| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Poll: My average output in words per day at the moment is Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "My average output in words per day at the moment is".
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| | | | Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 15:56
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
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| Tricky question | May 11, 2023 |
If we are talking about 100% non-translated words, then my daily output would be about 4500 words. If we are talking about everything (repetitions, fuzzies, (post-)editing assignments and proofreading assignments), then that output would be way higher.
| | | | | 2,500-3,000 words | May 11, 2023 |
Between 2,500 and 3,000 words (no CAT tools), though occasionally I have translated much more than that: it all depends on the subject matter and on the language pair. Work runs in cycles, some days I have no work at all (like this week so far) and then in others I work 10/12 hours (or even more...) Saturdays and Sundays included.
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I suspect most people will be answering with their capacity here rather than their actual output, but I’m going to go with the latter. I’ve been too busy enjoying the fine weather recently to do much work.
Normally, of course, I do about 1000 words an hour.
[Edited at 2023-05-14 12:43 GMT]
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It depends on the subject.
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:56
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Depending on the type/complexity of the text, in a normal 8-hour working day I produce 3000-3500 words -by which I mean a translation that is finished, perfected, checked, and ready for publication (or whatever other type of end-use is required).
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 15:56
Spanish to English
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It depends who's asking. I usually tell clients I can manage around 2000 words a day for them.
However, depending on the type of text and format, I might be able to do as much as 8000 10,000 in a day, but obviously I don't tell all my clients that, in case more than one of them turn up at the same time with large documents.
Quality, not quantity.
| | | | Kay Denney 
France
Local time: 15:56
French to English
I'm currently working on a website for a cosmetics brand, and documentation for art exhibitions for a Parisian museum.
The cosmetics stuff is boring, because it's always the same, but I took Chris's advice and quoted an outrageous price and the manager of the cosmetics firm accepted because they were in a tearing hurry. I can easily get through 4,000 words a day with this stuff.
The exhibition documents are a whole lot more challenging, requiring a lot of research because I'm not al... See more I'm currently working on a website for a cosmetics brand, and documentation for art exhibitions for a Parisian museum.
The cosmetics stuff is boring, because it's always the same, but I took Chris's advice and quoted an outrageous price and the manager of the cosmetics firm accepted because they were in a tearing hurry. I can easily get through 4,000 words a day with this stuff.
The exhibition documents are a whole lot more challenging, requiring a lot of research because I'm not all that familiar with the artists featured, and because I have to do a lot of rewriting, chopping sentences into two or three, changing the syntax and making sure it sounds natural. I don't usually get more than 2,000 words a day done for this client. And since it's an agency, I'm only charging half the price that I'm billing the direct client.
The direct client will probably disappear once the website is up and running, and I'll maybe hear from them again in a year's time when they release some new products, whereas I get a fairly steady stream of work from the agency, billing an average of €1,000+ a month.
I'm pretty happy with this situation. ▲ Collapse
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| How resisting the temptation to play the "Who-says-more" game... | May 11, 2023 |
Lieven Malaise wrote:
If we are talking about 100% non-translated words, then my daily output would be about 4500 words. If we are talking about everything (repetitions, fuzzies, (post-)editing assignments and proofreading assignments), then that output would be way higher.
Only 4,500 words per day as a daily output? It doesn't seem to fit in with the performances you usually boast of down here, though... Such as: "I'm heading for another excellent semester, since I'm already almost fully booked until the end of June" (I quote), as lately read on this forum.
Speaking of escalating performances, why not announcing 5,000 or 10,000 words a day? No one would find it that surprising in such a headless chickens race like this.
If you please stop boasting once and for all, it would be swell... Thanks in advance, dear colleague. No offense intended, of course.
[Modifié le 2023-05-12 11:30 GMT]
| | | | Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 15:56
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
+ ...
Laurent Di Raimondo wrote:
Only 4,500 words per day as a daily output? It doesn't seem to fit in with the performances you usually boast of down here, though... Such as: "I'm heading for another excellent semester, since I'm already almost fully booked until the end of June" (I quote), as lately read on this forum.
Please enlighten me, how doesn't that fit in ? 4500 words a day at 0.08 to 0.09 euros provides me with an income I'm very happy with. Perhaps your financial standards are higher but, pardon my French, I couldn't care less about that.
Laurent Di Raimondo wrote:
If you please stop boasting once and for all, it would be swell...
Don't read my comments if they frustrate you. I'm not boasting, by the way, but it's a great pleasure to provide some positivity in this pool of misery that Proz seems to be, full of frustrated and endlessly complaining 'colleagues'. Stop complaining and start acting, ffs.
| | | | Kay Denney
France
Local time: 15:56
French to English
Laurent Di Raimondo wrote:
It doesn't seem to fit in with the performances you usually boast of down here, though... Such as: "I'm heading for another excellent semester, since I'm already almost fully booked until the end of June" (I quote), as lately read on this forum.
Speaking of escalating performances, why not announcing 5,000 or 10,000 words a day? No one would find it that surprising in such a headless chickens race like this.
If you please stop boasting once and for all, it would be swell... Thanks in advance, dear colleague. No offense intended, of course.
[Modifié le 2023-05-12 06:36 GMT]
Yeah any time someone says "No offense intended" they know full well that they are being offensive.
You think they are boasting and it annoys you. Do you hate everyone once you've looked at their social media posts on holiday in dream locations too?
Personally I find it inspiring to read what others are able to achieve as professionals. If nobody talks about how much we can manage in a day, beginners would have no idea as to whether what an agency is asking for is reasonable, so these conversations can be useful.
Now you might think what Lieven is saying is not true or exaggerated, but I know there are translators who clock up numbers like that. One of my best technical translators at the agency used to aim for 5,000 new words a day and there was hardly ever anything wrong with any of his translations. He had always done the research, and pointed to solid resources any time I queried anything, and he was dependable, so I could happily send him huge projects that would keep him busy for months. My guess is that Lieven is of the same calibre.
We're all different, and that's a positive. Why not aspire to the same productivity as Lieven rather than accuse them of boasting?
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based on my average sales.
Needless to say, not only am I very slow and unproductive, but I also deliver excruciatingly bad translations, and PMs usually hate me for being such a bore to work with.
Philippe
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Baran Keki
Türkiye
Local time: 16:56
Member
English to Turkish
| Large volume | May 12, 2023 |
I remember a certain Italian translator taking a lot of stick here for claiming that 10k word a day was doable. I'd certainly try to take a stab at that if I received that kind of volume. I hardly get 10k words in two weeks in my pair.
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 15:56
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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| Okay, but we're talking actual, right? | May 12, 2023 |
Actual output at this time: very little. I'm having a slow month.
Potential output: quite a bit more. I can do 10 000 words per day (raw, not weighted) for 5 days straight.
But a problem with this question (that most of us realize, I see) is that the asker probably means weighted words, and words can be weighted in different ways, depending on what you're trying to measure.
neilmac wrote:
I usually tell clients I can manage around 2000 words a day for them.
Ditto. When asked about capacity, I answer "2000 words per client per day".
And when new translators ask me what is a reasonable clip, I answer "200 words per hour", which is actually spot on for me as well, if I'm asked to do the translation at the client's premises in Notepad.
[Edited at 2023-05-12 09:27 GMT]
| | | | Mr. Satan (X)
English to Indonesian
Samuel Murray wrote:
Potential output: quite a bit more. I can do 10 000 words per day (raw, not weighted) for 5 days straight.
Impressive. Very nice.
Let’s see Paul Allen’s potential output.
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