Poll: In which language do you write when submitting a quote for a translation job? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "In which language do you write when submitting a quote for a translation job?".
This poll was originally submitted by Claudia Vicens Burow. View the poll results »
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My customers don't ask me to submit quotes. They provide me with project details, which include content/genre, rate, volume, deadline, start/end dates, etc. and ask me if I am available to handle it.
I hate haggling over small details -- contractual stuff up front please! 
| | | | Marjolein Snippe 
Netherlands
Local time: 16:18
Member (2012)
English to Dutch
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I agree with Julian - this only applies to potential new clients for me. I tend to reply in the language the request was written in (usually English); if the company's main language may be Dutch or Portuguese based on its location, I will usually include a Dutch or Portuguese version below the English one.
[edited to correct a typo]
[Edited at 2014-03-10 09:08 GMT]
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Since none of my clients speak Polish, it would be... interesting to write to them in my target language (Polish).
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| In the same language the job was posted in... | Mar 10, 2014 |
I suppose the question refers to jobs posted on Proz. I don’t quote very often, but when something looks attractive to me, I try to write in the same language the job was posted in, with two exceptions: Spanish and Italian. I have been translating from these languages for more than 15 years, but as, unfortunately, my writing skills in those languages are limited, I prefer not to risk it...
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Usually the language the job was posted in, but if it was posted in Swedish or Norwegian, I answer in English or Danish - I have a 'read-only' knowledge of Swedish and Norwegian!
Auf Deutsch ist es nicht so leicht, aber ich versuche!
| | | | | Mostly Englisch | Mar 10, 2014 |
Hello,
sometimes I wonder why a job is posted in English if the poster, the source and target languages aren't English.
For me it is so much easier to answer in "my" languages, instead of English, but I'm not sure what to do.
Thank you all.
Claudia
| | | | Thayenga
Germany
Local time: 16:18
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
Usually, when I reply to a post, my quote is in either the language of the post or in English. However, I seldom submit quotes because my customers do keep me busy.
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I don't submit quotes, but when corresponding with customers I do it in the language they choose
Very often this is English, even though I translate from their mother tongue
I don't know whether it's that they're just so used to doing business in English or that they like to practise or, more worryingly, that they just haven't clocked that a Swedish translator can read Swedish!!
| | | | | A client has to understand and be understood | Mar 10, 2014 |
If a German speaking client who knows little English asks for a German text to be translated into English, it wouldn't make sense to answer the client in a language he doesn't understand. It is also up to us to make our clients comfortable - we are the professionals in the equation. I don't know about "submitting" quotes. Clients usually e-mail or phone to find out about fees and other matters, and I tell them how much it will cost, how long, and what it entails.
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 16:18
Spanish to English
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I don't often have to submit quotes, but I usually reply to emails in the language they are sent to me in.
My regular clients are more likely to ask me when I can comfortably deliver, for example a 650-word job just came in from a regular and they asked if I could deliver it tomorrow. Which is nice.
My only misgiving is that when I write in Spanish it takes me longer to put the message together...
[Edited at 2014-03-10 15:51 GMT]
| | | | Anthony Baldwin
United States
Local time: 10:18
Portuguese to English
+ ...
| my native language is almost always the language the post is in | Mar 10, 2014 |
My native language is English. Probably over 90% of job posts here are in English.
I have a stock "cover letter" in English that goes over my qualifications and experience, etc. that I use for quotes here and by e-mail.
If, however, PMs or clients write me in another language, I generally respond in that language (provided it's one of the four I speak).
I've had some write me in German, to which I respond in English, because I do not know German. (only English, French, P... See more My native language is English. Probably over 90% of job posts here are in English.
I have a stock "cover letter" in English that goes over my qualifications and experience, etc. that I use for quotes here and by e-mail.
If, however, PMs or clients write me in another language, I generally respond in that language (provided it's one of the four I speak).
I've had some write me in German, to which I respond in English, because I do not know German. (only English, French, Portuguese and Spanish). ▲ Collapse
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