New around here, have a few questions. Thread poster: Anders Kvarnström
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Anders Kvarnström 
Sweden
Local time: 02:38
Member (Jul 2024)
English to Swedish
+ ...
Hi, my name is Anders Kvarnström and I recently joined proz.com and I'm trying to get the hang of things around here.
There are some things I wonder about, some may be stupid:
Do I have to use the "Required CAT Tool"?
Many employers put this in their job description. Can they see what I used or can I use whatever I want?
Let's say you get a big job and receive a wall of text, no structure or anything. Do you return it in the same way or do you div... See more Hi, my name is Anders Kvarnström and I recently joined proz.com and I'm trying to get the hang of things around here.
There are some things I wonder about, some may be stupid:
Do I have to use the "Required CAT Tool"?
Many employers put this in their job description. Can they see what I used or can I use whatever I want?
Let's say you get a big job and receive a wall of text, no structure or anything. Do you return it in the same way or do you divide it into paragraphs, etc? What is the norm on this?
I am from Sweden and we use SEK. Shall I put my rates in this or use EUR? SEK is a small currency and is not that established when it comes to rates I guess. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Agneta Pallinder
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:38
Member (2014)
Swedish to English
+ ...
Hej Anders and welcome!
On the question of which currency to price your services in - use a major international currency, such as EUR, rather than SEK. Your potential clients - unless Sweden-based - are unlikely to be able to assess your rates if quoted in SEK.
It is also a good idea to quote in USD for potential US-based clients.
There will be costs associated with receiving payments in a foreign currency into your Swedish bank account, and there are ways... See more Hej Anders and welcome!
On the question of which currency to price your services in - use a major international currency, such as EUR, rather than SEK. Your potential clients - unless Sweden-based - are unlikely to be able to assess your rates if quoted in SEK.
It is also a good idea to quote in USD for potential US-based clients.
There will be costs associated with receiving payments in a foreign currency into your Swedish bank account, and there are ways of minimising these costs by using payment agencies other than banks, but only you can decide whether the possible gain in charges is worth the hassle. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | You are a FREElancer | Jul 16 |
Welcome to Proz.com!
The really stupid questions are the ones you don´t ask, and then guess the wrong answer!
Basically, it is your decision. However, it is a good idea to make it easy for the client to choose you and work with you.
Anders Kvarnström wrote:
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Do I have to use the "Required CAT Tool"?
Many employers put this in their job description. Can they see what I used or can I use whatever I want?
They are in fact outsourcers, not employers - you are a business partner, not an employee, so in principle you can negotiate. However, in practice they may just find another translator who will do as they want, so you have to decide how far you will go!
What happens is that you will receive a ´package´ set up in the specified tool, which opens directly in that tool. There are ways of getting another tool to open it and work in it, which I have never tried. Apparently, if there is not a lot of formatting etc. in the text, it works well. I wonder, however, about termbases and translation memories. These can be transferred from CAT to CAT, and work more or less.
It is a real handicap if you have to struggle with a CAT that does not suit you - it is impossible to concentrate on translation if you are interrupted all the time by the mechanics of the software. You cannot be expected to buy and maintain a lot of CATS, so in practice choose one or two that you like, and negotiate with the client.
I have used Trados for more than 20 years, and have recently started to use MemoQ online with a license from the client for QA - basically proofreading. That works, but some agencies insist that you use their CATS, which can be slow and a real pain. I could afford to say no to them, and still have enough work, but not everyone is so lucky.
In principle it is up to you - and if you spend unreasonable amounts of time struggling with a CAT, you cannot earn a viable rate, but you may have to accept their CAT to some extent.
Let's say you get a big job and receive a wall of text, no structure or anything. Do you return it in the same way or do you divide it into paragraphs, etc? What is the norm on this?
Assume that you return the text in the same format that you received it. From agencies, that will very often be in a package from a CAT, which will format the target correspondingly, or the client will do the DTP work after you have delivered the translation.
In these days of machine translation and AI, you may be sent a ´dead´ PDF of a document that is not machine readable. (Birth certificates, exam certificates and diplomas, personal documents and other texts where the client does not have a machine-readable original.) The client may have tried OCR - which may be successful, or it may play havoc with formatting - and the Danish alphabet!! - columns etc.
