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Words per hour?
Thread poster: MK2010
Balasubramaniam L.
Balasubramaniam L.  Identity Verified
India
Local time: 07:54
Member (2006)
English to Hindi
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SITE LOCALIZER
Same here Apr 2, 2016

I average about 3000 - 3,500 words a day.

A lot depends on how interesting or how difficult/easy the topic is. For billing purposes, I would also charge the time spent in pre-translation and post-translation activities, which would typically include house-keeping activities like to-fro conversations with the client, invoicing, follow-up on payment, TM management, and research work.


 
Gudrun Wolfrath
Gudrun Wolfrath  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 03:24
English to German
+ ...
Rather less than that Apr 2, 2016

Is there any text that doesn't require (sometimes a lot of) research?

 
Jean-Pierre Artigau (X)
Jean-Pierre Artigau (X)
Canada
Local time: 22:24
English to French
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See other discussion Apr 4, 2016

Hello

Two years ago somebody at proz.com asked how many words can you translate in a day. Here is the link to the discussion that followed. http://www.proz.com/forum/translation_theory_and_practice/281416-how_many_words_can_you_translate_in_8_hours-page4.html
In summary most people report translating
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Hello

Two years ago somebody at proz.com asked how many words can you translate in a day. Here is the link to the discussion that followed. http://www.proz.com/forum/translation_theory_and_practice/281416-how_many_words_can_you_translate_in_8_hours-page4.html
In summary most people report translating about 2,000 words per day, but some languages are more concise than others (less words, or maybe a larger number of composite words counting for one word each, especially English and the Northern European languages).

Jean-Pierre
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Christine Andersen
Christine Andersen  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 03:24
Member (2003)
Danish to English
+ ...
250 Apr 4, 2016

It is a bit like asking how far you can drive in an hour. What car, which road, what is the traffic and the weather like?

I try to average 250, and never promise to do more than 10 000 'new words' in a week, around 12,000 with CAT repetitions.

I do in fact take on texts where I might only manage 100 words an hour in some sections - medical Latin and abbreviations take time to research and check. The source is sometimes a 'dead' PDF scan, so I have to set up a new docum
... See more
It is a bit like asking how far you can drive in an hour. What car, which road, what is the traffic and the weather like?

I try to average 250, and never promise to do more than 10 000 'new words' in a week, around 12,000 with CAT repetitions.

I do in fact take on texts where I might only manage 100 words an hour in some sections - medical Latin and abbreviations take time to research and check. The source is sometimes a 'dead' PDF scan, so I have to set up a new document and format it, which normally my CAT would do without any effort on my part.

On other occasions I have translated, spell-checked and delivered 250 words in half an hour for a thoroughly familiar client in the kinds of text I do for them as routine. I prefer not to do it that fast, but in a tight situation, I try.

While it is useful to have an idea of how many words you can translate in a given time, it is more relevant to look at each job separately.

Then you can answer clients' enquiries accordingly: OK, I can get that letter back to you within an hour, or no, that thesis will take me two days to proofread or a fortnight to translate from scratch...
Or no, sorry, I really can NOT press in another 180 words (plus setting up the CAT, checking, administration and a creative headline ) today, I am already tired and doing all I can. Maybe tomorrow...

Averages are useful for your own planning, but take care what you promise clients!


[Edited at 2016-04-04 08:59 GMT]
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jyuan_us
jyuan_us  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 22:24
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
+ ...
How would you calculate your hourly productivity? Mar 29, 2020

Here is a scenario: You start out translating at 8 am, you have a coffee break every now and then, and you have a lunch break of half an hour. You stop working at 8 pm and found that you have translated 3200 words.

Would you use 12 or the sum of hours you are actually translating as the denominator (which can be anywhere between 8 and 10, I guess) when you calculate your hourly productivity?


 
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Words per hour?







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