Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Words per hour when proofreading Thread poster: Pilar Díez
| Pilar Díez Spain Local time: 16:34 English to Spanish + ...
Hello! I am just writing to try to clarify an issue that has arised at my working place, a Spanish university. In order to quantify data and try to unify criteria, the manager of my department would like to know, on average, the number of words per hour one can proofread. In our case, the texts are usually academic papers on different issues that have been written in or translated into English. Thanks a lot for your suggestions! | | | It depends on how many corrections are needed, but | Dec 1, 2010 |
One agency I work for estimates 1000 words/hour. | | | Hard to determine a priori | Dec 1, 2010 |
The quality of translations varies very widely, and so does the time required to do the proofreading. In my personal experience, proofreading a translation I consider good takes about 1/4 of the time I would need to translate the same text. An excellent one may take as little as 1/10. A pathologically bad one may take even longer to correct than to redo from scratch - I've seen a few. | | | Gerard de Noord France Local time: 16:34 Member (2003) English to Dutch + ... Define proofreading | Dec 1, 2010 |
You'll first need to define what you mean by proofreading. Do you make a distinction between proofreading, revision, editing, etc.? Many agencies make only one distinction: translation and proofreading, but you're working at a university. Cheers, Gerard | |
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Pilar Díez Spain Local time: 16:34 English to Spanish + ... TOPIC STARTER
Thanks a lot to the three of you. Just a bit of a context: we don't do editing, for example. Basically, what we do is to correct both style and grammar and spelling mistakes, so as to make sure that the text can be sent to the publisher before or after a conference, for example, or just to a scientific journal. Of course, it is true that it all depends on the quality of the original text, but for managament reasons, I've been asked to provide an average. Hence my question! | | | Native speaker living abroad | Dec 2, 2010 |
I met with a new category of proofreading: translations of the native who live and work abroad. Features of their translations are correct but old-fashioned or unnatural usage of words (they may live abroad for a long time and fail to absorb the latest language trend of the home country). These jobs are quite time consuming (similar to translation of non-native speakers). Soonthon Lupkitaro | | | pgschreier Switzerland Local time: 16:34 German to English proofreading speeds | Dec 2, 2010 |
Hi, At one of the agencies for whom I work, they pay for 6 pages/hour where a page is 1325 characters (incl. spaces). This assumes, however, that you are editing only a target document for grammar, punctuation, spelling and basic style (changing only things that are obviously worded very poorly) and there's no need to check that a translation is correct. -- Paul | | | Kevin Fulton United States Local time: 11:34 German to English Depends on the subject matter, translator | Dec 2, 2010 |
I regularly edit/revise/check ongoing projects with the same high-quality translators. Depending on the density of the material, I can check 1000-1200 words/hour. But these translators (and I) know the subject matter and are familiar with the clients' requirements. When it comes to unfamiliar material, checking speed slows to 800-1000 words/hour. | |
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Translation or original text | Dec 2, 2010 |
Hello Pilar I just wanted to add that how much you can proofread in an hour also depends on whether you are proofreading a translation or a original text. In the translation industry we are usually asked to compare the translation to the source text sentence for sentence, apart from correcting spelling, grammar, terminology and style, and this will obviously take longer than if you only have to concentrate on the original. I assume the numbers the others are referring t... See more Hello Pilar I just wanted to add that how much you can proofread in an hour also depends on whether you are proofreading a translation or a original text. In the translation industry we are usually asked to compare the translation to the source text sentence for sentence, apart from correcting spelling, grammar, terminology and style, and this will obviously take longer than if you only have to concentrate on the original. I assume the numbers the others are referring to are for revision of a translation (i.e. where the texts have to be compared). I also do a lot of editing/revision, and as already mentioned the time needed will always depend on the quality of the text and the type of material, but for translations of a reasonable quality, I count on being able to revise 1000-1200 words per hour and approx. 1500-1800 words per hour for monolingual proofreading. However, if the original texts you need proofread are written by non-native speakers there might be more work involved with correcting their work depending on their language skills. ▲ Collapse | | | Pilar Díez Spain Local time: 16:34 English to Spanish + ... TOPIC STARTER
Thanks a lot! All your comments are really helpful and provide interesting points of view on the subject. I think I have something to tell my boss now! | | | Not possible to estimate average without further data | Dec 2, 2010 |
On the average, what is the quality of the texts to be proofread? If you have an answer to this question, then your question can be answered in turn. | | | Parrot Spain Local time: 16:34 Spanish to English + ... On an assembly line | Dec 3, 2010 |
(i.e., granted translators and proofreaders have been rigidly screened and are used to the work, and the work is expected to go smoothly), 1,500/1,600 is not uncommon. These are the estimates we used when I was helping to organize multilingual conferences, where staff underwent thorough screening. In practice, however, I do not promise a prospective client more than 1,200/hour for translation revision, if only for the fact that I will be dealing with a style I have to get used to. This may drop ... See more (i.e., granted translators and proofreaders have been rigidly screened and are used to the work, and the work is expected to go smoothly), 1,500/1,600 is not uncommon. These are the estimates we used when I was helping to organize multilingual conferences, where staff underwent thorough screening. In practice, however, I do not promise a prospective client more than 1,200/hour for translation revision, if only for the fact that I will be dealing with a style I have to get used to. This may drop if the writer is non-native. ▲ Collapse | |
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Pilar Díez Spain Local time: 16:34 English to Spanish + ... TOPIC STARTER
Once again, thanks a lot. I think that for what I need, I'll estimate from 1000 to 1200 per hour, as most of the text we deal with are well written/translated. It is true, though, that first you have to get used to the style and contents. | | | Jeff Allen France Local time: 16:34 Multiplelanguages + ... see proofreading speed in my survey article | Dec 3, 2010 |
I conducted a survey and wrote an article on this topic a few years which also contained info on editing/proofreading speeds. Translation speed versus content management in MultiLingual magazine (2004) Available for free at : https://www.box.net/shared/kln6d9agbe or the MultiLingual magazine... See more I conducted a survey and wrote an article on this topic a few years which also contained info on editing/proofreading speeds. Translation speed versus content management in MultiLingual magazine (2004) Available for free at : https://www.box.net/shared/kln6d9agbe or the MultiLingual magazine website: http://www.multilingual.com/ Jeff ▲ Collapse | | | Mr Florida Local time: 11:34 German to English + ...
Typically you can proofread between 6,000 and 8,000 words a day. Having said that, it is in the interest of the proofreader to bill by the hour. Given the various qualities, you have no way to assess how long it will take you to fix up some crappy translation on the basis of the word count. I still remember a job when the translator skipped whatever he couldn't translate. If you get one of those, checking each segment takes a lot more time. | | | Pages in topic: [1 2] > | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Words per hour when proofreading TM-Town | Manage your TMs and Terms ... and boost your translation business
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