A Translator's Life: Strange Client Requests I'll Never Forget

After decades in the translation business, I've worked with all kinds of clients. Most collaborations go smoothly, but every now and then I encounter situations that leave me absolutely speechless. Today I want to share two of the most bizarre requests I've ever received.

"Do you charge for punctuation?"

Some clients actually ask me this when inquiring about translation services: "Do you charge for Chinese punctuation marks?" Some even flat-out demand that punctuation not be counted in the word count. Their logic? Punctuation marks aren't "real" words, they don't need translating, so why should they cost money?

The first time I heard this, I was genuinely floored. It had literally never occurred to me that anyone would think this way. Initially, I assumed it was just a one-off oddball request. But then similar questions kept coming in, and I realized there's actually a whole crowd of people out there who see punctuation this way.

Look, I get where clients are coming from, but punctuation isn't just window dressing. It controls tone, rhythm, emotion, and meaning. Take a simple example: a comma in the source text might need to become a semicolon or period in the target language to make the sentence flow properly. When you break up a long English sentence into shorter Chinese ones, all the punctuation has to be repositioned. These aren't arbitrary changes. They require professional judgment calls.

Put simply, punctuation is absolutely part of the translation process. Every mark needs to be placed thoughtfully, considering context and reading habits. Without proper punctuation, a translation doesn't just read poorly. It can cause serious misunderstandings.

Along the same lines, some clients have asked me not to charge for Arabic numerals. But handling numbers isn't nearly as straightforward as it looks. "7月" in Chinese becomes "July" in English. Not "7 + month." "100萬" becomes "1 million," not just copied digits. In formal English writing, numbers one through ten are typically spelled out, not written as numerals. These seemingly tiny details actually require extra time and consideration.

When I vent about this to friends, they always laugh and say, "Why don't you just submit a translation with zero punctuation?" Tempting as that is, I always end up patiently explaining why punctuation matters. For clients who still can't wrap their heads around it, I just wish them luck finding a translator who works differently.

"Sorry, we just updated the content"

Here's another soul-crushing scenario: You've already started working, or worse, you're nearly finished or have already delivered, when the client suddenly drops this bomb: "Sorry, we just updated the content. Could you revise the translation?"

Even more maddening is when they ask you to stop mid-project because the document is no longer needed. At that moment, all the hours you've poured in feel like nothing more than a fever dream.

To the client, this seems like a minor tweak. Something the translator can knock out in no time. For us, it means re-reading everything, re-understanding the context, re-translating sections, and sometimes completely reformatting. This extra work almost always gets treated as a freebie.

The absolute worst is when deadlines are already brutal. You're working flat-out to hit your delivery date, only to get an update request with half a day to spare. That kind of pressure is soul-destroying. What really stings is when the update deletes chunks of text you've already translated. All that time and mental energy just evaporates, and the translator eats the loss entirely. Honestly, it's the kind of situation that makes you want to cry, but you're too exhausted for tears.

Despite how draining these situations are, I still force myself to stay calm and communicate professionally with the client. I make sure they understand that my time and expertise have real value, and I advocate for myself in a firm but respectful way.

At the end of the day, we're in a service industry. We can't control everything. But we can be selective about clients, hold firm to our professional standards, and communicate with a tone that's both diplomatic and unwavering. That's the only path to a sustainable career, and it's what keeps the translation industry healthy overall.

After all these years, I've learned that translators need way more than just language chops. We have to master time management, emotional regulation, and client relations all at once. As for those head-scratching, energy-draining client requests? I've started treating them as occupational war stories. Without them, our day-to-day work would probably be a lot less interesting.