Answers Was: RE: Language Translation Estimates
Hi Lin, See the table in the back of the attached PDF file. It's a little out of date but the costs are not too far off, and it will give you a ballpark estimate of how much your job will cost. Read the 2 pages before the table to find out how to use it. The cost of localization is estimated primarily by three things: * the number of words in the document x cents per word to translate (this varies by language) * the number of pages in the document x dollars per page for DTP * project management (usually 10% x the cost of localization) In addition, there are costs if the vendor has to open graphics and translate any text in them. This can get expensive if there are a lot of graphics. As I explain in the book, to save costs on localization, always use referenced graphics and put all callouts in text boxes over the graphic. There can also be engineering costs for verifying links, compiling help, etc. I don't think you need to talk to several vendors to get a reliable estimate. Three is usally enough. The real task is finding the right vendor to do your job. The book explains in detail how to do this and provides a set of questions to ask the vendor to help screen them. Essentially you hire a Localization Service Provider (the L10N industry name for a localization vendor) the same way you hire a tech writer. Make sure they have experience translating docs about the technology in your industry to the languages you need. The should know something about the technology because they do not just translate the words you write. Instead, they translate phrases, and sentences. and paragraphs to the way people say things and think in the target language, and they take into account, things like date formats (2/14/08 in the USA vs. 14/02/08 in Europe vs. 08/02/14 in Japan), money symbols, etc. That's the difference between localization and translation. Let me now if you have any questions. Diane === -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Art Campbell Sent: Thursday, February 14, 2008 1:49 PM To: Lin Surasky Cc: framers@lists.frameusers.com Subject: Re: Language Translation Estimates I just received estimates from vendors for a 250 English word document to be translated into 7 languages, including reformatting in Frame. Range was $700-800 for that particular package. About $100 per language for that word count. All the vendors I chatted with were quite happy to provide an estimate from the files I sent them... so I'd suggest taking the extra time to talk to several vendors so you can get an accurate range. Cheers, Art On Thu, Feb 14, 2008 at 4:41 PM, Lin Surasky [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi all- With the Chatauqua going on, I'm having trouble hunting people down, and of course my boss needs an answer to this yesterday (even though he only asked me today) We're considering translating our docs library from English into French. Everything is in FrameMaker, the templates are simple and there are lots of screen shots that will need to be replaced. How do you esimate a project like this? How many minutes/hours per page for language translation, cleanup/layout and graphics replacement? (Assume only 1 graphic per page) Anyone have any great sites (or insight) to share? Thanks! Lin PS - Ann or Diane G -- I know you're out there somewhere! Help a girl out, wouldya? ;-) ___ -- Art Campbell [EMAIL PROTECTED] ... In my opinion, there's nothing in this world beats a '52 Vincent and a redheaded girl. -- Richard Thompson No disclaimers apply. DoD 358 ___ You are currently subscribed to Framers as [EMAIL PROTECTED] Send list messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/dgcaller%40earthlink.net Send administrative questions to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info. ___ You are currently subscribed to Framers as [EMAIL PROTECTED] Send list messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
Answers Was: RE: Language Translation Estimates
Hi Lin, See the table in the back of the attached PDF file. It's a little out of date but the costs are not too far off, and it will give you a ballpark estimate of how much your job will cost. Read the 2 pages before the table to find out how to use it. The cost of localization is estimated primarily by three things: * the number of words in the document x cents per word to translate (this varies by language) * the number of pages in the document x dollars per page for DTP * project management (usually 10% x the cost of localization) In addition, there are costs if the vendor has to open graphics and translate any text in them. This can get expensive if there are a lot of graphics. As I explain in the book, to save costs on localization, always use referenced