ProZ.com Translation Forums

Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs) | "don't know"

maryrose — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 23:17:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs)
Poster: maryrose
Post title: "don't know"

[quote]Peter Shortall wrote:

It would be nice to hear people's reasons for selecting "don't know"... whether this was because you just didn't have a precise figure or you were unable to estimate which of the ranges your total would fall in, I'd still be interested to know why that was.

[Edited at 2006-09-06 00:43] [/quote]

Most of my business is paid by the page, and one of my biggest clients has a different number of keystrokes to the page from the rest. Then, some, but not all, of the little agency work I do is by the word.

So, although of course I know how much business I do in a year, a "number of words" calculation has little relevance for me. I consider a job as comprising a number of "cartelle", not words, because that's how I judge my output.

Cheers
Maryrose

Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs) | No idea

Magda Dziadosz — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 18:29:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs)
Poster: Magda Dziadosz
Post title: No idea

1. beacuse I more often charge by target than source;
2. because I mostly charge per 1600 characters, sometimes per word sometimes per hour, sometimes per job;
3. I keep records but I would need to do lots of manual calculations to come up with total number of source words.

But I do know precisely how much I earned in a given period, from which client and on what type of job (translation, proofreading, interpreting or consluting).

Magda

Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs) | Shows how varied this profession can be ...

Patricia Rosas — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 17:33:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs)
Poster: Patricia Rosas
Post title: Shows how varied this profession can be ...

This poll didn't rattle me at all because I knew roughly the size of the source text for all chapters, articles, and books I'd translated, and I added them up in my head and plugged myself into the very wide 100K-250K slot.

But seeing what everyone else wrote, I realize that "translating" means different things for different people. Differences arise with distinct language pairs, with the types of documents (short, long, technical, literary), and with the way we configure our professional lives (since many of us don't live by translation alone!).

As I usually find, the discussion around this poll was thought-provoking (if not necessarily useful). (At least, now I know more about the community ...)

[Edited at 2006-09-06 17:34]

Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs) | It's not just a matter of dividing numbers

Steven Capsuto — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 14:42:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs)
Poster: Steven Capsuto
Post title: It's not just a matter of dividing numbers

[quote]Peter Shortall wrote:

It would be nice to hear people's reasons for selecting "don't know"... whether this was because you just didn't have a precise figure or you were unable to estimate which of the ranges your total would fall in, I'd still be interested to know why that was.

[Edited at 2006-09-06 00:43] [/quote]

Until last month, I was in a staff position at an agency. Dividing my income by my rate tells me very little.

Even as a freelancer, some of the jobs I do are short texts that I bill at a flat minimum rate, so again it's not a matter of simple arithmetic.

Regards from New Jersey... "The Garden State."

Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs) | Wordaholics?

Thomas Pfann — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 12:38:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs)
Poster: Thomas Pfann
Post title: Wordaholics?

What surprised me in this poll is the following:

So far more than 30 people said they translated over a million words in the last 12 months. That's around 20,000 words and more per week or around 2800 words and more per day - every single day of the year!

Is that the actual number of words you personally translated yourself? Are you really working that much? Don't you ever go on holidays or at least take a day or two off?
Or are you just that quick and efficient that you translate 5000 words a day and take half the year off?

[Edited at 2006-09-06 12:40]

Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs) | Agree with Marie-Helene

Catherine Salbashian — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 12:22:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs)
Poster: Catherine Salbashian
Post title: Agree with Marie-Helene

[quote]Marie-Helene Hayles wrote:

1) I invoice on target text, not source

2) The vast majority of my clients use pages of 1500 characters as the count unit, not words.
________________

In Italy you invoice on target text which is measured in pages, so I had to answer "Don't know".
Also, my rates vary a lot depending on the client, so I'm more interested in (increasing!) earnings per year than volumes of pages translated.

Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs) | Do you mean words YOU translate apart from your CAT tool?

Christine Andersen — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 12:07:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs)
Poster: Christine Andersen
Post title: Do you mean words YOU translate apart from your CAT tool?

I chose a month more or less at random, added up the words on my job sheet and was surprised how low the result was - I was madly busy and earned quite well that month.

