Q&A for Translators and Interpreters
Welcome to the TW Translation Service family! Please log onto www.oktranslation.com and register yourself as a TW Translation Service “translator/interpreter” . If you hold a CATTI certificate (level II or level I), or any other translation certificate of an equivalent level, or professional title of translator/interpreter at or above an intermediate level, please upload the scanned copy of your corresponding certificate, or the retrievable serial number of the certificate, or any other relevant document that proves this to be the case. You are also suggested to give a detailed introduction to your professional experience and achievements.
We will make a preliminary assessment of the personal background materials submitted by anybody applying for the role of “translator” at TW Translation Service, and will send a translation test via email to any applicant who has passed the preliminary assessment. The test will be graded by a professional translation expert. Any translator who passes the test will have their information included in TW Translation Service’s database of qualified translators.
For anybody applying for the role of “interpreter” at TW Translation Service, please see to it that you indicate your educational and interpreting background, and provide a bilingual resumé detailing your interpreting experience over the past three to five years.
Click “Forgot Password” at the login area on the first page of www.oktranslation.com, and the system will send the login name and password to your registered mailbox.
The translation should at least meet the GB/T 19682-2005 Target Text Quality Requirements for Translation Services issued by the State. TW Translation Service arranges translation projects in accordance with the translator’s areas of expertise and translation proficiency. A translator should complete the project in full and within the deadline while meeting all of TW Translation Service’s translation quality requirements. For a large project that involves teamwork, TW Translation Service arranges translators to cross check or use each other's translations for reference to ensure consistency in diction and quality.
Next, where quality flaws or understanding deviations exist in the translation, TW may give the translation as finalized by the client or an expert translator, or the translation revised by any other professionals, back to the translator for reference, so that the translator can continue to familiarize himself or herself with the project requirements and improve his or her translation quality.
Worries about the trial translation test may come from previous unpleasant experiences of dealing with irregularities in such tests held by some companies. As we fully understand the applicant’s worries, we do not set a strict deadline for submitting the answers to the trial translation test. For instance, in a Chinese-English test, the number of Chinese characters ranges from 500 to 800. Such a test is designed with a view to imposing as little pressure as possible to an applicant.
On the other hand, it is our hope that translators of TW Translation Service can be fully informed about and understand our policies on the trial translation test. The test is carefully designed by an expert translator. An applicant is required to translate the entire text, so that his or her translation proficiency can be fully assessed. It is hard to fully display or assess the translation proficiency of any applicant who refuses to undergo the test or agrees to undergo only part of the test. Such an applicant may probably lose the chance of collaborating with TW Translation Service for the time being.
Universally recognized and authoritative translation and interpreting certificates include:, CATTI, NAETI, LCE, JICS, and master’s diplomas in translation and interpreting from national key foreign language departments, institutes or universities. For further details, please see “Translator/Interpreter Management.”
TW Translation Service will decide an original unit price in light of the average price range of the market, the proficiency as displayed by the translator in the trial translation test, the comprehensive background and the professional qualification of the translator, and then pays the translator by following this unit price in subsequent collaboration projects.
Ever since its establishment in 2003, TW Translation Service has always made payments on time and in full to translators who have completed the contracted works on time and to the desired level of quality. It enjoys a well-earned reputation in the translation industry.
The remuneration for translation is preliminarily estimated based on the amount of the work to be completed, and is calculated based on the actual amount of the work involved in the product or service recognized and accepted by the client. The amount to be paid, the deadline and the method of making payment are all specified in the “Engagement Agreement and Project Authorization for Translator of TW Translation Service” which is entered into between TW Translation Service and the translator.
When making payment to the translator, TW Translation Service will withhold individual income tax as required by the State. The payment is generally made within 30 days after the translation project is completed, and the acceptance of the translation product or service is confirmed by the client. Where a translator fails to deliver the translation on time and/or the translation fails to meet the requirement for translation quality, TW Translation Service will deduct the payment in accordance with the “Specification for Translation Service” and the agreement previously reached by TW Translation Service and the translator, and in light of the actual circumstances. TW Translation Service will also make the client’s opinions or its quality examination result on the translation known to the translator, with a view to helping the translator continue to improve their translation quality.
No payment is made for the trial translation, which is not regarded as a formal translation product or service.
The payment for a day-to-day project is usually settled “within 30 days of the client confirming receipt of the translated product or service.” The payment for a book translation project, however, generally takes longer. In accordance with the usual practice in the publishing industry, the book translation fee is generally paid “within one to three months after the book is published”, or in other words, the fee is paid “after the book is published.” As translation is only one link in the book-publishing chain, such a chain can be extended due to a change in any other link. In cases where there is a delay in the publishing of the book due to a reason other than translation quality, TW Translation Service will inform the translator of such a delay at the first opportunity, and will endeavor to negotiate with the publisher on the payment of book translation fee.
If machine translation can effectively help human translation by playing a supplementary or supportive role, and save part of manpower without compromising the translation quality, it will be welcomed by the translation industry. If machine translation is used at the expense of the translation quality, the use of machine translation will not be supported and accepted by the translation industry, unless otherwise agreed.