graphics and put all callouts in text boxes over the graphic. There can also be engineering costs for verifying links, compiling help, etc. I don't think you need to talk to several vendors to get a reliable estimate. Three is usally enough. The real task is finding the right vendor to do your job. The book explains in detail how to do this and provides a set of questions to ask the vendor to help screen them. Essentially you hire a Localization Service Provider (the L10N industry name for a localization vendor) the same way you hire a tech writer. Make sure they have experience translating docs about the technology in your industry to the languages you need. The should know something about the technology because they do not just translate the words you write. Instead, they translate phrases, and sentences. and paragraphs to the way people say things and think in the target language, and they take into account, things like date formats (2/14/08 in the USA vs. 14/02/08 in Europe vs. 08/02/14 in Japan), money symbols, etc. That's the difference between localization and translation. Let me now if you have any questions. Diane === -Original Message- From: framers-boun...@lists.frameusers.com [mailto:framers-bounces at lists.frameusers.com]On Behalf Of Art Campbell Sent: Thursday, February 14, 2008 1:49 PM To: Lin Surasky Cc: framers at lists.frameusers.com Subject: Re: Language Translation Estimates I just received estimates from vendors for a 250 English word document to be translated into 7 languages, including reformatting in Frame. Range was $700-800 for that particular package. About $100 per language for that word count. All the vendors I chatted with were quite happy to provide an estimate from the files I sent them... so I'd suggest taking the extra time to talk to several vendors so you can get an accurate range. Cheers, Art On Thu, Feb 14, 2008 at 4:41 PM, Lin Surasky wrote: > Hi all- > > With the Chatauqua going on, I'm having trouble hunting people down, and > of course my boss needs an answer to this yesterday (even though he only > asked me today) > > We're considering translating our docs library from English into French. > Everything is in FrameMaker, the templates are simple and there are lots > of screen shots that will need to be replaced. How do you esimate a > project like this? How many minutes/hours per page for language > translation, cleanup/layout and graphics replacement? (Assume only 1 > graphic per page) > > Anyone have any great sites (or insight) to share? > > Thanks! > Lin > > PS - Ann or Diane G -- I know you're out there somewhere! Help a girl > out, wouldya? ;-) > ___ > -- Art Campbell art.campbell at gmail.com "... In my opinion, there's nothing in this world beats a '52 Vincent and a redheaded girl." -- Richard Thompson No disclaimers apply. DoD 358 ___ You are currently subscribed to Framers as dgcaller at earthlink.net. Send list messages to framers at lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscribe at lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/dgcaller%40earthlink.net Send administrative questions to listadmin at frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
RE: Language Translation Estimates
Lin... I would think the costs would depend a lot on how difficult the document is to translate. Plain English text must be a lot easier than that with many difficult technical terms and convoluted explanations that a non-technical translator may find difficult to understand. The only valid way to sort this out is to get a qualified translator to tell you how long it would take. They can only do that if they see the files. Frankly, the estimate Art received seems like a bargain to me. I'm a little curious about how the fonts and formatting would be handled in such a situation if the alphabets and characters are significantly different. Dennis Brunnenmeyer *** At 01:51 PM 2/14/2008, Lin Surasky wrote: Thanks, Art. I'm looking into that now. I see several sites have cost estimates, but no one has a time estimate (i.e., x many hours per page or per word). Unfortunately, I'm not so sure we're going to outsource this; it may be done in-house, but I have no idea how long I should tell them it will take! -Original Message- From: Art Campbell [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, February 14, 2008 2:49 PM To: Lin Surasky Cc: framers@lists.frameusers.com Subject: Re: Language Translation Estimates I just received estimates from vendors for a 250 English word document to be translated into 7 languages, including reformatting in Frame. Range was $700-800 for that particular package. About $100 per language for that word count. All the vendors I chatted with were quite happy to provide an estimate from the files I sent