So to get the figure for the year I multiplied by 12 instead of 11 to allow for holidays. It did not make any difference to the bracket in the poll for my answer (250 - 500K).

Looking again at the jobs, I found quite a lot of them were marked W for weighted - which means that was what I got paid for. In fact I checked, proof read and edited a good few more words that month - and I did not count proofing for colleagues among the words I translated.

If I had counted target language words instead of source language, there would have been 25% more! Possibly tweaking me into a higher bracket but possibly not.

I'm really with the 'don't know and don't care' group on this one. Some jobs of 80 words or less take a full hour of negotiating with the client and hunting for terminology. Others of a thousand are sent through Trados, proofed and mailed to the client less than two hours after I start.

No time to worry any more - I don't get paid for answering polls :-D

Happy translating!

Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs) | I didn't know off the top of my head...

Nikki Graham — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 10:25:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs)
Poster: Nikki Graham
Post title: I didn't know off the top of my head...

but it wasn't too difficult to get a rough estimate and comfortably fall into one of the (generous) brackets. However, like Charlie et al, I do know exactly how much I have earned per month since I first started translating, first in pesetas, then in euros and pesetas and now in euros and pounds. I know my running total for the (GB) financial year and how much this averages out at per month to ensure I am pulling my weight financially in the family and meeting my targets. Despite keeping a (monthly) record of all words translated for whom and at what rate which is double checked when I do my invoices, I am not that interested in how many I actually translate over the year.

[Edited at 2006-09-06 10:37]

Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs) | I don't know

Marie-Céline GEORG — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 09:45:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs)
Poster: Marie-Céline GEORG
Post title: I don't know

Like some others, I'm more interested in my income than in the number of words I had to translate to reach that income.
Moreover, I'm very lazy and didn't want to spend time checking how much I invoiced and divide it by my usual rate to have an estimate ;-) although I can understand that it's funny to have an idea about where you stand as compared to other translators...
If I have some free time I may do the calculation and edit my post later :-)
Translation is my sole income source but not my sole occupation - with 2 young children I tend to work part-time!
Have a nice day

Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs) | I don't know

Ivana de Sousa Santos — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 09:10:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs)
Poster: Ivana de Sousa Santos
Post title: I don't know

I would have to go through each file and count each document, which I don't feel like doing.

I know the projects I've been involved in the last year, though, but not the words.

Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs) | Can only guess.

Fan Gao — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 08:14:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs)
Poster: Fan Gao
Post title: Can only guess.

A lot of the time we get PDF documents in Chinese and there's still no reliable program out there that can do a faithful conversion to calculate the word count. All we can do is charge on a case-by-case basis for the overall project.

I'm with a lot of the others though, I don't think knowing the exact number of source words translated in any given period is important. In my opinion there's enough paperwork and admin to deal with without that.:)

Best wishes,
Mark

Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs) | Attitudes towards the issue

Peter Shortall — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 08:13:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs)
Poster: Peter Shortall
Post title: Attitudes towards the issue

Whether it's essential for us to have the information or not, I think the question of how meaningful it is is interesting in itself.

[quote]Charlie Bavington wrote:

Perhaps someone would care to reveal to me exactly WHY knowing how many words I've translated is so vital? [/quote]

I don't know that it is vital; in fact, I'd never even thought about it myself until a few months ago, when I was approached by a few agencies regarding EU tenders specifying various requirements such as "must have translated a minimum of X words/pages in total". I've always kept a simple spreadsheet to record various job statistics/details including the number of source words for both translation and proofreading jobs, and in an idle moment the other day I suddenly became curious as to how many words I had translated in total over the last year. I was able to calculate this very quickly, and then wondered how many words other people had done.

Perhaps it's just as interesting to know people's attitudes towards this as it is to find out how many words people have actually translated. I realise that for many people, translation per se is not the only source of income; it's hard to come up with a more detailed poll with a limit of 100 characters for suggestions (maybe this should be increased? I feel another poll coming on!), but I thought it would be interesting to suggest the question anyway and was quite surprised at the results (so far).

Hats off to anyone who has done over a million words in the last year - do you really have time to be answering polls?! :P

Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs) | One more..

