Factors that Affect Translation Pricing

One of the most common questions we get is, “How much will it cost for the translation?” Every project is different, but there are several factors that affect the pricing of translation. These include language pair(s), complexity, volume, and turnaround time. Our agency translates a lot of documents from English into other languages and from other languages into English. Occasionally, we receive requests for translations that are neither from English nor into English, but we are able to get those done as well.

The complexity of a translation depends on the number of languages, whether there will be more than one round of editing and proofreading due to word preferences. It is always a good idea to provide a glossary or list of preferred terminology. For example, a client may want to use “oxygenated” instead of “aerated” or “minute” instead of “microscopic” in a given sentence or throughout the document(s). Another aspect of complexity is whether the client can deliver the original document to us as a Word file as opposed to a PDF. Although we use OCR (optical character recognition), sending PDFs adds additional steps for the translation team.

Sometimes, a client makes last minute changes to the original document. This takes more time to manage the project, which results in adding to the cost for project management. To save time and money, be sure to send the finalized form of the documents to be translated rather than wait to make changes once the translation has been made. Also, be sure to allow enough buffer time for Q&A between the translation team and your team, so that clarifications can be made.

The volume of a document is not merely the number of pages, but also the word count; however, one-page projects, such as a birth certificate or driver’s license may necessitate that the agency charge a minimum fee to manage the project as it takes the same amount of time to assign the project to a professional translator of a one-page document as it does to assign a project that has multiple pages. If you know that you will be sending multiple one-page documents, you can save money by sending them in batches.

Professional translators often have other projects that they are working on, so try to plan ahead. Although we have an amazing network of translators who may be able to turn your project around in one day, be sure to plan time for someone to review it and have it notarized, especially if it is an official document for immigration or another time-sensitive document.

Rush fees will be incurred for weekend projects. In many cases, assignments sent to us on Friday may be completed by Tuesday of the following week. We do our best to finish every project as soon as possible and have many clients who have received their completed translations in a timely manner, but last-minute requests make everyone feel stressed, including your translation team. Procrastination is the enemy of saving money and stress. Plan ahead!

Quick Tip for Prioritizing Your Email

This short video helps our team communicate more efficiently. We hope that more organizations will adopt this simple tip to help them save time and manage priorities. We are here to help organizations communicate more efficiently and effectively.

Quick tip for prioritizing email

Time Management for Busy Educators

By Tanya Hoover, Owner of Midwest Language Services, LLC and former elementary classroom teacher.

Time management is really about priority management. I will share two principles and practical tips and tricks to help you throughout your week. These can help you find more time to do the things that matter.

Establish What the Most Important Tasks Are

The first is the Pareto Principle (also known as the 80-20 rule): 80% percent of the outcomes come from 20% of the work. Knowing this can help you discern what activities you do every day and every week really contribute to your desired outcome. Being busy does not always mean being productive. Ask yourself, “Is the activity I’m doing right now helping me accomplish my goal?”

The second principle is Parkinson’s Law. According to Parkinson’s Law, a task will expand to fill the time allotted for its completion. If you have an hour for lunch, it will take an hour. If you are a teacher and have to make copies, answer questions, and make phone calls, you will find a way to eat in fifteen minutes. (I don’t suggest this for lunch, but I do suggest that Parkinson’s Law be applied to how much time you give to other tasks that are not directly part of your responsibilities.

Categorize Your Tasks

Once you have established your most important activities, you can use the Eisenhower Matrix to help you sort your to do list into the following categories:

Important and Urgent - Do these first.

Important, but not Urgent - Schedule these.

Urgent, but not Important - Delegate these activities if possible. Enlist the help of friends, colleagues, family members, student teachers, or parent volunteers.

Neither Urgent nor Important - Avoid doing these unless you’re taking a break.

Schedule the Time to Do Your Tasks

By not doing this, your non-urgent tasks may become urgent. Also, scheduling your tasks helps ensure things will get done and not just be a part the next day’s to do list.

Instead of having a to-do list that never ends, schedule time for certain activities during specific days or times. For example, if you have to grade papers, do this at set day of times during the week. Schedule times during the day when you check email and respond to phone calls or need to make calls to parents.

Batch tasks together by type or by location to help prevent fatigue and wasted time that can occur from task switching or from spending too much time driving from place to place, wasting gas and time.

Use these tips to help streamline your day:

1. Send emails to your team using the 1-2-3 method. In the subject line of your email, type a 1 before you type the subject. This will let your internal team know that this is both an important and urgent email that should be opened and acted upon immediately. A 2 before the subject means that this is important, but should be opened after all of your 1s. The number 3 means that this is for your information. No action is necessary, but I want to keep you in the loop and / or share pertinent information to our organization. Important: Be sure to inform your colleagues that you will be using this method and what each number means.

2. Use a Pomodoro Timer to help reduce task switching. Work for an uninterrupted 25 minutes - Don’t answer the phone, check email, or do anything else but the task at hand. Once the 25 minutes are up, take a 5 minute break. Repeat this three times and then take a longer break - 15 minutes, for example. You can find Pomodoro Timers online or just use another timer you have readily available.

3. Start paying attention to when you feel most productive. Schedule time in your schedule to do your hardest tasks during that window of time. For most people, it is better to do the hardest tasks first thing in the morning as our willpower starts to wane and the end of the day, making its harder to do the more difficult things. This may mean going to bed earlier to wake up earlier.

4. Have an agenda for your meetings and a time limit for each line item. Send the agenda to the attendees at least 24 hours in advance, so that your team members have time to think about what is going to be discussed and can brainstorm ideas in advance or prepare whatever is necessary to bring to the meeting ahead of time.

5. Start meetings on time. Starting late teaches people they don’t need to show up on time. If you pay five employees the same hourly rate and you have twelve people on your team who show up five minutes late, you’ve just spent an hour’s pay for people to show up late. Also, it rewards the latecomers and penalizes people who do what they are supposed to do. Reinforce positive behavior by starting on time.

Teaching and Learning

Teachers share knowledge, but they also learn from their students. Today, the theme of a conversation group meeting we had today was about health. We learned common phrases about time, practiced making appointments over the phone, and talking with our doctor. We also shared common home remedies in our home countries and talked about the role of diet in longevity.

One of the participants said that she was trying to eat at least 60% vegetables at each meal to try to lose weight. Her oldest living relative was over 100 years old. She was from Mexico. Another participant from Kazakhstan, said that her ancestors ate a lot of meat. She also likes to eat a lot of meat and doesn’t like to eat vegetables. her oldest relative lived to be in her 90s. Finally, a woman from Japan said that her family eats fish, meat, and vegetables. Her grandparents lived to be in their 80s. We didn’t talk much about the exercise habits and other qualities that help make someone healthy, but the conversation was interesting. When asked about how they can tell if someone is healthy, these were the responses: good skin, healthy hair, and the ability to quickly respond to questions or to converse.