How much can you get done within one hour?
Thread poster: Regina Junajew
Regina Junajew
Regina Junajew  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 09:56
English to German
May 22, 2023

Hi guys,

I am wondering, how much words you can get done while QA of MTPE per hour?

Best regards,
Regina


Yaotl Altan
 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 09:56
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
@Regina May 22, 2023

Regina Junajew wrote:
I am wondering, how much words you can get done while QA of MTPE per hour?

For MTPE: If the text is in a format or CAT tool that is easy to work with, if I'm familiar with the subject field, if the text is simple and straight-forward, if there is no unknown terminology that needs checking, and if the MT engine is good and predictable, then: 1000 words per hour. And, if the end-product doesn't need to read like a human translation: 1500 words per hour. I'm not sure what you mean by QA in this context.


Morano El-Kholy
Andriy Yasharov
Dalia Nour
Yaotl Altan
Rosa Paredes
 
Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
United Kingdom
Member (2011)
Swedish to English
+ ...
How long is a piece of string? May 22, 2023

Samuel Murray wrote:
For MTPE: If the text is in a format or CAT tool that is easy to work with, if I'm familiar with the subject field, if the text is simple and straight-forward, if there is no unknown terminology that needs checking, and if the MT engine is good and predictable, then: 1000 words per hour.

FIFY: If the piece of string is three feet from one end to the other, then the piece of string is three feet long.


 
Michael Davies
Michael Davies  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 09:56
Member (2009)
Danish to English
+ ...
Regina Junajew wrote: I am wondering, how much words you can get done while QA of MTPE per hour? May 22, 2023

It is very much dependent upon the quality of the MT ... the better the quality, the greater the number of words of course - if the aim is to achieve 'human equivalent' standard text indistinguishable from a translation done by a good human translator or author. There are also other aspects to be considered than just sentence-by-sentence translation, and the more these are important to the client, the less will be the number of words per hour.

So your question might appear simple at
... See more
It is very much dependent upon the quality of the MT ... the better the quality, the greater the number of words of course - if the aim is to achieve 'human equivalent' standard text indistinguishable from a translation done by a good human translator or author. There are also other aspects to be considered than just sentence-by-sentence translation, and the more these are important to the client, the less will be the number of words per hour.

So your question might appear simple at first sight, but there are a number of factors to be considered when answering it, so there is not really a 'one size fits all' answer.
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Morano El-Kholy
Dalia Nour
neilmac
 
Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
United Kingdom
Member (2011)
Swedish to English
+ ...
Telling May 22, 2023

Michael J.H. Davies wrote:
There are also other aspects to be considered than just sentence-by-sentence translation, and the more these are important to the client, the less will be the number of words per hour.

… is the most Danish sentence ever.

I have just quoted 500 words per hour for editing text written by a human and not even translated…


 
Regina Junajew
Regina Junajew  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 09:56
English to German
TOPIC STARTER
Oneforma May 22, 2023

Yeah, you are right. There are many factors.

I worked on an ISAAC Project at OneForma. I was wondering, how quick the others are.


 
Zea_Mays
Zea_Mays  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 09:56
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
ISAAC Project? Still there? May 22, 2023

Regina Junajew wrote:

I worked on an ISAAC Project at OneForma. I was wondering, how quick the others are.


This ISAAC project? https://www.proz.com/forum/scams/348247-three_translation_agencies_contacted_us_for_mtpe_and_ht_projects_all_the_same_requirements.html
A peanuts-paying project with the aim to eliminate translators?

Are they still fishing?


Dalia Nour
 
Regina Junajew
Regina Junajew  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 09:56
English to German
TOPIC STARTER
speed per hour May 24, 2023

Zea_Mays wrote:


This ISAAC project? https://www.proz.com/forum/scams/348247-three_translation_agencies_contacted_us_for_mtpe_and_ht_projects_all_the_same_requirements.html
A peanuts-paying project with the aim to eliminate translators?

Are they still fishing?


Yeah exactly. Thanks for your hint.

I was just wondering, that it would be about 3€ something per hour with my speed of QA (around 230 words per hour).
The manager answered that the expected speed would be 900 words.

But I mean, I am reading the Source, the target, correct and mark the error. It never can be 900 words. :s


Zea_Mays
 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 09:56
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Aaah, that's what QA is May 24, 2023

Regina Junajew wrote:
Zea_Mays wrote:
This ISAAC project?

But I mean, I am reading the source, the target, correct [the error] and mark the error.

And I read on the other post that these are random sentences, i.e. not part of a larger, logical flow of content. Translating/editing/checking random sentences take more time because your brain needs to "reset" each time you get to a new sentence (i.e. you have to deliberately tell your brain not to take the previous sentence into account when parsing the current sentence).

And you have to "mark" the error as well... I assume this means that you have to classify it in some way? Yes, this will take extra time.

This "QA" that you describe is different from when a translator uses machine translation or edits/proofreads a normal human translation that used machine translation, because as a translator or editor you have more freedom to be flexible. With the QA that you mention, you can't overlook a slight error and call it "good enough" in the way that an editor would be able to do. And if you are required to explain why an error is an error (i.e. classify it) then you're not going to choose the edit that is the quickest to implement but the edit that is quickest to explain.

I was just wondering, that it would be about 3€ something per hour with my speed of QA (around 230 words per hour). ... The manager answered that the expected speed would be 900 words.

I estimate 500-800 words per hour is about what my speed would be to achieve for this type of QA. It really depends on the quality of the source text and the quality of the translation. And on how precise the QA is supposed to be. But if I were paid per word and not per hour, you can bet that I would not do such a precise job as I would have if I had been paid per hour (but: I suspect they know this and they have already taken this into account in the design of their system).

[Edited at 2023-05-24 07:41 GMT]


neilmac
Navraj Bhardwaj
 
IrinaN
IrinaN
United States
Local time: 02:56
English to Russian
+ ...
Answer of the year May 24, 2023

Samuel Murray wrote:

And, if the end-product doesn't need to read like a human translation:


Mind it, I am not a perfectionist and would agree that factually correct mediocre translation has a right to exist under certain circumstances.


 


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How much can you get done within one hour?






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