Poll: What is the largest number of words you have ever proofread/edited in one day? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "What is the largest number of words you have ever proofread/edited in one day?".
This poll was originally submitted by Amar Nath. View the poll results »
| | | | | 7001 - 9000 is the absolute maximum for a human | Jul 28, 2021 |
IMO it's not possible to proofread more than 7001-9000 words in a day unless, of course, you have an electronic brain that does not need any rest OR do not care that much about the quality.
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The largest number? I have no idea! I’m not interested in breaking records. I might be wrong, but this question seems to imply that editing and proofreading are the same when proofreading is a part of editing but editing is much more than proofreading. Obviously the number of words will depend on the quality of the translation, that’s why I never accept a job without having a good look at it first. Anyway, I can manage to edit per hour 1,000 words but I avoid editing more than 4 hours in a r... See more The largest number? I have no idea! I’m not interested in breaking records. I might be wrong, but this question seems to imply that editing and proofreading are the same when proofreading is a part of editing but editing is much more than proofreading. Obviously the number of words will depend on the quality of the translation, that’s why I never accept a job without having a good look at it first. Anyway, I can manage to edit per hour 1,000 words but I avoid editing more than 4 hours in a row. I can manage to proofread over 2,000 words per hour but I avoid proofreading more than 4 hours in a row. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | This is where quality is all-important | Jul 28, 2021 |
It is not a race. (Well, it can be, but then I refuse to do the job).
Proofreading - I have no idea how many words or pages we read in a day, back in the last century when I worked at a printer's. I was one of a team of two, and we did occasionally skim through small, urgent jobs, but my senior partner normally said, in her steady Lancashire accent, 'Things Take Time'. She was experienced, and could work as fast as anyone, but first and foremost, she did things properly!
... See more It is not a race. (Well, it can be, but then I refuse to do the job).
Proofreading - I have no idea how many words or pages we read in a day, back in the last century when I worked at a printer's. I was one of a team of two, and we did occasionally skim through small, urgent jobs, but my senior partner normally said, in her steady Lancashire accent, 'Things Take Time'. She was experienced, and could work as fast as anyone, but first and foremost, she did things properly!
We would rattle through a text: I had the typed and often hand-corrected manuscript, and she had the typeset proof. We took turns to read aloud, mentioning all the caps, punctuation, new lines, and she marked up everything that needed correction. We took breaks when needed, to decipher difficult handwriting or for her to correct a patch of broken print or a series of errors. She always wanted to know which typesetter had set up the proof - she knew their characteristic errors and what to look for, and she was a perfectionist...
That was old-fashioned, monolingual proofreading. Sitting alone and proofing and editing a translation is a different job. For a good colleague I can get through 2000 words in an hour, because there is no terminology to check and not much to correct, but then they may call or e-mail, and we can easily spend an hour discussing a single term or two sentences...
Checking a single term can take several minutes (or much longer), so the average per hour drops at once.
I quote an hourly rate based on 1000 words an hour, and usually give a token discount on the invoice - I rarely spend less time altogether. I cannot proofread and edit for a whole day. I lose concentration and need to take a break or do something else.
If I start early and finish late, I may be able to manage 6000 words in a day with breaks, but not for many days in a row.
[Edited at 2021-07-28 15:18 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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I said "4000 - 5000," but in fact proofreading and editing are very different, as Teresa has pointed out. A wise person once claimed that it's impossible to proofread for errors and pay attention to content at the same time; they are two different mental processes. And editing is even more unpredictable than translating. Factors to consider in editing include not only the quality of the original text but also how deep the client wants us to go. In fact, one of my clients divides editing into th... See more I said "4000 - 5000," but in fact proofreading and editing are very different, as Teresa has pointed out. A wise person once claimed that it's impossible to proofread for errors and pay attention to content at the same time; they are two different mental processes. And editing is even more unpredictable than translating. Factors to consider in editing include not only the quality of the original text but also how deep the client wants us to go. In fact, one of my clients divides editing into three levels, each level described in detail in the contract.
I remember one project in which 30-some countries were asked to respond to a highly structured list of questions. You would think, because they were all responding to the same questions, that dealing with the texts would require a similar effort across the board. Not so! Some of them were easy to translate or edit, while others took much more time because of the problems that we all know so well: awkward style, poor grammar, logical inconsistency, vague thinking, long convoluted sentences; etc.
With translation, we get paid by the word, but not all words are equal by any means. I recognize that there's no perfect solution for measuring our effort and I simply have to trust that the compensation will balance out over time. With editing, some of my clients pay by the hour. When I charge by the word, I invariably end up feeling that I should have charged more.
[Edited at 2021-07-28 10:03 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Please define "proofreading". Then define "editing". Then this question will mean something. It still won't have a definitive answer, but at least it will be a valid question.
| | | | Kay Denney 
France
Local time: 15:06
French to English
I can edit 2,000 words an hour, but I can't do it all day or my brain fries. It needs more frequent breaks than with translating, probably because translation is more varied, with easy patches you can romp through, then interesting bits where you learn weird facts while checking up on terminology.
If it takes longer than that, the work has been badly done, either by machine or a person in the wrong job.
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