Vol/51 No/2 2012APRIL/MAYTheLinguist13FEATURESThis summary report shows only the medianmost frequent rates, and more experiencedor specialised translators are likely to chargemore. More detailed information on themaximum and median rates, and data onthe lowest, highest and most frequent ratescharged, can be found in the Master Report.Fig. 2: Translation of all languages into English,rates based on source language (£/1,000),medians of most frequently charged rate foragencies and direct clients.Even though we have mentioned that itcan be problematic to compare the jointsurvey with previous surveys, we could notresist putting the results into some historicalperspective. However, we have to reiteratethe proviso that we might not be comparinglike with like. Looking at the data in the 2001 ITI report,we note that in absolute terms, most agencyrates in Fig. 2 have increased (with theexception of Albanian, which, on the basis ofthe 2011 responses, has remained the same,and Chinese and Turkish, which have actuallygone down). The situation for direct clientrates is similar; in absolute terms they allwent up, with the exception of Turkish.However, in real terms, only the languageson the very right in the table managed tokeep pace with inflation (Finnish for bothagency and direct-client rates and Danish fordirect-client rates only). One can only hopethat affected translators will have tackled thedilemma of falling rates in real terms byboosting productivity through the use of CAT.More translation rates are reported in thediagrams below:Fig. 3: Translation from English, rates based onsource language (£/1,000), medians of mostfrequently charged rate for agency and directclients. There was insufficient data to report onagency-client rates for Turkish and direct-clientrates for Finnish and Arabic/Farsi.Fig. 4: Translation into English, rates based ontarget language (£/1,000), medians of mostfrequently charged rate for agencies and directclients. There was insufficient data to report onagency-client rates for Polish and direct-clientrates for Swedish.BOOK-KEEPINGThe majority of freelance translatorsreported that they earnt less than£30,000 a yearabout whether they knew how muchbusiness it generated, two thirds of the 445 who responded could not say and ofthe remaining third, 72% indicated that itgenerated less than 10% of their business.Only 10 respondents stated that theirwebsite generated more than 50% of their workload.77% of 1,268 freelancers reported beingsole traders and of these just 24% wereregistered for VAT. Freelance translatorsThe Master Report gives details of the rates charged per 1,000 words, based onboth source and target language wordcounts for translations into and out ofEnglish for many languages. It providesmedian and maximum rates in threecategories: lowest rate, highest rate andmost frequent rate. These threesubcategories offered respondents thepossibility of indicating a range of rates forany specific language combination.Inspired by another major T&I associationin Europe (thank you BDÜ!), the WGintroduced a 'rule' whereby only rates forlanguage combinations and rate categoriesfor which we received at least five responses,would be reported. It was felt that this wouldensure respondent anonymity and that thepublished data was more representative.Whenever we received fewer than fiveresponses for a particular rate category orlanguage combination, we attempted togroup them in as meaningful a way aspossible and have reported them accordingly. The following diagram shows the medianfigures for the most frequent rate, based onsource-language word-count into English.PolishAgencyclientsDirectclients£160£140£120£100£80£60£40£20£0TurkishRussianSpanishFrenchChineseGermanItalianPortugueseJapanese and KoreanAlbanianPortuguese (Brazilian)SwedishDutchFinnishDanish75756570706579706571717575778585858588909010010010782919089135135130 77 PolishAgencyclientsDirectclients£160£140£120£100£80£60£40£20£0TurkishRomanianSpanishFrenchGermanItalianPortugueseJapanese and KoreanPortuguese (Brazilian)ChineseDutchRussianArabic/Farsi6968656075708080758384851006099103FinnishWelshCzech65707070728080736885708760901407 AgencyclientsDirectclients£90£80£70£60£50£40£30£20£10£0PolishRussianSpanishItalianFrenchGermanSwedish£70£70£65£65£60£73£68£66£80£80£85£70© ISTOCKPHOTO

