An Often Overlooked Solution to the Problem of Low Rates Paid to Translators

 

Do you think that the rates that are offered and eagerly accepted on blind translation auction sites such as Proz, TranslatorsCafé and GoTranslators are ridiculously low?

Well, they are pretty calamitous at this point if you are among the thousands of translators who, unfortunately, happen to be living in an “affluent” country such as United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, or one of the high-cost countries in Western Europe (Norway is the most expensive country in Europe at this point).

But do not despair! Do I have a solution for you!

One of the advantages freelance that translators have is that they can live just about anywhere they want. I am speaking from personal experience. Thirty years ago I lived and worked as a translator in Japan, then for nineteen years in California, and now I am living and working in Virginia.

I certainly don’t want to move at my age, and perhaps I won’t have to as long as I can keep working mostly for direct clients. But  I am wondering whether one of the results of the low rates that are being paid to translators by large translation agencies in affluent countries and new outfits popping up in developing countries could be a migration of translators and people working in other professions from first world countries to third world countries.

In fact, I already know quite a few translators who moved from a “rich” country to a “poor” country, and I have a feeling that the cost of living had something to do with it.

The fact is that the so called translation industry is not really interested in translators who have excellent skills. What most translation agencies are really interested in are translators who charge low rates, the lower, the better. Their qualifications, experience, and the quality of their work are much, much less important to most agencies than how little these translators are willing to accept for their work.

There was a period in European history called the Great Migration Period (known in German as Völkerwanderung) between about the years 400 AD and 800 AD after the Visigoths conquered Rome and the Roman Empire finally collapsed. This was a period that was characterized by migration of Germanic tribes, Celts, Slavic tribes, Huns and many other tribes all over Europe.

It is still a little early to tell, but it is quite possible that a new Period of Great Migration of Translators (which could be called in Űbersetzerwanderung in German) is upon us now due to the pitifully low rates being now offered to translators in the AG (After Globalization) period of globalized world, as former members of middle class belonging to the translating and many other professions will be (and probably already are) moving to low-cost countries in South America, Africa, Asia and in some parts of Europe.

There are enormous differences in the cost of living in different countries. The cost of real estate for example is very low in countries such as Bulgaria or Taiwan. I know this because I am fascinated by a TV series called “House Hunters International”. Brits are buying cute, rustic houses in picturesque Bulgaria in droves. You can rent an apartment in Taipei for a pittance.

There are also incredible difference in real estate taxes in different countries. I know this because a few years ago I asked a friend of mine who lives in Czech Republic how much he had to pay in real estate taxes every year. He has a nice, three-story house. On the first floor he runs a travel agency, he lives with his wife on the second floor, and the third floor is occasionally rented out to tourists, mostly foreigners.

When he said that he did not know how much his real estate taxes were, I was dumbfounded. If you woke me up at 3 AM and shouted at me: “Hey, what are your real estate taxes this year?”, I would be able to give you a correct answer.

So he went through some receipts and discovered that he paid about 50 dollars for the taxes on his house. Here in Virginia, real estate taxes on a comparable house would set him back about 5,000 dollars.

Despite the low real estate taxes, Czech Republic is not nearly as inexpensive place to live as it used to be only a few years ago.

However, we translators still have a choice of a few countries at the bottom of the income scale where we can still afford to live even if we mostly receive work from so called bottom feeders (such as work offered by large translation agencies and on blind auction sites).

The Numbeo.com website gives us a handy list of countries arranged according to the cost of living, from the most expensive to the most inexpensive ones.

Here is a list of 10 countries on the bottom of the cost of living index where the cost of living is so low that even a specialized translator with a master’s degree or a PhD and many years of experience can still afford to live there.

No. 103 – Tunisia

No. 104 – Bolivia

No. 105 – Bangladesh

No. 106 – Philippines

No. 107 – Algeria

No. 108 – Indonesia

No. 109 – Egypt

No. 110 – Nepal

No. 111 – Pakistan

No. 112 – India

Can’t pay your real estate taxes in United States? Move to Tunisia, young man! They probably don’t even have real estate taxes in sunny Tunisia.

Can’t afford to fill up your car tank with gasoline prices being what they are in England? Move to Bangladesh, young woman. Most people just walk in Bangladesh anyway because they don’t have a car. Walking will be very good for your figure.

Can’t afford to pay for your groceries in Australia? Move to Nepal, old man. You won’t have to work as hard anymore, plus the Nepalese diet is very different from what people in Western countries are normally eating. As it is much healthier (hardly any meat at all), it is likely to add at least 10 years to your lifespan.

Can’t afford to feed your family on translator’s wages in Denmark, even though both you and your husband are translating for the cheapskate translation agencies who seem to have taken over the translation industry?

Move your whole family to India. The weather is much nicer there than in Denmark, England, or Minnesota, and the cuisine is superb, especially compared to what people eat in these “affluent” countries.

After all, if you want to stay where you are living now, you would need to put so much energy into trying to find customers who pay good rates for good work that moving to India or Nepal might be a much simpler solution.