Pages in topic:   < [1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8] >
10400 words in 24 hours
Thread poster: Nicole Coati
Robert Rietvelt
Robert Rietvelt  Identity Verified
Local time: 16:24
Member (2006)
Spanish to Dutch
+ ...
Madness! Jul 11, 2017

I read this whole forum, and though my absolute record is 6300 words in 1 day (= 8-10 hours, but unfortunately totally unreadable, took me another day to make something sensible out of it), my average score is about 2000-2500 words a day, after which my head is blocked!

I do agree with Eric and others that everybody has his/her own 'translation pace', but nobody (and I mean NOBODY) can convince me that he/she can do a quality job of translating +10.000 words in 24 hours!

... See more
I read this whole forum, and though my absolute record is 6300 words in 1 day (= 8-10 hours, but unfortunately totally unreadable, took me another day to make something sensible out of it), my average score is about 2000-2500 words a day, after which my head is blocked!

I do agree with Eric and others that everybody has his/her own 'translation pace', but nobody (and I mean NOBODY) can convince me that he/she can do a quality job of translating +10.000 words in 24 hours!

Nobody can work 24 hours straight (unless you are on a drug or so). So, apart from the fact that it is madness, there is also a physical restriction, we have to sleep!

In short, this so called job = nonsense!

[Edited at 2017-07-11 20:59 GMT]
Collapse


 
Helena Chavarria
Helena Chavarria  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 16:24
Member (2011)
Spanish to English
+ ...
Unexpected events can happen Jul 11, 2017

Robert Rietvelt wrote:

Nobody can work 24 hours straight (unless you are on a drug or so). So, apart from the fact that it is madness, there is also a physical restriction, we have to sleep!

In short, this so called job = nonsense!


I have been known to go for 24 hours without sleep but I would never accept more than 2500 words a day. Anything can happen in 24 hours, a family crisis, a power cut, problems with the Internet connection or my computer. I've had to deal with all these problems and they make life very difficult.

I've had to work by candlelight more than once, using paper dictionaries and my phone, and then cross my fingers that the electricity comes back in time for the deadline.


 
Robert Rietvelt
Robert Rietvelt  Identity Verified
Local time: 16:24
Member (2006)
Spanish to Dutch
+ ...
@ Dear Helena Jul 11, 2017

"I have been known to go for 24 hours without sleep"

Me too, more than once, only I was 18 then, now I am 58. Please let me tell you a part of your future, it will happen to you too. (sorry)


 
Mirko Mainardi
Mirko Mainardi  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 16:24
Member
English to Italian
Sleep on it Jul 11, 2017

Sheila Wilson wrote:

One factor that I don't believe has been discussed here is the known advantage of leaving a translation for a while before coming back to check it through with a fresh mind and eye. Maybe it isn't so necessary for technical translations (I don't know), but for my marketing texts I find it's imperative to take a break of at least a few hours, and preferably overnight (in other words, to sleep on it). Once you've had a break it's far easier to spot typos and interference from the source language structure. When you've only just finished translating a text you do have a tendency to think it must be OK as it is, particularly if you're tired. So, I think that even if I could translate 10k words in 24 hours (I can't!), I'd want to delay delivery for several more hours, unless it was expressly confirmed that the text was going to be proofread by another person.


Totally agree. That's what I always strive to do before delivery, so even if I were able to do 10k in a day (and I'm not), I still wouldn't be able to do this, and I would be too tired even for a fast reread right after completing the translation, so I would be basically delivering something I couldn't stand behind. On the contrary, I'd be fairly sure that what I'm delivering would be far from perfect, given the circumstances...

That said, I think the most I did in one day is around 6k (no MT, no fuzzies/reps, 'creative' text), probably in about 14/15 hours or so, but I still had the time to reread and spellcheck everything on the following day.

Lastly, I'd say this definitely helps a lot in case of technical translations too.


