Proofreading rates in China
Thread poster: Da Han
Da Han
Da Han
China
May 19, 2018

Hello. New to the site. I'm an American expat based in Beijing, and I've recently started being offered some proofreading projects. I'd like to ask some of the experts here what I should be charging per 1000 words (in rmb). The most recent project is a fairly complex White Paper style report with a moderate translation. Thanks in advance.

 
pkchan
pkchan  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 14:29
Member (2006)
English to Chinese
+ ...
对这个问题 May 19, 2018

Da Han wrote:

Hello. New to the site. I'm an American expat based in Beijing, and I've recently started being offered some proofreading projects. I'd like to ask some of the experts here what I should be charging per 1000 words (in rmb). The most recent project is a fairly complex White Paper style report with a moderate translation. Thanks in advance.


有勞在北京工作的同仁,花些少时间回覆。


 
ysun
ysun  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 13:29
English to Chinese
+ ...
Not kidding May 19, 2018

According to my experiences, you should be charging for proofreading at a rate no less than what you are charging for translating. Or, simply do not accept proofreading projects at all.

QHE
Lawrence Lam
 
David Shen
David Shen  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 11:29
English to Chinese
+ ...
Proofreader, A New Name for an Old Game May 20, 2018

pkchan wrote:
有勞在北京工作的同仁,花些少时间回覆。


ysun wrote:
Not kidding 15:08

According to my experiences, you should be charging for proofreading at a rate no less than what you are charging for translating. Or, simply do not accept proofreading projects at all.


【翻译点滴】 NOTES OF A TRANSLATOR

《翻译受封作审校》

商人砍价出新招,封你翻译做审校。
机译段落连串吐,我赚大头你捧脚。
整天词语打交道,不知行情是多少。
今日得以抬身价,有人请我来审稿。
三分五分随他便,总比没得活儿好。
欣然接下一大包,打开一看乱糟糟。
这堆酒糟非人语,看你怎么理成条。
硬着头皮把糟理,酒没喝到人醉倒。
醒来一看时紧迫,悔不自己从头搞。

D.S.2018.0519.a


Xiaodong Du
 
Da Han
Da Han
China
TOPIC STARTER
Proofreading rates in China May 20, 2018

I think my inquiry may have been misunderstood. While I do appreciate the candor, I'm not actually looking for philosophical insight. Didn't realize it was a challenge getting some practical advice here. The other thing I didn't mention is that I'm not a translator, so I'm only doing proofreading. Having sid that it may be that this is the wrong site to be asking about proofreading rates. Nevertheless, I am however curious why there appears to be a general negation of proofreading.

... See more
I think my inquiry may have been misunderstood. While I do appreciate the candor, I'm not actually looking for philosophical insight. Didn't realize it was a challenge getting some practical advice here. The other thing I didn't mention is that I'm not a translator, so I'm only doing proofreading. Having sid that it may be that this is the wrong site to be asking about proofreading rates. Nevertheless, I am however curious why there appears to be a general negation of proofreading.

I did attempt to peruse this website for a rate index, but have not been able to find what I'm looking for. Meanwhile, if anyone does happen to have experience proofreading in China I would appreciate feedback.

Alternately, I suppose I can just defer to Quora or Reddit.

Thanks again in advance

Happy Sunday

[Edited at 2018-05-20 03:10 GMT]
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Lincoln Hui
Lincoln Hui  Identity Verified
Hong Kong
Local time: 02:29
Member
Chinese to English
+ ...
What kind? May 20, 2018

Bilingual or monolingual? Chinese or English?

