How Long Does Translation Take?

After questions about translation costs, the second most frequently asked question by translation clients has to do with project schedules. “How long will it take?” clients ask.

How Quickly Do Translators Work?

On an average basis we find that professional translators will competently process in the range of 2000-3000 words per day. Then if proofreading by a second translator is included (and it is standard at our company) additional time must be built into the schedule for that attention as well.

The term “rush services” is sometimes used. The phrase implies that translators will do their work faster than normal. However, this is not necessarily so, and if it was a faster rate of translation can only be sustained temporarily.

What’s Meant by ‘Rush Services’?

Usually rush services imply assigning more translators to a project to work in parallel. Sometimes larger projects can be divided up so that the final translation deliverable is arrived at sooner. Since more than a single translator is working on the project, measures must be taken to “smooth out” possible style differences or inconsistencies in the translation to maintain overall continuity.

“A poor translation more quickly” is hardly ever a scenario that’s attractive to a translation client. Planning ahead to allow to adequate time for professional translators to do their work is always ideal when possible. On those occasions when schedules must be compressed there are ways to achieve an acceptable, professional translation result in shorter than typical time periods.