them... so I'd suggest taking the extra time to talk to several vendors so you can get an accurate range. Cheers, Art On Thu, Feb 14, 2008 at 4:41 PM, Lin Surasky [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi all- With the Chatauqua going on, I'm having trouble hunting people down, and of course my boss needs an answer to this yesterday (even though he only asked me today) We're considering translating our docs library from English into French. Everything is in FrameMaker, the templates are simple and there are lots of screen shots that will need to be replaced. How do you esimate a project like this? How many minutes/hours per page for language translation, cleanup/layout and graphics replacement? (Assume only 1 graphic per page) Anyone have any great sites (or insight) to share? Thanks! Lin PS - Ann or Diane G -- I know you're out there somewhere! Help a girl out, wouldya? ;-) ___ -- Art Campbell [EMAIL PROTECTED] ... In my opinion, there's nothing in this world beats a '52 Vincent and a redheaded girl. -- Richard Thompson No disclaimers apply. DoD 358 ___ You are currently subscribed to Framers as [EMAIL PROTECTED] Send list messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/dennisb%40chronometrics.com Send administrative questions to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info. Dennis Brunnenmeyer Director of Engineering CEDAR RIDGE SYSTEMS 15019 Rattlesnake Road Grass Valley, CA 95945-8710 Office: (530) 477-9015 Fax: (530) 477-9085 Mobile: (530) 320-9025 eMail: dennisb /at/ chronometrics /dot/ com ___ You are currently subscribed to Framers as [EMAIL PROTECTED] Send list messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
Language Translation Estimates
Hi all- With the Chatauqua going on, I'm having trouble hunting people down, and of course my boss needs an answer to this yesterday (even though he only asked me today) We're considering translating our docs library from English into French. Everything is in FrameMaker, the templates are simple and there are lots of screen shots that will need to be replaced. How do you esimate a project like this? How many minutes/hours per page for language translation, cleanup/layout and graphics replacement? (Assume only 1 graphic per page) Anyone have any great sites (or insight) to share? Thanks! Lin PS - Ann or Diane G -- I know you're out there somewhere! Help a girl out, wouldya? ;-)
Language Translation Estimates
I just received estimates from vendors for a 250 English word document to be translated into 7 languages, including reformatting in Frame. Range was $700-800 for that particular package. About $100 per language for that word count. All the vendors I chatted with were quite happy to provide an estimate from the files I sent them... so I'd suggest taking the extra time to talk to several vendors so you can get an accurate range. Cheers, Art On Thu, Feb 14, 2008 at 4:41 PM, Lin Surasky wrote: > Hi all- > > With the Chatauqua going on, I'm having trouble hunting people down, and > of course my boss needs an answer to this yesterday (even though he only > asked me today) > > We're considering translating our docs library from English into French. > Everything is in FrameMaker, the templates are simple and there are lots > of screen shots that will need to be replaced. How do you esimate a > project like this? How many minutes/hours per page for language > translation, cleanup/layout and graphics replacement? (Assume only 1 > graphic per page) > > Anyone have any great sites (or insight) to share? > > Thanks! > Lin > > PS - Ann or Diane G -- I know you're out there somewhere! Help a girl > out, wouldya? ;-) > ___ > -- Art Campbell art.campbell at gmail.com "... In my opinion, there's nothing in this world beats a '52 Vincent and a redheaded girl." -- Richard Thompson No disclaimers apply. DoD 358
Language Translation Estimates
Thanks, Art. I'm looking into that now. I see several sites have cost estimates, but no one has a time estimate (i.e., x many hours per page or per word). Unfortunately, I'm not so sure we're going to outsource this; it may be done in-house, but I have no idea how long I should tell them it will take! > -Original Message- > From: Art Campbell [mailto:art.campbell at gmail.com] > Sent: Thursday, February 14, 2008 2:49 PM > To: Lin Surasky > Cc: framers at lists.frameusers.com > Subject: Re: Language Translation Estimates > > I just received estimates from vendors for a 250 English word > document to be translated into 7 languages, including > reformatting in Frame. > Range was $700-800 for that particular package. About $100 > per language for that word count. > > All the vendors I chatted with were quite happy to provide an > estimate from the files I sent them... so I'd suggest