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Working as a Islamic translator ?
Thread poster: Suzanne Chabot
Asmaa Hussein
Asmaa Hussein
Germany
Local time: 14:03
Arabic to German
+ ...
0.034 € per word for Islamic translation Oct 7, 2020

Assalamu alaikum,
I can understand your problem. I only get 0.034€ per word in the target language ( German). For Germany, this is not a lot. Do you think this is normal for Islamic translation? Or does anyone get more for Islamic translation in Germany? Thanks.


 
Suzanne Chabot
Suzanne Chabot
Local time: 08:03
Arabic to French
TOPIC STARTER
This is normal price Apr 5, 2021

Assalmu Alaykoum

Unfortunately, sister, this is a normal price.

The only way to get higher price from publishing houses, is to be specialized in this field and become excellent and well know. When you reach a higher level, the competition is rare, and it is easier to fix your price. Some translators succeed to have 10 USD a word or more, from publishing house, without proofreading, because of their mastery of the Islamic knowledge, their perfect mastery of the target l
... See more
Assalmu Alaykoum

Unfortunately, sister, this is a normal price.

The only way to get higher price from publishing houses, is to be specialized in this field and become excellent and well know. When you reach a higher level, the competition is rare, and it is easier to fix your price. Some translators succeed to have 10 USD a word or more, from publishing house, without proofreading, because of their mastery of the Islamic knowledge, their perfect mastery of the target language, and because they are famous in the Muslim community. These are usually the ones who are involved in dawa. Often, they studied in Medina University and are living in the West.

Publishing houses do not pay much, because they have financial difficulties. This is not their fault. Even excellent translators often gets ridiculous prices. They do not sell books anymore. Muslims rely on the internet, more and more. So, the best is to work with websites, not publishing house, especially the websites in western counties. I think this is the future. Publishing houses are filling bankruptcy all over the world. Even big publishing houses like Dar Al-Salam and IIPH are on the edge. I sold 3 books to IIPH, and they did not publish it yet, the first one, 9 years ago.

The only problem with websites, is that they publish fatwas and articles, sometimes videos with subtitles, so the knowledge you are sharing with the public is superficial. If you really want to translate books, another way I found is to ask for sponsorship. Someone who is rich, in the Muslim community, sponsor your translations. He gives you a fair price. When you are finished, you can sell it to a publishing house, at their miserable prices, or you publish the book yourself, depending on your arrangement with the sponsor. It is so easy to publish on Amazon right now, it does not cost much and the quality is excellent.

See this example here : https://www.amazon.com/Timeless-Fundamentals-Islam-Salah-al-Sawy/dp/1719169322

If someone has other ideas, it is welcome

Wassalam
Sister Suzanne
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Sandrine Zérouali
Sandrine Zérouali  Identity Verified
Algeria
Local time: 14:03
Member (2008)
Spanish to French
+ ...
Price Apr 5, 2021

Salamoualekoul everyone,

=> To Oum Ayoub, I am happy that you could finally find some "correct" jobs or witch satisfy you. But, you know 0.03 $ or euro is not a normal price. I refused several job in Islamic field and they were higher, not much, but higher (0.05 euro). So there is a way to translate for more money, but to build a reputation you have to be patient. It took me 2 years to earn my life correctly with translation (several fields), so for you specialized only in Islamic f
... See more
Salamoualekoul everyone,

=> To Oum Ayoub, I am happy that you could finally find some "correct" jobs or witch satisfy you. But, you know 0.03 $ or euro is not a normal price. I refused several job in Islamic field and they were higher, not much, but higher (0.05 euro). So there is a way to translate for more money, but to build a reputation you have to be patient. It took me 2 years to earn my life correctly with translation (several fields), so for you specialized only in Islamic field, it will cost more efforts, but with the help of Allah you can reach everything if you want.

Be patient.

Advise: Try to contact also mosquees (in Canada, for example, an imam asked me to translate khotba, I refused because it was too low for me, but maybe it can satisfy you).

Good luck!

Sandrine
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Peter Kovacik
Peter Kovacik  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 08:03
Arabic to English
Islamic translation on websites Apr 6, 2021

Suzanne Chabot wrote:
Muslims rely on the internet, more and more. So, the best is to work with websites, not publishing house, especially the websites in western counties. I think this is the future.


@ Suzanne
Can you think of an any examples of translators who primarily work with Islamic texts for websites?

I am skeptical that it would be possible to do that as a career since many Islamic organizations do not generate a lot of money, and they often have to rely on donations. I think that many Islamic translators have another source of income such as working as a university professor, an Islamic scholar, pursuing other areas of translation, or working in an unrelated field.

Suzanne Chabot wrote:
If someone has other ideas, it is welcome


There might be more work developing multilingual websites for Islamic organizations with some translation work involved. I found that it is common for Islamic websites to use WordPress. You can verify that yourself by going to BuiltWith Technology Lookup. Just copy the address of any website into the search bar and see what technologies they are using to develop their website.


 
Arabic & More
Arabic & More  Identity Verified
Jordan
Arabic to English
+ ...
Recommendations? Jul 16, 2023

As-salamu 'alaykum,

Someone I know is looking for an English to German translator of inspirational Islamic material. Ideally, the person should be a practicing Muslim as well as a native speaker of German and a skilled writer who is experienced with Islamic texts.

If anyone has recommendations or leads, please let me know.


 
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