Nicole Schnell — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 07:51:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs)
Poster: Nicole Schnell
Post title: One more..

Neither my CPA nor the IRS were ever interested in any numbers and figures that don't start with $$$. So what's the point? If I was curious, I could take my invoice book and a calculator. So far, I haven't yet experienced this overwhelming urge. I know my daily, weekly and monthly output but like saral and other colleagues I prefer to measure the success of my business in terms of revenue.

Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs) | Low figure

Paul Stevens — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 07:15:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs)
Poster: Paul Stevens
Post title: Low figure

[quote]Rosa Maria Duenas Rios wrote:

I mean, I do not know exactly how many words I have translated to this day, but I do know I translate an average of 10,000 words per month, without counting editing jobs, so I can provide an estimate real quick.

[Edited at 2006-09-06 00:28] [/quote]

Hi Rosa Maria,

I just wanted to comment that 120,000 words per year seems quite low to me. I hope, for your sake, that you do a lot of editing/proof-reading or other work as I would think that it would be extremely difficult to live off that plus a small amount of editing jobs. Unless, of course, your clients pay you way above normal rates!

Like various others, I don't keep a record of the number of words translated, but I've done a very quick estimate and it works out at just over 500,000 per year. But, at the end of the day, it's the money received which is a much more relevant factor, AFAIC.

Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs) | I don't know and I don't care

Tadej Kokalj — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 05:39:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs)
Poster: Tadej Kokalj
Post title: I don't know and I don't care

Sure I can check my records and count words, I just don't have number on my mind.
I know very well about my income in last 12 months though.

Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs) | I don't know because:

Nicole Schnell — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 04:11:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs)
Poster: Nicole Schnell
Post title: I don't know because:

I am also offering typesetting and web site formatting together with my translations, which is charged separately and at serious hourly rates. Keeping track of the word count doesn't make much sense in this case.

Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs) | Don't know... and don't care

sarahl (X) — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 02:55:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs)
Poster: sarahl (X)
Post title: Don't know... and don't care

Actually, I'm trying to translate less words for more money if that makes sense. :lol:

Basically, the number of words I've translated is irrelevant, that's not how I measure the success of my business -or lack thereof. I measure it in terms of dollars and cents. At the end of the day, it's all that matters to me. :-)

Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs) | Keeping track

Dyran Altenburg (X) — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 02:48:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs)
Poster: Dyran Altenburg (X)
Post title: Keeping track

[quote]Charlie Bavington wrote:
Perhaps someone would care to reveal to me exactly WHY knowing how many words I've translated is so vital? [/quote]

I see it as a part of a whole.

I have charts and graphs for pretty much any and all aspects of my business.

In other words, output (converted into characters, value, time, whatever) is one of the many things I keep track of. Took me two clicks to find the info.

Now, if someone answered "I don't know" meaning "not off the top of my head", well that's just daft.

;P

--
Dyran

Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs) | Right

Parrot — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 02:45:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs)
Poster: Parrot
Post title: Right

[quote]Reed D. James wrote:

What is a word anyway?

"The curious thing is that, having voted after just 47 votes were cast, I wondered why on earth anyone would care how many words they translated, and nearly posted a question along those very lines....

Because I judge the success of my business in terms of revenue, not volume of words."

I do too. Money goes in the bank; words do not. Anyway, I see counting words as a mere estimate of the work we do as translators. How can you really compare a word like and with transmogrify? What about those words that appear in documents that are the same in both source and target languages that require no translating or typing at all?

There are so many factors that escape the total number of words translated that cannot always be measured or billed.

Reed [/quote]

I think "word" was taken as a unit of income. (I take it to mean that, anyway). Since I base hour rates on lucrum cessans, it's about the same for me. (I.e., I'd earn the same proofreading on my proofreading rates as when I translate). Now, I used to think that interpreting naturally meant more income, but the fact is that documentation and specialization in interpretation are factors you "pay" for, in the sense that you can only afford to consider interpreting rates as net income when you've invested practically the same time in research as you would have done on a standard translation in the specialized field and combination for years.

:)

Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs) | What is a word anyway?