 
Da Han
Da Han
China
TOPIC STARTER
Proofreading rates in China May 20, 2018

Monolingual in English. I was provided with a report that was already roughly translated. The equilivant Chinese was provided inline followed by their rough English translation. I was asked to proofread and edit the English into a more accurate rendition. So for something like this I was wondering what some of you that have been doing this as professionals would suggest as an appropriate price per word. I can add that it could be a bit challenging as it's dealing with a technical niche I'm not 1... See more
Monolingual in English. I was provided with a report that was already roughly translated. The equilivant Chinese was provided inline followed by their rough English translation. I was asked to proofread and edit the English into a more accurate rendition. So for something like this I was wondering what some of you that have been doing this as professionals would suggest as an appropriate price per word. I can add that it could be a bit challenging as it's dealing with a technical niche I'm not 100% knowledgeable about, so I would need to double check content against online data. Thanks again.Collapse


 
Phil Hand
Phil Hand  Identity Verified
China
Local time: 02:29
Chinese to English
@ David 抛玉引砖 May 20, 2018

This doc is a tricky bleeder.
But the meaning - do we really need 'er?
It'll look the part
As we've acquired the art
Of a native English proofreader

@ Da Han

I can't speak for my colleagues, but my perception is that grammatical and semantic accuracy often track surprisingly well. What this means is that if you've been given a "moderate" translation with "language errors" in pretty much every sentence, there is a significant chance that there are
... See more
This doc is a tricky bleeder.
But the meaning - do we really need 'er?
It'll look the part
As we've acquired the art
Of a native English proofreader

@ Da Han

I can't speak for my colleagues, but my perception is that grammatical and semantic accuracy often track surprisingly well. What this means is that if you've been given a "moderate" translation with "language errors" in pretty much every sentence, there is a significant chance that there are meaning errors in every sentence, too. And as I guess you're going to be looking only at the English, it will be pretty much impossible to correct the meaning errors. As a result, what you output is unlikely to be a very high quality result. That's not exactly your fault, it's just that the system within which you are working is one which (at least potentially) erodes the market for high quality translators with a lot of experience and higher prices.

The service you're offering is also very difficult to price, because there is such a wide level of variation. I see people doing the native English proofreader/polisher job who work really hard, and do achieve some half-decent results. And I see many who skim through documents they don't understand changing a comma here and an article there, leaving the difficult questions untouched.

The standard rule of thumb is the one you should apply. You seem to have seen this document. How many hours of work does it represent for you? What is your hourly rate? And thus you know what you need to charge for it. You can convert that into a charge per word, or simply ask a fixed price for the contract.
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David Shen
David Shen  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 11:29
English to Chinese
+ ...
He Who Knows What He Is Talking About May 20, 2018

Hi,

Phil 好 谦 虚,
一 箭 就 中 的。


Phil Hand wrote:

This doc is a tricky bleeder.
But the meaning - do we really need 'er?
It'll look the part
As we've acquired the art
Of a native English proofreader

@ Da Han

I can't speak for my colleagues, but my perception is that grammatical and semantic accuracy often track surprisingly well. What this means is that if you've been given a "moderate" translation with "language errors" in pretty much every sentence, there is a significant chance that there are meaning errors in every sentence, too. And as I guess you're going to be looking only at the English, it will be pretty much impossible to correct the meaning errors. As a result, what you output is unlikely to be a very high quality result. That's not exactly your fault, it's just that the system within which you are working is one which (at least potentially) erodes the market for high quality translators with a lot of experience and higher prices.

The service you're offering is also very difficult to price, because there is such a wide level of variation. I see people doing the native English proofreader/polisher job who work really hard, and do achieve some half-decent results. And I see many who skim through documents they don't understand changing a comma here and an article there, leaving the difficult questions untouched.

The standard rule of thumb is the one you should apply. You seem to have seen this document. How many hours of work does it represent for you? What is your hourly rate? And thus you know what you need to charge for it. You can convert that into a charge per word, or simply ask a fixed price for the contract.


QHE
 
Da Han
Da Han
China
TOPIC STARTER
Proofreading rates in China May 21, 2018

Thanks @Phil - Appreciate the detailed reply. Quite insightful. I suppose my only other question is what range would everyone here charge per hour? To edit/proofread a white Paper report with a four-day turnaround and 7800 words.

 
pkchan
pkchan  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 14:29
Member (2006)
English to Chinese
+ ...
網上價 May 21, 2018

Academic and Professional Proofreading Rate: 0.03-0.0635 USD per word.

 
David Lin
David Lin  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:29
Member (2013)
English to Chinese
+ ...

