If you have studied in Germany, you may be familiar with that type of student cafeteria, where food is sold at a unit price by weight. Thrifty students quickly learn that a full plate of lettuce weighs - and costs - about as much as an almost empty plate with a few gnocchi. The question as to how best to satisfy your appetite remains a matter of personal taste.
Unit prices usually apply to translations, too. The translation is "weighed" and the total price is calculated based on the number of lines or words. Let's say, for example, that in a particular language combination a word costs 20 cents. Now mathematics comes into play: how much does it cost to translate 1000 words? 200, right. Let's go one step further: How much does a translation of 20 words cost? Here we don't get any further with the primary school mathematics, because the correct answer is not 2 €, but a minimum charge, which is above all much higher, since it should cover the "basic costs". With every order, a certain constant effort is made. Simply communicating with the customer, saving the files in the right place, assigning a project number, finding a suitable and available translator, and finally invoicing: this takes time, regardless of whether the text is very long or very short.
In relation to the total price, this effort weighs more for a small order, and not only from an organizational point of view: the translator also needs more time on average to translate a single word than an entire sentence. Key points, key words or very short sentences bring little context. The translator must, in a way, additionally acquire this context through research.
Cover photo by kerttu on Pixabay
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