Poll: How many words do you usually translate every year?
论题张贴者: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
网站工作人员
Jun 23, 2021

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

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Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
葡萄牙
Local time: 20:26
正式会员 (自2007)
English英语译成Portuguese葡萄牙语
+ ...
More than 150,000 Jun 23, 2021

I didn’t keep track until 2007, but I started being asked the same question over and over again. So, since then I have been doing my “maths homework”. Last year I did:

EN/PT: 465,417 words
ES/PT: 8,911 words
FR/PT: 154,285 words
IT/PT: 6,857 words

This year I’m under the impression that my total will be much lower, unless things really change for the better during the second semester of 2021. Though FR-PT was my main language combination when I
... See more
I didn’t keep track until 2007, but I started being asked the same question over and over again. So, since then I have been doing my “maths homework”. Last year I did:

EN/PT: 465,417 words
ES/PT: 8,911 words
FR/PT: 154,285 words
IT/PT: 6,857 words

This year I’m under the impression that my total will be much lower, unless things really change for the better during the second semester of 2021. Though FR-PT was my main language combination when I started translating some 35 years ago, the fact is that for a while I’ve been translating more EN-PT than my other 3 language combinations together.
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Kay-Viktor Stegemann
Kay-Viktor Stegemann
德国
Local time: 21:26
English英语译成German德语
纪念
That scale seems to be a bit low Jun 23, 2021

I only keep track very roughly, but the scale here seems to be very low. My typical weekly count is around 20,000 words, so that I believe I would touch a million words per year.

Ventnai
Jan Truper
Yetta Jensen Bogarde
Philippe Etienne
Christopher Schröder
Mario Freitas
 
matt robinson
matt robinson  Identity Verified
西班牙
Local time: 21:26
正式会员 (自2010)
Spanish西班牙语译成English英语
Very low upper limit Jun 24, 2021

150,000 words per year is roughly 3,000 per week. It doesn't seem like a realistic number for a professional translator. 3,000 per day is probably nearer my average.

Ventnai
Joeri Van Liefferinge
frz
Kamal Idkaidek
Vera Schoen
Alison Jenner
Joe France
 
neilmac
neilmac
西班牙
Local time: 21:26
Spanish西班牙语译成English英语
+ ...
I don't keep track Jun 24, 2021

I have too many other things to do. Actually working, for example. Or dealing with officialdom, administrative tasks and tax returns. Vehicle maintenance. Home and garden. Etc.

Alexandra Speirs
Christine Andersen
expressisverbis
Thayenga
Gibril Koroma
IrinaN
Angie Garbarino
 
Xanthippe
Xanthippe
法国
Local time: 21:26
正式会员 (自2008)
Italian意大利语译成French法语
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER
500k words in 5 months Jun 24, 2021

This year I've translated 500k words in 5 months (from January to May).

 
Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
英国
正式会员 (自2011)
Swedish瑞典语译成English英语
+ ...
Other Jun 24, 2021

17

P.L.F. Persio
 
Gibril Koroma
Gibril Koroma  Identity Verified
加拿大
Local time: 15:26
French法语译成English英语
+ ...
I don't keep track Jun 24, 2021

I don't keep track but I notice that some people here do have a lot more work than the average. When I look at their profiles I notice that they have been in the business for decades. So, it is understandable.

 
Kevin Fulton
Kevin Fulton  Identity Verified
美国
Local time: 15:26
German德语译成English英语
Don't know, don't care Jun 24, 2021

But I do sometimes wonder whether the texts I've translated are ever read.

Anja Hajek
Xanthippe
IrinaN
Alison Jenner
Chris Ellison
 
Xanthippe
Xanthippe
法国
Local time: 21:26
正式会员 (自2008)
Italian意大利语译成French法语
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER
Me too! Jun 24, 2021

Kevin Fulton wrote:

But I do sometimes wonder whether the texts I've translated are ever read.


I've sometimes the same question!


Chris Ellison
 
Barbara Cochran, MFA
Barbara Cochran, MFA  Identity Verified
美国
Local time: 15:26
Spanish西班牙语译成English英语
+ ...
Don't Have A Clue/Don't Really Care, Except For... Jun 24, 2021

In the past, recent and more distant, I worked everyday for one client over a period of about 4 years, and for the last one, everyday for a period of 6. Other than the money I earned, and the pleasure of actually doing the work for them, I was able to enjoy their company when each of them hosted me in Italy. In one case, more than once.

 
Daniel Frisano
Daniel Frisano  Identity Verified
意大利
Local time: 21:26
正式会员 (自2008)
English英语译成Italian意大利语
+ ...
600k average over 22 years Jun 24, 2021

>13M in 22 years, with a few million-word-years and a couple of semi-sabbaticals below 200k.

Busiest year, 2016 at 1.7 million.
Busiest month, oct. 2016 at 220k.
Slowest month, sept. 2009 at a big fat 0.

[Edited at 2021-06-24 22:09 GMT]


 
Mario Freitas
Mario Freitas  Identity Verified
巴西
Local time: 16:26
正式会员 (自2014)
English英语译成Portuguese葡萄牙语
+ ...
These numbers must be wrong Jun 24, 2021

In all polls about how many words we are able to translate per day, the average seems to be between 2000 and 3000.
3000 words per day would be around 65,000 words per month in average, which would be around 800.000 words per year.
The numbers suggested in this poll are monthly volumes, not yearly.
If I translate less than 70,000 words in a month, that will be a bad month for me.
I haven't translated less then a million words in a year since 2013.

[Edited at 2021-
... See more
In all polls about how many words we are able to translate per day, the average seems to be between 2000 and 3000.
3000 words per day would be around 65,000 words per month in average, which would be around 800.000 words per year.
The numbers suggested in this poll are monthly volumes, not yearly.
If I translate less than 70,000 words in a month, that will be a bad month for me.
I haven't translated less then a million words in a year since 2013.

[Edited at 2021-06-24 23:57 GMT]
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Poll: How many words do you usually translate every year?






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