Conference interpreters122 respondents identified themselves asconference interpreters. Some conferenceinterpreters (especially when working in the simultaneous mode) work into theirmother tongue only, whereas others alsowork from their native tongue into anotherlanguage, of which they have full activecommand. We have therefore differentiatedbetween rates when working into Englishand from English. For conference interpreters working intoEnglish, we did not receive sufficientresponses to be able to report on any onelanguage combination. The WG thereforedecided to group languages in asmeaningful a way as possible, in order to be able to report at least some results.Please bear in mind that the grouping oflanguages might lead to results whichappear unusual at first sight. Further detailsabout which specific languages have beengrouped together can be found in theMaster Report. Fig. 6: Conference interpreters into English,medians of most frequently charged daily rates(in £) for agency and direct clients.For conference interpreters working fromEnglish, we had sufficient responses toreport on two specific languagecombinations, but, again, had to merge data for several others in as meaningful away as possible.Fig. 7: Conference interpreters from English,medians of most frequently charged daily rates(in £) for agency and direct clients.Ad hoc interpreters291 respondents identified themselves as ad hoc (or liaison) interpreters, working14 TheLinguistAPRIL/MAY www.iol.org.ukFEATURESFig. 5: Translation from English, rates based on target language (£/1,000), medians of most frequently charged rate for agencies anddirect clients.Of the 1,217 freelance translators whoresponded to the question about CAT(translation memory systems), 55% reportedusing such a system, which is an increase onthe 31% reported in the 2001 ITI survey. Themarket leader is still Trados, with 63% of themarket. 53% of translators using translationmemory (TM) offer discounts. For a detailedbreakdown of discount averages by level ofmatch, please see the Master Report.While TM may increase the number ofwords translated per day, it does not appearto increase the rates paid per 1,000 wordswhen working through agencies. Whenworking for direct clients, however, TM usersappear to charge direct customers about10% more than non-users.Of the 1,063 freelancers who gavefeedback on their output, about halfreported translating 200,000 words a year ormore. Again, for a detailed breakdown,please see the online Master Report.Of the 1,214 who responded to thequestion about voice recognition software,only 10% reported using it, with DragonDictate still being the leading brand.Freelance interpretersThe survey differentiates between threedifferent interpreting types (or settings), allwith their own specific characteristics andtraditions: conference interpreting, ad hocinterpreting and public service interpreting.This summary report analyses only themedian, most frequent rates, and moreexperienced or specialised interpreters arelikely to charge more. Maximum rates anddata on lowest and highest rates chargedcan be found in the Master Report.As with translators, we have reported onlyon language combinations and ratecategories for which we received at least fiveresponses, which ensures respondentanonymity and that the published data ismore representative. mainly in business, commercial law,diplomatic and other non-PSI and non-conference settings. Ad hoc interpretingwork is bidirectional, ie, interpreters workboth into and out of their native language.The survey asked ad hoc interpreters tosupply both daily and hourly rates. Overall, responses indicate that the majority of ad hoc interpreters who work for direct clients charge on a daily-rate basis. The data for ad hoc interpretersworking through agencies was inconclusivein this respect. Again, all language combinations and ratecategories for which we received fewer thanfive responses were grouped in asmeaningful a way as the data sets allowed.Details on which specific languages havebeen grouped together can be found in theMaster Report, as can information and dataon hourly ad hoc interpreting rates.Fig. 8: Ad hoc interpreters (into and out ofEnglish), medians of most frequently chargeddaily rates (in £) for agency and direct clients.There was insufficient data to report onPortuguese agency-client rates.Fig. 9: Ad hoc interpreters (into and out ofEnglish), medians of most frequently chargeddaily rates (in £) for agency and direct clientsfor grouped languages (fewer than fiveresponses per language combination). Therewas insufficient data to report on agency ratesfor Latin American languages.Public service interpreters262 respondents identified themselves aspublic service interpreters working for thepolice, courts, local government or the NHS.Public service interpreting work is alsobidirectional, ie, interpreters work both intoand from their native language. Again, alllanguage combinations and rate categories T £120£100£80£60£40£20£0£65Greek/TurkishFrench£84£60£88Agency clientsGermanSpanish£62£70£110ChinesePolish£100£70£65£78£81Direct clientsPolishAgencyclientsDirectclients£600£500£400£300£200£100£0TurkishRussianSpanishFrenchChineseGermanItalianPortugueseJapanese 180200225250225250245250254258330285350350500400£400£350£300£250£200£150£100£50£0Other pre-2004 EUlanguagesOther Non-EuropeanlanguagesLatinAmericanlanguages£256£278AgencyclientsDirectclientsOther post-2004 EUlanguages &other European£400£253£350£280£3006 T£400£350£300£250£200£150£100£50£0£375French, German,Non-EuropeanItalian & SpanishOtherEuropean£310£295£325£288£338AgencyclientsDirectclients £450£400£350£300£250£200£150£100£50£290Non-EuropeanFrenchOtherEuropean£315£300£300£350AgencyclientsDirectclientsGerman & SpanishItalian£400£320£375£400£425£0