Reed James — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 02:17:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs)
Poster: Reed James
Post title: What is a word anyway?

"The curious thing is that, having voted after just 47 votes were cast, I wondered why on earth anyone would care how many words they translated, and nearly posted a question along those very lines....

Because I judge the success of my business in terms of revenue, not volume of words."

I do too. Money goes in the bank; words do not. Anyway, I see counting words as a mere estimate of the work we do as translators. How can you really compare a word like and with transmogrify? What about those words that appear in documents that are the same in both source and target languages that require no translating or typing at all?

There are so many factors that escape the total number of words translated that cannot always be measured or billed.

Reed

[Edited at 2006-09-06 02:19]

Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs) | I don't know but QuickPro does:-)

Irene N — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 01:50:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs)
Poster: Irene N
Post title: I don't know but QuickPro does:-)

I am translator-interpreter with the emphasis on the latter. The count should not be too impressive but if I ever needed the precise number of words I would ask QuickPro to sort by job types. Other than that, weekly/monthly/yearly bottom lines rule.

Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs) | Speaking as a "Don't know"...

Charlie Bavington — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 01:25:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs)
Poster: Charlie Bavington
Post title: Speaking as a "Don't know"...

The curious thing is that, having voted after just 47 votes were cast, I wondered why on earth anyone would care how many words they translated, and nearly posted a question along those very lines.

[quote]Dyran Altenburg wrote:

How else can anyone tell whether they have a successful business or just a so-so outfit?
[/quote]

Because I judge the success of my business in terms of revenue, not volume of words.

I could, if I wanted, calculate the number of words, since I keep records of the amount (in money) for each job and the rate that applied to each job, so I could divide one by the other, but frankly, I can't see the purpose. Plus which, to do so for the period asked for would require me to play with the spreadsheets for two financial years, and I can't be bothered. I've got work to do :-) Furthermore, the stats would be incomplete, 'cos it wouldn't take account of proof-reading, which also earns money, let's not forget.

I find the way I keep records quite adequate, thanks very much. I could tell you exactly how much I earned each month since I started, the number of clients involved (i.e. making sure I don't have all eggs in one basket), and lots of other fascinating data (:-)). But not the number of words.

Perhaps someone would care to reveal to me exactly WHY knowing how many words I've translated is so vital?

Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs) | Checks and balances

Dyran Altenburg (X) — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 00:49:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs)
Poster: Dyran Altenburg (X)
Post title: Checks and balances

[quote]Riccardo Schiaffino wrote:
They may mean they don't know precisely... in order to provide an answer I had to estimate based on my total invoiced amount last year: otherwise I could have done it, but it would have taken more time that is warranted for a simple survey such as this. [/quote]

I stand by what I said.

How else can anyone tell whether they have a successful business or just a so-so outfit?

I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

--
Dyran
(who keeps very precise records since 1972... just a couple of clicks away)

Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs) | If "don't know", why?

Peter Shortall — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 00:34:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs)
Poster: Peter Shortall
Post title: If "don't know", why?

It would be nice to hear people's reasons for selecting "don't know"... whether this was because you just didn't have a precise figure or you were unable to estimate which of the ranges your total would fall in, I'd still be interested to know why that was.

[Edited at 2006-09-06 00:43]

Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs) | I am also surprised by the ones who do not know...

Rosa Maria Duenas Rios (X) — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 00:28:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs)
Poster: Rosa Maria Duenas Rios (X)
Post title: I am also surprised by the ones who do not know...

I mean, I do not know exactly how many words I have translated to this day, but I do know I translate an average of 10,000 words per month, without counting editing jobs, so I can provide an estimate real quick.

[Edited at 2006-09-06 00:28]

Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs) | One solution for "pure" translators

Parrot — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 00:10:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: How many source words have you translated since this time last year? (total, all pairs)
Poster: Parrot
Post title: One solution for "pure" translators

Take your income tax declaration of last year and divide it by your rate. Or better: take your invoicing ledgers, add income from September to September and divide it by your rate.

Interpreters or translator-interpreters may have some problems with this, but documentation time considered, I daresay it'll square with an approximately reliable figure.

Interesting results, hmmm...