General FAQ: Process, Rates, Policies ¶

How do we get started with a language service assignment? ¶

Please send me a message describing your assignment. Include key details, such as volume, delivery timeline, or expected budget. For translations, you can include a sample of the content. We then discuss and agree on pricing and delivery dates, prepare quotes and purchase orders if needed, and sign any applicable agreements. For translations, you send me the required materials, and I get to work. For interpreting, I'll be online or on-site at the agreed date and time to interpret for your event.

What are your rates for translation, interpreting and other language services? ¶

Applicable rates are industry standard for an experienced linguist without a middle-man taking a cut. For translation, the exact rates depend on the type of content and turnaround time, billed per source word. Editing and proofreading may be billed per word or per hour. Transcreation is typically billed per hour. For interpreting, I provide hourly, half-day, and full-day rates. Please contact me with the relevant details to receive a quote for the potential assignment.

What payment terms, transfer methods and currencies are accepted? ¶

Payment is usually due 14 days after invoicing, however you're welcome to pay earlier, and we can also adjust the term to match your regular payment cycle. Payments are usually made to an IDR or USD bank account, or via PayPal for smaller jobs. If these are not convenient, please let me know what you prefer. Payments are transferred and received in IDR or USD, however we can use the currency of your choice for POs and invoices.

Do you have terms for delivery and delays, changes, canceled assignments, etc.? ¶

Delivery is of course expected on, or before, the agreed deadline. Should there be a significant delay from my side due to unforeseen circumstances, I can provide a fair compensatory discount. Please note that I have no control over delays caused by the client, due to e.g. late delivery of materials, or last minute changes that modify the scope of the agreed assignment.

Changes to assignment dates or content are possible. With translations, if already translated content is changed, both the existing and the replaced versions are billed for. Additions or changes to untranslated portions are charged at regular rate for new content. Canceled translations are billed to the amount of work already completed. With interpreting, changes and cancellations work the same. With notification no later than three days (72 hours) prior, there is no charge. Cancellations up until 24 hours prior are charged at 50% session rate, and within 24 hours at 100% rate.

What about commitment and confidentiality – purchase orders, contracts and NDAs? ¶

When I accept an assignment, I deliver the work to match. A client may send a formal purchase order in response to a formal quote prepared, or we can simply honor the agreements in our correspondence. You're welcome to send in a contract and/or a non-disclosure agreement for signing. By default, any material received from clients is considered privileged information and is kept confidential and secure. Please contact me for more information on any particular formal concerns.

Do you work with partners or subcontractors? ¶

This depends on the assignment and my current workload. I typically handle translation work myself. With high volume and tight deadlines, I may subcontract some of it to a trusted translation partner, and then review and edit the result to ensure consistency and quality of the work delivered. Interpreting work is frequently done in tandem with another interpreter from my network that covers diverse fields of expertise. Any partners or subcontractors will be bound to the terms and contracts agreed to with the client.

Translation Services FAQ ¶

How long will it take? How many words/pages can you translate in a day? ¶

The time required for a given translation depends on the type and volume of your content, as well as my current workload with other ongoing assignments. Assuming low workload, non-technical content, and no special requirements, I can deliver up to 3000-4000 words per day, including an initial review and revision. Assuming a "standard page" of 250 words, this would equal 12-16 such pages. If you require a high volume in a specific time-frame, I can assemble a team to accommodate your needs. I recommend counting the words in your document, instead of the number of pages, because the amount of words per page can vary significantly.

What can I provide to help you with a translation assignment? ¶

Importantly, your source text in a common format that can be edited, such as a Word document or a PowerPoint presentation — or a structured file (e.g. XLIFF) that can be imported into a CAT tool. Please avoid PDF files for anything except proofing purposes; ensuring a correct layout for a PDF translation takes a lot of time and effort. If your source text has uneditable text in images, source files for the graphics will be helpful. You can also send any applicable reference materials, glossaries, translation memories, style guides etc. to help streamline the work.

Do you offer discounts for repetitions, TM matches, or high volume? ¶

If you provide the source text as a CAT tool package with a translation memory, or via an online translation platform, we can apply a standard discount matrix. If your content has a significant amount of repeated strings, we can apply a discount for the repetitions (that still need to be verified in context). We can also discuss a bulk rate for high volume or ongoing assignments — please get in touch to review the possibilities.

Are there surcharges for tight deadlines, complex layouts, or technical content? ¶

All of these involve more work and a possible reordering of work schedules, so yes a surcharge will often apply. A 20% surcharge is applied for complex documents that need layout recreation, text-in-image recreation, etc. A higher rate index is applied for technical content that requires substantial research despite familiarity and prior experience with the field. Tight deadlines may incur a surcharge depending on my current workload.

Can you review and revise a translation I have? How much would it cost? ¶

Reviewing and revising translations is routine work for me. As to how much it would cost, while I do have standard rates for review and revision, the rate applied will depend on the quality of the translation that you need reviewed, whether it needs editing or simply proofreading, and whether it's a simple target language review, or a full bilingual review to verify accuracy. Please contact me with a sample of your content for more insight.

