When we are considering translating documents from English to Russian the obvious question quickly arises: What is a good price for a translation English to Russian? It's a logical question to ask but a very difficult one to answer without knowing more about what it is you need translated and exactly what your translation requirements are.
To demonstrate the point let us consider another question that we will come across online often: How much should I pay to have a website built? If we are new to developing websites, it seems like a perfectly logical question - you want a website built and you need to know how much to do it. However, the question will drive a web developer insane, because it still hasn't given him any information on what you want. There is a big difference between a picture gallery, a personal blog, a multiuser game or a massive forum in terms of development and, consequently, in terms of price. It's like asking a mechanic: how much it will be to fix your car before telling him what's wrong with it.
So before you even begin trying to establish a budget for your translation project, you need to be certain in your mind of exactly what you need. Most freelancers online will understand how the job completion triangle works, but let me quickly run over the basic ideas. There are three corners to the triangle: Time, Cost and Quality. If you put pressure on any one side it will usually affect the other two. Likewise, relieving pressure on one side will help the other two. If you want a job done very fast, then your quality will suffer or the cost will increase. If you want a cheap job, then don't expect it to be fast and good. In general, you can expect to have two out of the three corners at a high level and you will pay with it with the other corner.
So - when you are considering your translation, ask yourself what your priorities are. Do you need a fast workable translation? Do you want a cheap solution? Is the only thing that matters for you the quality of the finished product? All of these are requirements that can be surfaced and serviced by a good translator.
It's sometimes possible to 'cheat' the triangle a little though. For instance, suppose you need a fast translation but don't want to sacrifice quality. You can slightly change the rules by hiring a translator who works in a different time zone to you. They may still take 8 hours to complete a translation - but they won't be what you think of as 'office hours'. The work can go out at night, when you are finished for the day and be back for you, when you start work again the next day. This way you very cleverly push on the time requirement without an increase in your cost or a drop in your quality.
The important aspect to take away from this is that cost is not merely measured in dollars; it must also take into consideration quality and time. Suppose, you are bidding on a work contract - what is the cost to you, if you do not get the job, because your bid was not readable? The only consideration should be quality here, because you can simply not afford sub-standard text.
To conclude, it's important to define for yourself all aspects of the job and understand, that pressure in one area must be picked up by allowances in another. Define the exact terms you need the job completed under and then compare prices, estimated deadlines and expected quality of work.
Elena Romanova is a dedicated professional translator and on her translation English to Russian website you can discover all the advantages her translation English to Russian service offers. Don't forget that when a good translation is needed fast, the working location of the translator does make a big difference. She is based in New Zealand (NZ) and any translation English to Russian done during NZ time is 1 day ahead of all translations done in the US or Europe itself. Go and contact her for accurate translation prices for a translation English to Russian. |
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