Would any of you brilliant people with translation experience like to help me?

[DeterminedJuliet]

Hello folks,

I know there are some people here who have worked in translation. I'm puttering away on my school projects and one of my class discussion goals this week is to obtain a quote for a translation project (don't worry, I don't actually need anything translated). Would any of you care to lend me your professional opinion? I could just google some firms, but our instructor prefers that we talk to an actual person. The "project" is for a large user manual (75000) translated from English into Canadian French and German.

I normally try to avoid crowd-sourcing, but you guys are a good resource And I, personally, have no idea where a ballpark for this sort of thing would even start. If someone would rather PM me about this, that'd be cool, too.

Thanks 

[OldGit]

Sorry, DJ - no experience.

[Stevil]

For fun I went to Bing Translator and translated your post from English to German and then back again. This was the result.

Hello people,

I know that there some people here, who have worked in the translation. I'm way on my school projects Potter and my class discussion belongs goals this week to get an offer (I need not to worry, not really everything translated) for a translation project. Any of you that would loan me your professional opinion? I could just Google some companies, but our teacher prefers that we speak with a real person. "Project" is translated from the English in Canadian French and German for a great user manual (75000).

I normally try to avoid mass procurement, but guys are a good source tongue and I, personally, I have no idea where would a stadium for something ever start. If someone would rather PM me, too cool would.

Thank you very much

[xSilverPhinx]

For fun I went to Bing Translator and translated your post from English to German and then back again. This was the result.

Hello people,

I know that there some people here, who have worked in the translation. I'm way on my school projects Potter and my class discussion belongs goals this week to get an offer (I need not to worry, not really everything translated) for a translation project. Any of you that would loan me your professional opinion? I could just Google some companies, but our teacher prefers that we speak with a real person. "Project" is translated from the English in Canadian French and German for a great user manual (75000).

I normally try to avoid mass procurement, but guys are a good source tongue and I, personally, I have no idea where would a stadium for something ever start. If someone would rather PM me, too cool would.

Thank you very much

LOL!

Google translate would be the best among free online translators, but that isn't saying much. Some weird things happen with your text in terms of meaning when you put a text there.

DJ, I'm not a professional translator, and have only ever accepted some freelance jobs, but I'll try and help. What kind of quote are you looking for exactly? ???

[DeterminedJuliet]

Just a ball-park for approximately how long you think that document would take to translate and how much it would cost to translate.

Thanks for your help 
And, if all else fails, I'll just write "Google will do it for free! Instantly! Problem solved!"

[xSilverPhinx]

LOL I suggest you leave Google out of it Will make you loose all credibility.

Well, here at least the prices are sort of fixed and you charge a number of cents per word, depending on the region you're translating from (at least here in Brazil), whether you're translating from your native language to a foreign language or vice versa and how much time you have to do it. Translating from your native language to a foreign is more expensive, and if you have less time to do it too.

You might be able to find a price table for your region online...

But people use the prices more as a guide. Professional translators hate the freelancers because we charge considerably less than they do, which brings the price per word down. They spend four years in school only to be out competed by others.

Good thing I dropped out.

As for the amount of time, it depends. I once translated a manual which had around as many words, but it was repetitive. It took around three days of sleepless nights plus some to finish, in joined effort with my sister (I was helping her out). Needless to say that under those conditions, it didn't turn out as well as it could have.   If you're one of those people who have a life, I would say about 2 weeks to a month depending on what's being translated and how well you know the subject, as speed also depends on how much you have to research for specific terminology.

[DeterminedJuliet]

Thanks, SP, that is very helpful. 

[xSilverPhinx]

You're welcome