| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Words per hour when proofreading Thread poster: Pilar Díez
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| Is this reasonable? | Sep 3, 2015 |
What is the maximum amount of words that one can proofread (reading only the target text) in one hour, supposing the text already was proofread, but you are doing a final check?
Recently I got an offer to check 85 000 words in 15 hours, 5 hours to read all the text, and the rest 10 hours for correcting errors - the reasoning of the PM. This results in 5666 words per hour.
I always give an estimate to the client based upon 1000 words per hour for revising against the so... See more What is the maximum amount of words that one can proofread (reading only the target text) in one hour, supposing the text already was proofread, but you are doing a final check?
Recently I got an offer to check 85 000 words in 15 hours, 5 hours to read all the text, and the rest 10 hours for correcting errors - the reasoning of the PM. This results in 5666 words per hour.
I always give an estimate to the client based upon 1000 words per hour for revising against the source,
and 2000 words when proofing only the target, which can vary, depending on the quality of the text.
So this offer took me aback. I wonder is this reasonable? ▲ Collapse
| | | | jyuan_us 
United States
Local time: 03:54
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
+ ...
| I was ask to proofread a PDF | Sep 4, 2015 |
and the client expect me to finish 3000 words an hour.
The script has been edited and it turn out I only need to make 20 changes on the 10000 word file, and all changes were meant to correct typo error.
Even if the file was in high quality my output is 1500 words / hour, half of what the client thought.
| | | | | unrealistic expectations | Sep 5, 2015 |
Seems that most of the colleagues have taken my question as rhetoric.
Your client, jyuan_us, at least expected 3000 not 5600.
The troubling part of this deal was that the PM stated the rest of the translators in other language pairs were working on such calculation - I wonder what kind of professional would accept such an offer and what kind of proofreading quality can you expect. Or maybe it was just a cost cutting tactic testing if one is desperate for work. Comes f... See more Seems that most of the colleagues have taken my question as rhetoric.
Your client, jyuan_us, at least expected 3000 not 5600.
The troubling part of this deal was that the PM stated the rest of the translators in other language pairs were working on such calculation - I wonder what kind of professional would accept such an offer and what kind of proofreading quality can you expect. Or maybe it was just a cost cutting tactic testing if one is desperate for work. Comes from an agency with 100 blue board entries which are almost all 5s. ▲ Collapse
| | | | jyuan_us
United States
Local time: 03:54
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
+ ...
| I think your client is either crazy | Sep 6, 2015 |
or is a idiot. He or she just didn't think and didn't know what he is saying. In this situation I would tell him this:
Please read a file in your native language very quickly in a period of an hour and see how many words you can finish within that hour. Convert that word count to the English Word count, then divided it by 2 (because the proofreader has to read both the source and the target texts).
After that you will understand for proofreading a translation copy for w... See more or is a idiot. He or she just didn't think and didn't know what he is saying. In this situation I would tell him this:
Please read a file in your native language very quickly in a period of an hour and see how many words you can finish within that hour. Convert that word count to the English Word count, then divided it by 2 (because the proofreader has to read both the source and the target texts).
After that you will understand for proofreading a translation copy for which both the source and target texts will be read, the output should not be more than 1800 word/hour even without the need to make any correction. ▲ Collapse
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| Watch for the weekend cowboys | May 3, 2016 |
Just before this May long weekend a seemingly reputable agency, with BB score sliding, however, from 4.7 to 4.3, sent me a 1000 words of American corporate legalese for proof-reading. They offered X GBP per hour, wished me luck and closed the shop down. The job was to be simultaneously a test before possible sending me 8 thousand words more of this legalese for translation. When I sat to work, it turned out that in order to make the text, as I was instructed in the PO, read well and flow natura... See more Just before this May long weekend a seemingly reputable agency, with BB score sliding, however, from 4.7 to 4.3, sent me a 1000 words of American corporate legalese for proof-reading. They offered X GBP per hour, wished me luck and closed the shop down. The job was to be simultaneously a test before possible sending me 8 thousand words more of this legalese for translation. When I sat to work, it turned out that in order to make the text, as I was instructed in the PO, read well and flow naturally, over 70% of it needed rewriting from the US English syntax. I had also to research for terms where the translator gave up or wrote in their glossary that they, indeed, needed explanation. It took me most of the night. When I exchanged e-mails with the PM on Friday, it all was love and generosity. I sat up when I noticed in the formal PO which they sent as the last thing before leaving the office, that instead of X GBP per hour, I was offered 0.5 X GBP altogether. When I phoned the duty number, which was answered by a director rather than by the PM in question, they were very happy that I offered to do the job first and sort the money out later. When I sent the done job on Tuesday they thanked me and explained that they had allocated just half an hour for it. I congratulated them on their sense of humour. Now, how would you advise me to score them on the BB? ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Depands on quality | May 3, 2016 |
of the translation, but if it is really good, I would say 2k words/hour is a good estimate.
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Mariusz Kuklinski wrote:
I congratulated them on their sense of humour. Now, how would you advise me to score them on the BB?
Score a 1 on the BB. Have no doubts, they are taking you for a fool.
The agency I wrote about in this topic got a -1 from me, they provided me with the biggest headache in ten years for some 85k proofreading. Imagine them crooks having all 5s on the BB, people must be desperate for work.
[Edited at 2016-05-09 23:36 GMT]
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