In these cases you cannot reproduce the document precisely - and should not try. You write (logo) or (signed) etc. as appropriate and deliver a document with just enough formatting to identify the elements in the document. (E.g. DIPLOMA in large caps at the top, the rest smaller, new lines and spacing roughly as in the original...)
Never be afraid to ask the client. If the document is to be presented to authorities, then it must conform with requirements, which will vary.
Longer texts also have to comply with style guides etc., so make sure you know what the client is expecting!
I am from Sweden and we use SEK. Shall I put my rates in this or use EUR? SEK is a small currency and is not that established when it comes to rates I guess.
Again, in principle it is up to you, but best to make it easy for your clients! Talk to your bank about this. I work mainly for clients in Denmark or the UK, and have an account in each country, so I get them to pay in their own currency. If you work for Swedish clients, then SEK will be fine, but clients in the Eurozone will probably prefer EUR, and then you want to minimise bank charges. My Norwegian and Swedish clients pay me in DKK, but check the exchange rates and bank charges there, too!
Best of luck!
[Edited at 2024-07-16 10:39 GMT]
| | | | Anders Kvarnström
Sweden
Local time: 02:38
Member (Jul 2024)
English to Swedish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thank you very much for your answers, very helpful!
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Peter Motte
Belgium
Local time: 02:38
Member (2009)
English to Dutch
+ ...
It's advisable to use the required CAT Tool.
However: they can't check it, of course, and some file types can be used by different CAT tools.
The problem is that if you don't use the required tool, there could be a small deviation in the way your tool handles the files, and that might lead to problems, e.g. in the lay out.
To avoid that kind of troubles, it's best to stick to the required tool, although some translators don't do that.
| | | | Anders Kvarnström
Sweden
Local time: 02:38
Member (Jul 2024)
English to Swedish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Peter Motte wrote:
It's advisable to use the required CAT Tool.
However: they can't check it, of course, and some file types can be used by different CAT tools.
The problem is that if you don't use the required tool, there could be a small deviation in the way your tool handles the files, and that might lead to problems, e.g. in the lay out.
To avoid that kind of troubles, it's best to stick to the required tool, although some translators don't do that.
Yeah, I just downloaded Trados, now I have 3 Cat Tools already. Probably best to do as they want like you say, at least when starting out.
| | | | Peter Motte
Belgium
Local time: 02:38
Member (2009)
English to Dutch
+ ...
I use 4 tools, but I don't own all of them. Sometimes it's paid by the client, especially if it's an online tool.
In the past I also used DéjàVu a lot, but nowadays I don't have it anymore.
| | | | Joakim Braun
Sweden
Local time: 02:38
German to Swedish
+ ...
Anders Kvarnström wrote:
Do I have to use the "Required CAT Tool"?
Depends on the character of the job and the format of the deliverable.
There might be valid technical or workflow reasons, or the requirement might just be silly boilerplate.
Anders Kvarnström wrote:
Many employers put this in their job description. Can they see what I used or can I use whatever I want?
They may be able to see it if you deliver a CAT file (those contains invisible attributes, potentially including tool identifiers).
Usually CAT customers are mainly interested in receiving a bilingual CAT file. Whether that's generated by "their" CAT tool or by export from something else shouldn't matter. But a CAT file may contain all kinds of important info which needs to be safely round tripped.
Anders Kvarnström wrote:
Let's say you get a big job and receive a wall of text, no structure or anything. Do you return it in the same way or do you divide it into paragraphs, etc? What is the norm on this?
Ask the customer. Most customers appreciate small changes that improve readability, including very free translation and some restructuring - but do ask first.
The default assumption is that you deliver the same format that you receive. After all, you don't know why it looks the way it does.
If you're given a wall of text, return it that way, in the absence of any other instructions.
Anders Kvarnström wrote:
I am from Sweden and we use SEK. Shall I put my rates in this or use EUR? SEK is a small currency and is not that established when it comes to rates I guess.
If you want Eurozone customers, having EUR rates is convenient for them when shopping around.
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Anders Kvarnström
Sweden
Local time: 02:38
Member (Jul 2024)
English to Swedish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
[quote]Joakim Braun wrote:
text
Thank you for your answers!
[Edited at 2024-07-18 06:24 GMT]
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