services for a previous job, but he charged upward of $50 for 1000 words which can sometimes be even more than the client is paying me for my translation in the first place!

So how can I find a proofreader that will be cost effective.


I would appreciate any guidance.

Thanks


... your need, especially when dealing with marketing-oriented texts, to have another native speaker have a second look at the text. Unfortunately, I have no network of colleagues too, who would help me out and on a mutual basis. Perhaps you should ask here, in this thread, for a recommendation. The fairest way would be to pay by the time actually needed, but therefore you would have to trust your proofreader. Shouldn´t be impossible.


marijaflora
 
marijaflora
marijaflora
Australia
Local time: 02:47
Bosnian to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Feedback Oct 21, 2020

@Irina

I asked him for feedback on how good or bad he thought my translation was, but he never replied.
Perhaps he didn't see the message, was too busy, or didn't want to include this as part of the agreed fee.

I think he was happy with it overall, but I don't want to make any assumptions.

Overall, in that situation, he edited the text quite minimally.
He made roughly eight small changes to the wording. For example, changing "it shares a border
... See more
@Irina

I asked him for feedback on how good or bad he thought my translation was, but he never replied.
Perhaps he didn't see the message, was too busy, or didn't want to include this as part of the agreed fee.

I think he was happy with it overall, but I don't want to make any assumptions.

Overall, in that situation, he edited the text quite minimally.
He made roughly eight small changes to the wording. For example, changing "it shares a border with...." to "it borders with...."

With the job I am working on at this moment, though, the speaker (audio) has a way of speaking that sounds natural in Russian, but I'm not sure how to best translate it into English.



These are the sort of things that I looking for guidance for.


[Edited at 2020-10-21 08:28 GMT]

[Edited at 2020-10-21 10:38 GMT]
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Elena Feriani
 
Barbara Carrara
Barbara Carrara  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 16:47
Member (2008)
English to Italian
+ ...
Mentorship? Oct 21, 2020

For the Russian-English examples you pasted and copied here, you better refer to the KudoZ section of the site, and the relevant 'rules for asking'.

If it's guidance you are looking for, then maybe a mentor could be the answer.


marijaflora
Aisha Maniar
 
marijaflora
marijaflora
Australia
Local time: 02:47
Bosnian to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
mentor Oct 21, 2020

@Barbara,

I think you are right. A mentor is more what I am requiring.


Aisha Maniar
 
Nurettin Ceylan
Nurettin Ceylan  Identity Verified
Türkiye
Local time: 18:47
Member (2009)
English to Turkish
Proofreading can be more difficult than translation at times. Oct 21, 2020

I might be in the minority here but I tend not to take on proofreading tasks.

Just time consuming and the clients are mostly not willing to pay for the time spent.


Aisha Maniar
Joanna Posylek
 


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