How long does it take to translate a page?
Are you a student with too many translation tasks and don’t know how long it will take you to get them done?
Does your business require translations frequently and do you need to estimate the translation time to mark it out of your calendar?
Are you a freelance translator who has been burning out of tight deadlines?
All you need to know is how to calculate the timing of a full translation process before running the project.
In the following lines we will mention the importance of fair deadlines and how you can easily calculate them:
Why do fair deadlines matter in the translation process?
Fair deadlines= quality translation.
If quality is your priority, just be fair with your deadlines. This goes for agencies and freelancers.
Some freelance translators accept tight deadlines not to lose their clients, but nothing can damage your reputation as a low-quality translator.
To answer such a question, we will roughly mention some of the prime translation stages that each document should go through:
- Skimming through the document
- Terminology preparation in the subject matter of the text
- Translation stage
- Proofreading and editing, to ensure that translation is correct in terms of grammar, punctuation, and spelling mistakes.
- Reviewing and signing off the document, it’s more of a quality assurance stage when the document should be error-free, back-translated, and ready to be delivered.
As you are now aware of the translation cycle, you still need to know how to calculate your deadline as fair as you can.
The following factors will make it easy and accurate for you:
1- Word amount
To calculate how long it takes to translate a page, you need to consider the word amount. the standard page in translation varies between 200-250 words.
A standard translator translates between 2000- 2500 words per day. Based on the experience level of the translator, experienced professional translators can produce up to 4500 words per day.
But, it is recommended that you go with the standard to allow space for reviewing and proofreading.
2- File Format
Easily formatted files like Word and google docs will make the text preparation stage easier and faster to be translated.
On the other side, pdfs, PowerPoint presentations, video games, and websites with animation, will consume time and effort to get the files imported to accessible formatting before translating.
3-Text specialization
Each translation genre has specialized terminology. The level of complexity and the type of content makes a significant factor.
Also, a well-translated text/ document is not just terminology, but also writing style.
The level of difficulty arises in cases of:
- Medical translation; due to its high importance and urgency. One mistake may result in serious issues that might lead to death.
Translators need to be aware of medical abbreviations, connotations, terminology, and syntax.
- Legal translation; is known for its high sensitivity. Therefore, each country has its own legal system with its legal language and terminology.
Translators should be aware of both source and target legal systems to convert them properly.
- Creative marketing translations; the matter with such types of translation is that the translator needs to be creative and render the text to the target audience’s dialect, not just language.
As a matter of fact, a creative copy of 6 words will consume more time than a normal page of 250 words.
Simple translation won’t get the job done in this case, but you will need to involve a transcreation agency such as Africa Localize.
4- Translator availability
This may sound very logical and common sense, but it’s not that simple!
Some clients are surprised when you give a turnaround time of 3 days to a paper of fewer than 500 words. Even they start questioning your professionalism.
To set your client’s expectations and to avoid delivery date negotiation, make sure first that your translator is available, simply he is the one who will get the job done.
5- Consider sudden events
How many times has your computer required a software update before the deadline?
However, such events could never be expected, you can set your client’s expectations and make sure you have taken enough time to translate, review and update your laptop.
It is recommended to be ahead of your deadline and never wait till the last minute to deliver.
Frequently Asked Questions about How long does it take to translate a page?
Conclusion
Next time you want to know how long it takes to translate a page divide the word total by 2500, and you will get an approximate delivery date. Then comes the other steps.
The deadline is your reputation. Make sure to do the full analysis needed before promising a turnaround time.
