Poll: Do you think your translation speed has improved over the last three years? Autor de la hebra: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you think your translation speed has improved over the last three years?".
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I think I’ve reached my cruising speed well over 20 years ago and I’ve never been concerned with my speed: I prefer to go slowly and carefully. Over the years, I’ve noticed that my typing speed depends a good deal on my mood (some days my fingers blunder across the keyboard), the source language (it is speedier to translate from French, Spanish or Italian into Portuguese than from English) and then the subject matter… I hope I'm producing better quality than X years ago, but not faster. ... See more I think I’ve reached my cruising speed well over 20 years ago and I’ve never been concerned with my speed: I prefer to go slowly and carefully. Over the years, I’ve noticed that my typing speed depends a good deal on my mood (some days my fingers blunder across the keyboard), the source language (it is speedier to translate from French, Spanish or Italian into Portuguese than from English) and then the subject matter… I hope I'm producing better quality than X years ago, but not faster.
There's a saying in Portuguese I go by: “Depressa e bem não há quem” (something like “Good and quickly seldom meet”).
[Edited at 2018-05-22 09:20 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Ricki Farn
Alemania
Local time: 07:09
inglés al alemán
| Define "improve" | May 22, 2018 |
For me, faster is not better. The speed that is adequate for the best quality is best. That speed varies with the text, with my mood, with the CAT tool, and probably some other factors.
Faster than adequate would just mean going through the whole thing again to reach best quality. Nope.
I have no idea if there are trends in my personal parameters over the last years, and I couldn't just define some KPIs and measure them, because there would be too many "soft" factors t... See more For me, faster is not better. The speed that is adequate for the best quality is best. That speed varies with the text, with my mood, with the CAT tool, and probably some other factors.
Faster than adequate would just mean going through the whole thing again to reach best quality. Nope.
I have no idea if there are trends in my personal parameters over the last years, and I couldn't just define some KPIs and measure them, because there would be too many "soft" factors to measure. I hope that my ability to match speed to setting is pretty damn perfect and has been so for many, many years. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Vera Schoen 
Suecia
Local time: 07:09
Miembro 2008
alemán al sueco
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Ricki Farn wrote:
For me, faster is not better. The speed that is adequate for the best quality is best. That speed varies with the text, with my mood, with the CAT tool, and probably some other factors.
Couldn't agree more.
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neilmac
España
Local time: 07:09
español al inglés
+ ...
I'm more concerned with quality these days than speed.
And that fact that the "Like" button" that was here yesterday seems to have disappeared. :/
[Edited at 2018-05-22 09:17 GMT]
| | | | Angus Stewart
Reino Unido
Local time: 06:09
francés al inglés
+ ...
I have become faster over the last three years as my experience and TM have continued to grow.
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And when I say "Yes", I mean that I have become faster without affecting the quality of my work.
Being fast is not my primary target, quality and reliability represent my offer, a quick turnaround is a plus, but it means NOTHING, if then your job has a poor quality.
So, Yes I have improved my quality and my speed in the last 3 years, and that is a positive thing
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I hit my top speed a long time ago. All I care about is maintaining quality.
I might add that each year I learn new things to be aware of, so my translations get better but sometimes I spend more time checking details than I used to.
[Edited at 2018-05-23 04:31 GMT]
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Kay Denney
Francia
Local time: 07:09
francés al inglés
I think I have improved, simply because I no longer have to ferret about for the best way to translate a term, I remember it from last time. I have a file called "Think of using" that's full of little gems I have had trouble finding. Nowadays when I'm stuck and have a peek in it, I see that the little gems have simply become my repertory.
Also because nowadays I rarely take translations out of my comfort zone.
Absolutely not at the cost of quality!
| | | | EvaVer (X)
Local time: 07:09
checo al francés
+ ...
It went considerably down. I have had a difficulty hitting the right keys lately. My eyesight has been worsening, my fingers are not so agile anymore, and I cannot really concentrate.
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I noticed I get more done in a couple of hours than I used to, it just came naturally with the practice.
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I've definitely become much faster lately despite health problems (thanks to acquired experience + TM/glossary build-up), and I feel that my quality has also improved. However, I do prefer to have comfortable deadlines so I can work on my translations slowly and carefully, like a sculptor working on a sculpture inch by inch, polishing it here and there until it's perfect. (Yes, even when it's technical translation.)
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Mario Freitas
Brasil
Local time: 03:09
Miembro 2014
inglés al portugués
+ ...
| Yes, no doubt | May 23, 2018 |
Ricki Farn wrote:
For me, faster is not better.
Yes, Ricki, if you disregard technology entirely.
I've been translating for 30 years, and I can assure you, if your translating speed has not increased in the last few years, you're likely not following up the technological innovations.
Of course our speed increased immensely when we moved from typewriters to computers, from courier to e-mails, etc. But that was back in the 1990's.
Then we must consider that, as we get more experience and acquaintance with the necessary jargons, of course our speed increases, as we require less researching. That happens regularly.
Now, in the past 3 or 5 years is exactly when I started using a CAT and other tools that increased immensely my translating speed. I moved from 2000 wpd to up to 4500 wpd.
And guess what? Despite this 'acceleration', the quality of my translations increased in the same proportion!
So this cliché that faster is not better was very true in the 20th Century, but not any more.
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