 
Lincoln Hui
Lincoln Hui  Identity Verified
Hong Kong
Local time: 23:24
Member
Chinese to English
+ ...
Just because you can't, doesn't mean other people can't Jul 12, 2017

Robert Rietvelt wrote:

I read this whole forum, and though my absolute record is 6300 words in 1 day (= 8-10 hours, but unfortunately totally unreadable, took me another day to make something sensible out of it), my average score is about 2000-2500 words a day, after which my head is blocked!

I do agree with Eric and others that everybody has his/her own 'translation pace', but nobody (and I mean NOBODY) can convince me that he/she can do a quality job of translating +10.000 words in 24 hours!

Nobody can work 24 hours straight (unless you are on a drug or so). So, apart from the fact that it is madness, there is also a physical restriction, we have to sleep!

In short, this so called job = nonsense!

[Edited at 2017-07-11 20:59 GMT]

There's a Chinese proverb - "The summer bug can't talk about ice." Some people can speak in public without a script while others can't. Some pianists can practice 8 hours a day. Some baseball players can play with a fractured arm.

Ask any university student whether they've ever finished a term paper in one day. I bet that if they haven't, they know somebody who has. I know I've finished 15-20 page papers in a single sitting, and frankly the paper was the better for it because I didn't have to pick up the threads of thought when I come back to it the next day.


 
Bernhard Sulzer
Bernhard Sulzer  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 11:24
English to German
+ ...
Agree! Jul 13, 2017

Robert Rietvelt wrote:

Madness!

I read this whole forum, and though my absolute record is 6300 words in 1 day (= 8-10 hours, but unfortunately totally unreadable, took me another day to make something sensible out of it), my average score is about 2000-2500 words a day, after which my head is blocked!

I do agree with Eric and others that everybody has his/her own 'translation pace', but nobody (and I mean NOBODY) can convince me that he/she can do a quality job of translating +10.000 words in 24 hours!

Nobody can work 24 hours straight (unless you are on a drug or so). So, apart from the fact that it is madness, there is also a physical restriction, we have to sleep!

In short, this so called job = nonsense!

[Edited at 2017-07-11 20:59 GMT]


You sum it up quite nicely Robert!

[Edited at 2017-07-13 04:26 GMT]


 
Erik Freitag
Erik Freitag  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 16:24
Member (2006)
Dutch to German
+ ...
Nobody can convince you? Jul 13, 2017

Robert Rietvelt wrote:
... nobody (and I mean NOBODY) can convince me that he/she can do a quality job of translating +10.000 words in 24 hours!


Ok, so that's some kind of religion, then.

I know what you mean, though. Nobody could convince me that it's possible to solve a Rubik's cube in less than five seconds (or in less than 7 seconds with a single hand, or in less than 30 seconds when blindfolded). Until I saw it, that is.

Whether it's possible to translate 10.000 words in a day with a commercially viable quality (and I hold that it certainly is, in exceptional cases, and without having to actually be working through 24 hours) is a completely different question than whether it's a sensible thing for an agency to "request", let alone for a translator to commit to. I generally wouldn't.


[Edited at 2017-07-13 07:42 GMT]

[Edited at 2017-07-13 09:16 GMT]


 
Mervyn Henderson (X)
Mervyn Henderson (X)  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 16:24
Spanish to English
+ ...
24 hours is nothing Jul 13, 2017

Of course people can work for 24 hours straight. And more. Why, only a few weeks ago I heard a government minister say he would not rest until a certain problem had been sorted out. And it hasn't been, but meanwhile that poor man hasn't rested, because he still goes to the ministry every day. If only more translators had his dedication.

[Edited at 2017-07-13 08:47 GMT]


 
Mervyn Henderson (X)
Mervyn Henderson (X)  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 16:24
Spanish to English
+ ...
Rest Jul 13, 2017

He was called out on it in the end, however. The opposition said he had lied to the good women, men and children of the country by claiming he would work tirelessly on the problem.