Moderator of this forum
Hi Welcome to the Chinese Forum! May 24, 2018

Hi Da Han,

I would like to extend our warmest welcome to you as it's your very first time visiting the Chinese Forum. I hope by now you have got some idea about proofreading rates in China with the practical and insightful advice of Phil Hand and PK Chan.

You might have already read this, there is a thread on "proofreading rates" in the "Money Matters" Forum of ProZ.com which you may find interesting. See the link bel
... See more
Hi Da Han,

I would like to extend our warmest welcome to you as it's your very first time visiting the Chinese Forum. I hope by now you have got some idea about proofreading rates in China with the practical and insightful advice of Phil Hand and PK Chan.

You might have already read this, there is a thread on "proofreading rates" in the "Money Matters" Forum of ProZ.com which you may find interesting. See the link below.

https://www.proz.com/forum/money_matters/324418-proofreading_rates.html

Even though they talk about rates in other countries or regions such as Europe, you could at least get an idea and make up your own rate in the China context since you know better the cost of living in Beijing.

I read in other ProZ.com fora that one fellow translator who is based in Spain and so experienced in the job and skillful in the English language (British English as mother tongue) that she managed to get her own proofreading rate from a client in China which was presumably higher than those offered in China.

If you'll have further questions about proofreading or reviewing, you're most welcome to drop by. This forum has the primary purpose to deal with translation- and freelance translation business-related issues as set up by ProZ.com. I'm sure our fellow forum members will try our best to assist again.

Regards.

David


Da Han wrote:

Hello. New to the site. I'm an American expat based in Beijing, and I've recently started being offered some proofreading projects. I'd like to ask some of the experts here what I should be charging per 1000 words (in rmb). The most recent project is a fairly complex White Paper style report with a moderate translation. Thanks in advance.
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lbone
lbone  Identity Verified
China
Local time: 02:29
Member (2006)
English to Chinese
+ ...
Proofreading rates in Beijing/China Jul 1, 2018

我在北京,我觉得没有北京价格一说。中国国内价格也许有,但也是各报各的,更重要的还是个人或公司报价。

我这几年见过的最低价格,是前几年某个老翻译(05年时和他合作接过翻译项目)提过,说他目前在接每千字10元人民币的翻译工作,业务海量,难度不高。估计是中译英。对比一下,某宝上的汉字打字业务一般是每千字20-30元人民币。

至于高的,�
... See more
我在北京,我觉得没有北京价格一说。中国国内价格也许有,但也是各报各的,更重要的还是个人或公司报价。

我这几年见过的最低价格,是前几年某个老翻译(05年时和他合作接过翻译项目)提过,说他目前在接每千字10元人民币的翻译工作,业务海量,难度不高。估计是中译英。对比一下,某宝上的汉字打字业务一般是每千字20-30元人民币。

至于高的,有些国内发海外论文的,会找美国的专业母语润色校对服务,据说价格是每单字英文0.10美元,按人民币算就是每千字英文600多元人民币(汇率一直在变,现在大约是6.6左右),只负责英文润色,不负责翻译。

国内翻译公司接中译英的常见价格大概在每千字中文150-300元人民币的范围,但实际上更高和更低的也都有很多,其中已经包括了校对的费用。

每家翻译公司和每位职业从业者往往都有比较稳定的报价体系,但不同业者的价格可能各自不同。你可能会问那市场会接受什么价格?问题就是市场上什么价格的业务都有人在做,英文校对从每千字英文20元到每千字英文600-700元都有,没有谁会说自己做出来的东西水平不行,如果价格低就是物美价廉,薄利多销,如果价格高就是一分价钱一分货。只要这个价格译者自认为有理,客户也可以接受就行。

翻译的价格类似于商品的价格,如果你问在北京销售汽车,每辆该报什么价格,别人确实很难回答你。你需要自己弄明白你卖汽车的具体成本、价值、预期收益如何,然后给别人报价。一种最简单的算法是计算一下你每天的产出,考虑一下你每个工作日希望得到的收入,然后计算出单字的报价。

[Edited at 2018-07-01 16:20 GMT]
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Proofreading rates in China






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