| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] | Translation track record Thread poster: Juliano Martins
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| Money isn't everything | Jun 1, 2016 |
I really don't know how much money I earn every year or how many thousands of words I translate, but I have one rule: to spend less than I earn and if I can earn €100 a day, then I'm satisfied. I'm lucky because I've been married for nearly 37 years (my husband retired at the beginning of the year) so maybe that's the reason I'm not driven by money.
Life is too short to spend it sitting in front of a computer screen, adding up words and pounds, dollars, euros, etc. I receive more ... See more I really don't know how much money I earn every year or how many thousands of words I translate, but I have one rule: to spend less than I earn and if I can earn €100 a day, then I'm satisfied. I'm lucky because I've been married for nearly 37 years (my husband retired at the beginning of the year) so maybe that's the reason I'm not driven by money.
Life is too short to spend it sitting in front of a computer screen, adding up words and pounds, dollars, euros, etc. I receive more offers than I can accept but that's because happiness and health are more important to me than money.
I translate between 150 and 600 words an hour, it depends on the subject, the way a text has been written and my level of inspiration. I can happily spend fifteen minutes on one sentence, trying to find the 'perfect' translation, or race through a page that I find particularly easy.
As for the number of hours I work a week, twenty years ago I could easily work 50 hours, but that has since changed and I now work between 25 and 30. Isn't that why we're freelancers? We have complete freedom to decide what we want to do and when we want to do it!
[Edited at 2016-06-01 17:37 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Juliano Martins 
Brazil
Local time: 18:22
Member (2008)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | I coudn't agree more | Jun 1, 2016 |
Helena Chavarria wrote:
Life is too short to spend it sitting in front of a computer screen, adding up words and pounds, dollars, euros, etc. I receive more offers than I can accept but I'm afraid happiness and health is more important to me than money.
As for the number of hours I work a week, twenty years ago I could easily work 50 hours a week but that has since changed and I now work between 25 and 30 hours. Isn't that why we're freelancers? We have complete freedom to decide what we want to do and when we want to do it!
I totally agree. Anyway I find it useful and not so time consuming to keep such stats.
| | | | Jeff Whittaker
United States
Local time: 17:22
Member (2002)
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Translation track record | Jun 1, 2016 |
Your numbers are coming out at .04 a word.
You could easily triple your rate and translate a lot fewer words.
The number of words is meaningless if you are giving your product away for next to nothing. Of course you are busy.
At your pace, you could translate only 1600 words a day, make the same amount of money, and have most of your day free to do other things.
[Edited at 2016-06-01 19:49 GMT]
| | | | Juliano Martins
Brazil
Local time: 18:22
Member (2008)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | My rates increased | Jun 1, 2016 |
LegalTransform wrote:
Your numbers are coming out at .04 a word.
You could easily triple your rate and translate a lot fewer words.
The number of words is meaningless if you are giving your product away for next to nothing. Of course you are busy.
At your pace, you could translate only 1600 words a day, make the same amount of money, and have most of your day free to do other things.
[Edited at 2016-06-01 18:15 GMT]
I admit that in the beginning I had rates such as 0.04 USD, but as time passed my rates increased. Nowadays it’s between 0.06 and 0.07. But the accounting for the average in the total sum is still contaminated by the lower rates from 8 years ago, of course. You can see that tendency when you look at the last years, I translated less and earned more.
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| These days I prefer less work load at a higher rate | Jun 1, 2016 |
Juliano Martins wrote:
Year 2016, January to May, 451 K translated words, 278 K proofed words, 30 K USD.
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My figures:
Year 2016, April to May, 95 K translated words, 15 K USD.
About 60% came from working for a long-standing direct client who contracts me for two-month spells twice a year. In the remaining months, my average monthly work load is 20 K - 30 K words. I could easily increase this work load, but I opt for being very selective about what I take on, and I prefer to have more time for other good things in life, such as traveling across Europe.
By the way, it would be advisable to take into account the tax perspective here. Under the so-called patent-based taxation system - https://www.nalog.ru/eng/taxation_in_russia/patent/ - I only have to pay about US$ 210 for my patent (i.e. trading license) in lieu of my income tax in 2016.
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