What's the difference between editing and proofreading services? ¶

Editing and proofreading are two different phases of the workflow. Editing improves the overall quality of the content. Proofreading weeds out typos and other minor mistakes. You can read more about these phases on the translation services page. Please note that the applicable service depends on the quality of the text. We can't provide a proofreading per-word rate for content that requires substantial editing. If you're unsure about the quality of the translation you have, you can send us a sample — or opt for general review service, billed by hour, finished whenever it's up to standard.

Can we use machine translation for a document I have? Can you edit MT? ¶

In principle yes we can, but in practice it may or may not make sense. The quality of a machine translation varies widely depending on the MT provider, the type of content you have, and the clarity and grammatical accuracy of the source text. In many cases, translating from a scratch would take no longer than transforming a poor MT product into a respectable translation. In the end, if you're looking for a high-quality translation that sounds natural, the cost of a human translator's services may not differ much from the total cost for a well-edited and verified MT rendering.

Can you help us set up a localization workflow for our website? ¶

We can create a custom workflow for you — together with our IT partners at CMS Wares — that allows you to produce content conveniently with your tools of choice. We'll handle the document or data conversion, then localize the content, and provide the result to you in a format that can be seamlessly imported to your website. We can accommodate most mainstream CMS applications and data formats, collaborate with your IT team to integrate a workflow with your in-house solution, or extend your site to enable internationalization (i18n) and localization (l10n).

Interpreting Services FAQ ¶

What can I provide to help you with an interpreting assignment? ¶

Any and all reference materials, such as event agenda, speaker profiles, presentation slides, speech transcripts, and glossaries of specific terminology. The more material I have for study and preparation before your event, the better I can ensure a complete and seamless delivery, adapting consistently where necessary, and interpreting literally where appropriate.

Does an interpreter work alone or in turns with a partner? ¶

This depends on the duration of your event. For simultaneous interpreting, given the intensive nature of the work and the focus required, events that last longer than an hour typically call for two interpreters working in tandem. Solo interpreting is possible for short events — 1½ hours is still manageable. For consecutive interpreting, this depends on the context (workshop vs. field work, etc.). Please contact me with the details to evaluate what your event may require.

Do you have a minimum billing (hours) for interpreting work? ¶

Minimum billing is two hours, because it's never just the duration of the event — there's always some overhead with preparation time, logging in before the event (for virtual interpreting), travel time (for on-site interpreting), etc. If you have a series of shorter virtual events, we can discuss the possibility of cumulative billing that matches the total duration.

If our interpreting session runs overtime, is there a surcharge? ¶

This depends on how long it runs for. Fifteen minutes of overtime is fine, however if it's half-an-hour or more, surcharges may apply at the standard rate (included in my quote). It's often a good idea to make a booking for half-day or full day to account for potential overtime and delays. (For events over three hours, half-day charge will be lower than hourly billing.)

If our interpreting session is shorter than expected, is there a discount? ¶

The time you have booked is the time I have booked, potentially turning down other assignments, or reorganizing my workflow, to accommodate your event at the given duration. As such, no discount is provided, unless we've explicitly agreed otherwise. If you are uncertain about the actual duration of your event, please let me know ahead of time, and we'll discuss how to best handle the billing.

If our interpreting session starts late, is that an issue? ¶

The stated start time is the time I will be present to start working. A three-hour booking that starts two hours late is five hours of my work time. If you know that your event will be delayed, please advise me at the earliest to accommodate this. I may have other assignments for the same day, and in the case of a resulting schedule overlap, I have to prioritize the next scheduled assignment.

What about sound-checks and other meetings related to the assignment? ¶

Full day and half-day rate includes complimentary testing/sound-check/other coordination immediately prior to the event (at reasonable duration). With per-hour rate, testing/sound-check/etc. are counted as regular work time. Separate meetings on days prior to the assignment are usually billable work time, however this can be waived for full day assignments and event series.

Can we have a remote interpreting session outside regular working hours? ¶

Yes we certainly can — and this happens frequently for virtual events accommodating participants from various timezones. Whenever possible, it's of course convenient to organize a schedule that aligns with the general waking hours for all participants.

Can you work on-site at ________? What about travel and per diem expenses? ¶

In principle yes, however please let me know where and how long for to get a definitive answer. Please see the field of operations section for locations I often travel to. Reasonable travel and per diem expenses are usually covered by the client. For on-site events in the Special Region of Yogyakarta, covering these expenses is welcome but optional.

We have a recording of an event, can you translate it (spoken or written)? ¶

If you send me a recording of your event, I can provide a recording of synchronized interpretation to match. Where necessary, I can also provide a written translation of the same, or narrate such a translation in sync with the event. If you need a time-stamped transcript/translation of the source/target language, or subtitle files of these, these services are also available.

Can you provide simultaneous interpreting system (SIS) equiment for an event? ¶

We have SIS equipment ready for use in small to medium events — and reliable partners who can provide more extensive interpreting systems, interpreter booths, technical support etc. for large events. SIS equipment is provided at affordable rates.