Poll: How many words do you usually translate per day?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
SITE STAFF
Oct 27, 2019

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "How many words do you usually translate per day?".

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Sumaiya Nishat
 
Muriel Vasconcellos
Muriel Vasconcellos  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 07:25
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
+ ...
Other Oct 27, 2019

Around 2,000. This is my current target. I used to do more, but I don't rush myself any more. If my blood pressure starts going up, I know it's time to stop. So much depends on the text. Recently I did 5,000 a day on one assignment, but the next job was like pulling hen's teeth and I had trouble meeting my daily target. Sometimes, even if the text isn't so difficult, my brain gets fried.

neilmac
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Elaine Ruby
Philippe Etienne
Ekrem Dundar
Vianney Hernández
Kristina Licen
 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 15:25
Spanish to English
+ ...
It varies Oct 27, 2019

The "official" rate is 2000-2500, but depending on the subject matter, format etc., I can sometimes do quite a bit more. For example, over the years I've become rather adept at translating verbatim interviews in the agricultural field, and last week I did a couple of documents, roughly 2000 words each, in just over an hour each one...

[Edited at 2019-10-27 08:46 GMT]


Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Muriel Vasconcellos
Philippe Etienne
Ekrem Dundar
Hedwig Spitzer (X)
Michael Harris
John Fossey
 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 14:25
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Other Oct 27, 2019

It depends! Like Muriel my current target is 2,000 words per day and usually this is a feasible and comfortable task, editing included, but now and then I’ve done much more than that: last August I translated over 80,000 words in 14 days, with no CAT tool, but there was a lot of copy and paste involved, last month I translated circa 120,000 words in 20 days, with a CAT tool, but there was a lot of repetitions…

Muriel Vasconcellos
Philippe Etienne
Kristina Licen
Hedwig Spitzer (X)
Sumaiya Nishat
 
Kay Denney
Kay Denney  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 15:25
French to English
. Oct 27, 2019

I can do 3,500 but that doesn't leave much room for other activities. As a freelancer I enjoy being able to work around my other activities rather than just squeezing them in around my office hours, so I will only work at full capacity once in a while, as a favour to a client or if the project is particularly interesting. And I'll maybe refuse work for a couple of days afterwards to catch up on the other stuff. I tell clients 2,000-2,500.

Muriel Vasconcellos
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Liena Vijupe
Ekrem Dundar
Hedwig Spitzer (X)
Christopher Schröder
 
Ekrem Dundar
Ekrem Dundar  Identity Verified
Türkiye
Local time: 17:25
Member (2019)
English to Turkish
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER
>6000???? Oct 27, 2019

I seriously wonder how one can translate more than 6000 even 5000 words per day.
If you can translate this much unique sentences, could you please kindly tell us how you can manage that?


Shiva Amin
Sumaiya Nishat
 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:25
Member (2008)
Italian to English
About 3000 Oct 27, 2019

When working at maximum output speed, about 3000 words, fully checked and usable for publication or other purposes.

This speed may vary, depending on the type of text.

I never use any kind of CAT tool. I have my own ways of working quickly and accurately.

[Edited at 2019-10-27 15:05 GMT]


Kaisa I
Sumaiya Nishat
 
Erik Freitag
Erik Freitag  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 15:25
Member (2006)
Dutch to German
+ ...
I've stopped telling people Oct 27, 2019

Ekrem Dundar wrote:

I seriously wonder how one can translate more than 6000 even 5000 words per day.
If you can translate this much unique sentences, could you please kindly tell us how you can manage that?


It's quite simple: Different people are able to work (and achieve the same level of quality) at different speeds.

I've basically stopped telling people how much I am able to translate in a given time span, because they will often doubt either the truth of my statement or the quality of my work, because they think it's simply impossible.

That's a fallacy, though. Don't assume that if you can't do it, nobody can.


Michael Harris
Jan Truper
Kay-Viktor Stegemann
Amanda DesJardins
Sumaiya Nishat
Gitte Hovedskov (X)
Jorge Payan
 
Lincoln Hui
Lincoln Hui  Identity Verified
Hong Kong
Local time: 22:25
Member
Chinese to English
+ ...
I've said it before... Oct 27, 2019

...but I will bet $2000 USD that I can translate 20,000 words from English to Chinese or 30,000 characters from Chinese to English, with a text of my choice, within 48 hours, and that the output will be considered "Good" at the very least. No one who insists it's impossible to translate 5000 words a day has had the guts to take me up on it.

Of course I'm going to pick my battles, and I do. My biggest clients send me work that is very easy for me, but apparently there aren't many tra
... See more
...but I will bet $2000 USD that I can translate 20,000 words from English to Chinese or 30,000 characters from Chinese to English, with a text of my choice, within 48 hours, and that the output will be considered "Good" at the very least. No one who insists it's impossible to translate 5000 words a day has had the guts to take me up on it.

Of course I'm going to pick my battles, and I do. My biggest clients send me work that is very easy for me, but apparently there aren't many translators who can do it at even adequate quality.

Ekrem Dundar wrote:

I seriously wonder how one can translate more than 6000 even 5000 words per day.
If you can translate this much unique sentences, could you please kindly tell us how you can manage that?
Collapse


Sumaiya Nishat
Jorge Payan
 
Mario Freitas
Mario Freitas  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 11:25
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
3000 Oct 28, 2019

I have statistics spreadsheets that calculate this every month. My average has been stable at 3000 words per business day for a long time now.

 
Sumaiya Nishat
Sumaiya Nishat  Identity Verified
India
Local time: 19:55
Arabic to English
+ ...
300 words, English - Arabic Oct 28, 2019

I translate 300 words from English to Arabic and vice versa in two hours without any cat tool.
How much time does it take you to translate more than me?
Do you use cat tool or not?
Thanks.


 


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Poll: How many words do you usually translate per day?






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