HOW FAST ARE FAST TRANSLATORS?

HOW FAST ARE FAST TRANSLATORS?

We all know that a fast translation speed is one way to boost your translation income over and above that of the competition. But how fast is fast? 

IT ALL DEPENDS…

It all depends on the kind of documents that the translator is working on. If it’s a complicated document that is outside of his/her area of expertise and that requires a lot of research, then a rate of 100 words an hour might be realistic. However, if it’s an easy translation on a subject that the translator knows inside out then a rate of 500 words or more is achievable. 

The general consensus is that the average translator can produce between 2,000 and 3,000 words per day. In this context, ‘fast’ would therefore mean producing more than 3,000 words daily. 

QUICKLY INCREASE YOUR TRANSLATION SPEED

Increasing your translation speed from average to fast is actually much simpler than you might think. Simple tips like using a typing programme to boost your typing speed or learning to touch type can make a surprising amount of difference. Even reviewing your working environment to ensure you have suitable peace and quiet and the right tools to hand can boost your speed and make a fast translation rate more achievable. 

ALWAYS REVIEW THE TEXT

Of course the only way to know your likely translation speed for a certain document is to review the text before you begin. It’s always a good idea to ask for a sample before you commit to a rate or words per day. That way you can gauge before you start the amount of time you are likely to spend turning to the dictionary or researching words and phrases online. 

FINAL THOUGHTS

What is the fastest translation rate that you have ever achieved and what made it possible? Share your thoughts in the comments. 

Ofer Tirosh

Tomedes智能人工翻译公司首席执行官 | 本地化顾问 | 服务于全球3万多家企业

9 年

Thank you all for the excellent points. It's good to hear that 1,000 words an hour is achievable as a sustainable speed when you have a deep understanding of both the language and the subject matter. And I certainly agree that MT systems are not the way to go! You make a good point about tables and other items too, Nina - the delays these cause can be quite frustrating in terms of interrupting your workflow...

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Nina Iordache

Certified Translator at Fiver's House

9 年

I do agree with Ivan, but you see, it also may depend on the way your document looks. It can include table images and all sorts of other symbols that one has to research and this may slow down the process, especially when you want the document to look nice afterwards...

Ivan Novoselov

Freelance translator, journalist and writer

9 年

It's much easier than most people think, however fast translation requires deep understanding of the subject and excellent knowledge of target language. If you fully understand the source text, you don't need to search dictionaries, you only need to type in the translation and that actually depends only on your typing skills. Things like customer-defined glossaries, style guides, etc. usually slow the work down somewhat because you cannot just ignore them. CAT/TM tools are a useful addition but sometimes they can impact quality due to false matches. MT systems are evil, if you want a good text - you spend more time editing and if you just want an idea about the meaning - they can deceive you. My sustainable translation speed is 1000+ words/hour, 10k words/day for familiar subject areas (i.e. when working without dictionaries). I work at this speed for many years and still keep improving both speed and quality. The other useful bonus of fast work is that when you translate more, you gain more experience, so quality of your work keeps getting better all the time.

Rafael G.

property management (residential & commercial) & language services (interpreting & translating)

9 年

Up to about 1,000 words per hour is also certainly possible with the effective usage of translation memories (TMs) and computer-assisted translation (CAT) tools.

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