REPORT ON Translators' Powwow in Moscow, December 15, 2001

The main subject of the discussion was the continuing decrease in the
pay
rates
for Russian/English translations and the accompanying deterioration in
the
quality of written translations and oral interpretation though the
latter is
not so obvious.

Participants agreed that the decrease in the pay rates in Russia
follows the
global trend but is much more pronounced for two reasons. One reason is
that
the translation market in Russia is cluttered with offers from
unemployed and
unemployable would-be translators who are prepared to take any job for
any
pay.
The second reason is that the customers often do not understand that a
professional translator just cannot work for a pay rate that is
acceptable to
the numerous occasional "translators" who are trying to get translation
jobs
simple because they cannot find any other work.

Participants agreed that the only mechanism that can help to alleviate
the
current deplorable state of the translation market in Russia is a
viable
translation quality assurance or certification program run by a
reputable
organization of professional translators.

Indeed, the customers will soon see the benefits of paying more for
well-done
jobs. They just have to appreciate ultimately the age-old wisdom: 'If
you pay
peanuts, you get monkeys.'

The humans (that is, the professional translators in our case) who do
not want
to be treated as monkeys should be aware of that, too.