Our man was unfazed. He said at a press conference: "I have been vilely misquoted. I did not say I would work "tirelessly". I said I would not rest. Not the same thing at all. And I have not rested. I am obviously tired, but I have not been to bed. Just ask my secretary, I mean my wife. Who is standing b
... See more
He was called out on it in the end, however. The opposition said he had lied to the good women, men and children of the country by claiming he would work tirelessly on the problem.

Our man was unfazed. He said at a press conference: "I have been vilely misquoted. I did not say I would work "tirelessly". I said I would not rest. Not the same thing at all. And I have not rested. I am obviously tired, but I have not been to bed. Just ask my secretary, I mean my wife. Who is standing behind me at this time."

Which was a laughable barefaced lie, as the footage shows there's nobody standing behind him. You can see the secretary on the side, though.
Collapse


 
Robert Rietvelt
Robert Rietvelt  Identity Verified
Local time: 16:24
Member (2006)
Spanish to Dutch
+ ...
Good for you, but.... Jul 13, 2017

Lincoln Hui wrote:

Robert Rietvelt wrote:

I read this whole forum, and though my absolute record is 6300 words in 1 day (= 8-10 hours, but unfortunately totally unreadable, took me another day to make something sensible out of it), my average score is about 2000-2500 words a day, after which my head is blocked!

I do agree with Eric and others that everybody has his/her own 'translation pace', but nobody (and I mean NOBODY) can convince me that he/she can do a quality job of translating +10.000 words in 24 hours!

Nobody can work 24 hours straight (unless you are on a drug or so). So, apart from the fact that it is madness, there is also a physical restriction, we have to sleep!

In short, this so called job = nonsense!

[Edited at 2017-07-11 20:59 GMT]

There's a Chinese proverb - "The summer bug can't talk about ice." Some people can speak in public without a script while others can't. Some pianists can practice 8 hours a day. Some baseball players can play with a fractured arm.

Ask any university student whether they've ever finished a term paper in one day. I bet that if they haven't, they know somebody who has. I know I've finished 15-20 page papers in a single sitting, and frankly the paper was the better for it because I didn't have to pick up the threads of thought when I come back to it the next day.


.... how old were you then and how old are you now? You still think you can do 15-20 papers in a single sitting?

Of course there are people who can do things I can only dream of, but we are not talking musicians or sporters here, but translators, and as I stated before: 'Nobody can convince me.'


 
Mervyn Henderson (X)
Mervyn Henderson (X)  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 16:24
Spanish to English
+ ...
Rest in peace Jul 13, 2017

Looks to me like it's only a matter of time before Godwin's Theory emerges here.

 
Robert Rietvelt
Robert Rietvelt  Identity Verified
Local time: 16:24
Member (2006)
Spanish to Dutch
+ ...
Have faith Jul 13, 2017

Mervyn Henderson wrote:

Looks to me like it's only a matter of time before Godwin's Theory emerges here.


Nobody is comparing anybody with a certain Herr AH!


 
Post removed: This post was hidden by a moderator or staff member because it was not in line with site rule
Post removed: This post was hidden by a moderator or staff member because it was not in line with site rule
Post removed: This post was hidden by a moderator or staff member because it was not in line with site rule
Pages in topic:   < [1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8] >


To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator:


You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request »

10400 words in 24 hours







Anycount & Translation Office 3000
Translation Office 3000

Translation Office 3000 is an advanced accounting tool for freelance translators and small agencies. TO3000 easily and seamlessly integrates with the business life of professional freelance translators.

More info »
TM-Town
Manage your TMs and Terms ... and boost your translation business

Are you ready for something fresh in the industry? TM-Town is a unique new site for you -- the freelance translator -- to store, manage and share translation memories (TMs) and glossaries...and potentially meet new clients on the basis of your prior work.

More info »