| Pages in topic: [1 2 3] > | Poll: How many words do you typically translate per day? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "How many words do you typically translate per day?".
View the poll results »
| | | | Tim Drayton 
Cyprus
Local time: 10:53
Turkish to English
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| 2,000 - 3,000 | Mar 3, 2013 |
This depends on various factors, such as the difficulty of the text, the amount of time spent researching terminology and the number of hours worked in a day.
I have recently worked for eight consecutive days on quite a difficult text, having put in just under 62 1/2 hours, to turn 13,953 source words into 21,344 target words.
That works out at 1,744 source and 2,668 target words per day.
| | | | | 3.000 - 4.000 | Mar 3, 2013 |
That's my average, and it tends to be more 3.000, and obviously when we say translate we mean: translate, proofreading, and in case of particularly difficult texts also read the proofread version.
| | | | Thayenga
Germany
Local time: 09:53
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
Depending on how many hours are in my work day, I can translate between 2,000 - 3,000 of "regular" translations with average difficulties and/ or research requirements.
However, when it comes to creative translations, then my day's "high" sometimes barely reached 700 words. Translating 700 words doesn't take all day, of course not , but rewriting them so that they sound "just perfect" can be quite time- consuming.![]() ... See more Depending on how many hours are in my work day, I can translate between 2,000 - 3,000 of "regular" translations with average difficulties and/ or research requirements.
However, when it comes to creative translations, then my day's "high" sometimes barely reached 700 words. Translating 700 words doesn't take all day, of course not, but rewriting them so that they sound "just perfect" can be quite time- consuming. ▲ Collapse
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| I work an average of 10 hours a day | Mar 3, 2013 |
And translate anything between 3000 and 6000 words in a day (checked twice). I recently helped translate a text that brought my production level to about 200 words an hour. It was a nightmare. The highest amount of words I have ever translated in a day has been 11,000 words but I did not have to check any terminology and a lot could be done with find and replace. I touch type and am very fast. Software packages with shortcuts are a nightmare for me since I rarely look at the keyboard.
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 09:53
Spanish to English
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I try to get clients to understand that 2000 words a day is an average output which they should try to take account of when setting deadlines. It's an uphill struggle.
I can do more if I'm pushed, but prefer not to be under too much pressure. For example, this week I have several things I need to see to other than translation (driving test, hospital visit, dentist, tax office, bank...) which will consume a lot of my time. I also expect a couple of clients to coincide towards the end... See more I try to get clients to understand that 2000 words a day is an average output which they should try to take account of when setting deadlines. It's an uphill struggle.
I can do more if I'm pushed, but prefer not to be under too much pressure. For example, this week I have several things I need to see to other than translation (driving test, hospital visit, dentist, tax office, bank...) which will consume a lot of my time. I also expect a couple of clients to coincide towards the end of the week, both with deadlines of their own to meet, so it's possible that I'll end up translating 3 or 4 times what would be comfortable... ▲ Collapse
| | | | Alexandranow
Romania
Local time: 10:53
Romanian to English
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| 2000...but depends (on payment and other) | Mar 3, 2013 |
ProZ.com Staff wrote:
This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "How many words do you typically translate per day?". View the poll results »
Usually a day I do around 2000, but might be even 3/ 4 000....if the pay is high, and a good client. (hurry up) But I am curios how they manage to do a quality work those who claim to manage 7,000 or 8,000....???
| | | | Enrico Zoffoli
Italy
Local time: 09:53
Member (2013)
German to Italian
+ ...
| same question | Mar 3, 2013 |
Alexandranow wrote: But I am curios how they manage to do a quality work those who claim to manage 7,000 or 8,000....???
I found that puzzling, too.
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| to manage 7,000 or 8,000 words per day or even 5k/6k | Mar 3, 2013 |
Enrico Zoffoli wrote:
Alexandranow wrote: But I am curios how they manage to do a quality work those who claim to manage 7,000 or 8,000....???
I found that puzzling, too.
.. not only puzzling ...it is just unbelievable !!!!
| | | | | It's not at all unbelievable | Mar 3, 2013 |
If a translator, for example, is natively bilingual, has 20-30 years of professional experience, and has also worked as a simultaneous interpreter, then 5000-7000 words of high-quality translation per day is fairly normal.
| | | | Nicole Schnell
United States
Local time: 00:53
English to German
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In memoriam | Less than 2000 | Mar 3, 2013 |
My rates are rather high. Which means that I only get difficult, sophisticated, challenging, creative and research-intensive texts. That's exactly how I want it. I am a translator, not a typist. I want to be paid for brain work, not for performance in terms of words per hour.
| | | | | Around 2,000 words, | Mar 3, 2013 |
maybe 3,000 words on a good day, but as others have already said it depends on the subject. Like Nicole my rates are rather high and even after 30 years experience I cannot (and I do not want nor wish to) translate more than that. Quality rather than quantity is my motto!
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macimovic
Netherlands
Local time: 09:53
English to Serbian
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Without a CAT tool. Depends of the subject too. I managed to translate 2000 words in 4 hours, but I was already quite familiar with the type of the client's documentation.
| | | | Richard Jenkins
Brazil
Local time: 05:53
Member (2006)
Portuguese to English
+ ...
That's about my limit, up to 2500 words + revision, but I have been able to achieve 4000 words on occasion.
I don't post on Proz on a regular basis, but today I would be very interested in hearing from those people who posted >8000. It's beyond bizarre.
| | | | Heinrich Pesch
Finland
Local time: 10:53
Member (2003)
Finnish to German
+ ...
| Scale is Out of range | Mar 3, 2013 |
Instead the range should have been maybe
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