This blog post is a reaction to one of my posts on the Czech version of my translation website. If you speak Czech do read it and don’t forget the comments because it was those that inspired me to write this article. The Czech blog post was entitled “How much does a translator earn in the Czech Republic and how much could he earn and more importantly HOW” and you can find it here. I wrote it because someone had commented on another article I’d written and was very agitated because apparently I had implied that a Czech translator earns the same wage as a Czech surgeon. The commenter went on explaining to me that a lot of her friends are translators and have to have second jobs to supplement their meagre translation salaries (“I have plenty of friends who are translators who have to supplement their income by babysitting or delivering mail because the translation profession doesn’t pay very well …”). The discussion got a bit heated so I replied by writing another post to show her that it is possible to earn a decent wage in translation even if you are a freelance Czech translator living in the Czech Republic. It was supposed to be a helpful article which would show her translator-friends a way towards a better wage. Alas, they didn’t want to hear of it, oh well, it takes all sorts…
If you are not willing to change yourself, you won’t change your life …
The aforementioned commenter published a link to my article on the web and all her Czech translator-friends came flooding in to my website to read it. What I had thought would encourage them to change the angle of looking at their translation jobs did exactly the opposite. In my post I suggested that in this global world, the translator doesn’t have to tie themselves down to job hunting in one particular country, they can spread their wings and reach out for clients elsewhere, ANYWHERE. Even if they are based in the Czech Republic, they can easily get clients from the UK, the States or any other country. That way they wouldn’t have to rely on the measly income that they get from Czech translation agencies but could pretty much dictate their rates.
No one will pay you 750 CZK for a “normo page”!! Oh yes, they will 🙂
In the Czech Republic, the cost of translation is worked out in normo pages, these amount to approx. 1,800 signs (30 rows times 60 signs) or 250 words. I put a simple calculation in the blog post, saying that if these Czech translators asked even £0.07 per word (my lowest rate), they would get 750 CZK for a normo page. Oh my goodness, how dare I say that, the replies to that were pretty much all the same stating that there’s no way anyone in the Czech Republic will ever pay you that much for a normo page! Why are Czech translators so short sighted? Why don’t they see beyond the borders of their own country? I had explained how to do it and they still wouldn’t listen. They have all mastered a foreign language to such a level that they have become translators and yet they are reluctant to use it to its full potential. The world is their oyster but they are reluctant to suck it up, instead plunged in the muddy waters of 180 CZK per normo page, rancorous and bitter in their comments about my suggestions.
A simple key to earning more as a Czech freelance translator based in the CR
These Czech translators just confirmed what I already knew, the fact that Czech people are ready to complain about the sad state of their affairs but are unwilling to do anything about it. It’s just a shame that it applies to such intelligent people like translators. And yet the key to becoming a proper freelance translator who can ask a decent fee for their services is a simple one. Get yourself a website, so that direct clients find you, and stop relying on work through translation agencies (at least those that pay a minimum wage which you could earn by stacking shelves in Tesco!). You can aim for direct clients in other countries who are more than happy to pay what you ask for because it will most likely be a lot less than they’d have to pay a translation agency.
Get yourself a translation website and the world opens out
You studied too hard to become a translator to be treated like a slave. If you’ve got stuck in low-paid translation jobs, the only way out might be educating yourself in a new area – the art of website building. Having my own translation website was how I managed to get a regular flow of direct clients. It didn’t happen overnight though. It meant a lot of hard work and overcoming many challenges. But in the end it definitely paid off. Unfortunately, again going back to that article and all those angry commenters, in the words of one of them: “You think Czech translators have time to build some pathetic websites?! They have to work hard to make sure they can survive!” Oh well, if this is your state of mind, you will forever be stuck in your 180 CZK per normo page … It’s up to you!
You can find a simple guide to building your own translation website in this post here.
2 Comments
Great post! I’m still struggling with this, trying to balance the potential payoff from investing in my website and the cost of doing so.
Hi Annie, I’m glad you like it 🙂 Success definitely doesn’t come easy but if you keep trying the hard work will pay off in the end. Wish you all the best in your job. J.