taking > the extra time to talk to several vendors so you can get an > accurate range. > > Cheers, > Art > > On Thu, Feb 14, 2008 at 4:41 PM, Lin Surasky > wrote: > > Hi all- > > > > With the Chatauqua going on, I'm having trouble hunting > people down, > > and of course my boss needs an answer to this yesterday > (even though > > he only asked me today) > > > > We're considering translating our docs library from > English into French. > > Everything is in FrameMaker, the templates are simple and > there are > > lots of screen shots that will need to be replaced. How do you > > esimate a project like this? How many minutes/hours per page for > > language translation, cleanup/layout and graphics replacement? > > (Assume only 1 graphic per page) > > > > Anyone have any great sites (or insight) to share? > > > > Thanks! > > Lin > > > > PS - Ann or Diane G -- I know you're out there somewhere! > Help a girl > > out, wouldya? ;-) ___ > > > > > > -- > Art Campbell art.campbell at gmail.com > "... In my opinion, there's nothing in this world beats a '52 Vincent > and a redheaded girl." -- Richard Thompson > No disclaimers apply. > DoD 358 >
Language Translation Estimates
Lin... I would think the costs would depend a lot on how difficult the document is to translate. Plain English text must be a lot easier than that with many difficult technical terms and convoluted explanations that a non-technical translator may find difficult to understand. The only valid way to sort this out is to get a qualified translator to tell you how long it would take. They can only do that if they see the files. Frankly, the estimate Art received seems like a bargain to me. I'm a little curious about how the fonts and formatting would be handled in such a situation if the alphabets and characters are significantly different. Dennis Brunnenmeyer *** At 01:51 PM 2/14/2008, Lin Surasky wrote: >Thanks, Art. I'm looking into that now. I see several sites have cost >estimates, but no one has a time estimate (i.e., x many hours per page >or per word). Unfortunately, I'm not so sure we're going to outsource >this; it may be done in-house, but I have no idea how long I should tell >them it will take! > > > -Original Message- > > From: Art Campbell [mailto:art.campbell at gmail.com] > > Sent: Thursday, February 14, 2008 2:49 PM > > To: Lin Surasky > > Cc: framers at lists.frameusers.com > > Subject: Re: Language Translation Estimates > > > > I just received estimates from vendors for a 250 English word > > document to be translated into 7 languages, including > > reformatting in Frame. > > Range was $700-800 for that particular package. About $100 > > per language for that word count. > > > > All the vendors I chatted with were quite happy to provide an > > estimate from the files I sent them... so I'd suggest taking > > the extra time to talk to several vendors so you can get an > > accurate range. > > > > Cheers, > > Art > > > > On Thu, Feb 14, 2008 at 4:41 PM, Lin Surasky > > wrote: > > > Hi all- > > > > > > With the Chatauqua going on, I'm having trouble hunting > > people down, > > > and of course my boss needs an answer to this yesterday > > (even though > > > he only asked me today) > > > > > > We're considering translating our docs library from > > English into French. > > > Everything is in FrameMaker, the templates are simple and > > there are > > > lots of screen shots that will need to be replaced. How do you > > > esimate a project like this? How many minutes/hours per page for > > > language translation, cleanup/layout and graphics replacement? > > > (Assume only 1 graphic per page) > > > > > > Anyone have any great sites (or insight) to share? > > > > > > Thanks! > > > Lin > > > > > > PS - Ann or Diane G -- I know you're out there somewhere! > > Help a girl > > > out, wouldya? ;-) ___ > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > Art Campbell art.campbell at gmail.com > > "... In my opinion, there's nothing in this world beats a '52 Vincent > > and a redheaded girl." -- Richard Thompson > > No disclaimers apply. > > DoD 358 > > >___ > > >You are currently subscribed to Framers as dennisb at chronometrics.com. > >Send list messages to framers at lists.frameusers.com. > >To unsubscribe send a blank email to >framers-unsubscribe at lists.frameusers.com >or visit >http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/dennisb%40chronometrics.com > >Send administrative questions to listadmin at frameusers.com. Visit >http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info. Dennis Brunnenmeyer Director of Engineering CEDAR RIDGE SYSTEMS 15019 Rattlesnake Road Grass Valley, CA 95945-8710 Office: (530) 477-9015 Fax: (530) 477-9085 Mobile: (530) 320-9025 eMail: dennisb /at/ chronometrics /dot/ com
