Would you consider this deadline tight? Initiator des Themas: Serena Marangoni
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I have a project that's about 300,000 words. It's a series of operation manuals for one of my best clients, so I have a good TM and I know the project is very high in repetition, but the deadline is in 20 days.
About 30% of the text is perfect match/context repetition from my TM that can be translated automatically by Trados. I also have an old version of the same manual in the target language, which unfortunately is just low quality scan (no ocr possible). I would have to re-type t... See more I have a project that's about 300,000 words. It's a series of operation manuals for one of my best clients, so I have a good TM and I know the project is very high in repetition, but the deadline is in 20 days.
About 30% of the text is perfect match/context repetition from my TM that can be translated automatically by Trados. I also have an old version of the same manual in the target language, which unfortunately is just low quality scan (no ocr possible). I would have to re-type this translation, and translate "from scratch" only about 20% of the total. (So, about 90,000 words get translated automatically by the software, about 150.000 words have to be reviewed and the translation typed in, and only about 60,000 words need to be translated "from scratch").
I work alone, and I know that with similar projects I've worked at a rhythm of about 1,500 words/hour (including repetitions and things that I just had to type - if I translated from scratch I usually do 600/hour).
I don't think I'm a slow translator, but I also have other projects and I know I would need at least 2 months.
I'm wondering if others work faster? I think the only possibility the client has is to ask an agency but I know they'll charge a lot more than I do.
How long would this project take for you? ▲ Collapse
| | | | Kevin Fulton 
Vereinigte Staaten
Local time: 06:36
Deutsch > Englisch
| Unrealistic deadline | Sep 17, 2018 |
Serena Marangoni wrote:
I have a project that's about 300,000 words. It's a series of operation manuals for one of my best clients, so I have a good TM and I know the project is very high in repetition, but the deadline is in 20 days.
[snip]
about 150.000 words have to be reviewed and the translation typed in, and only about 60,000 words need to be translated "from scratch").
I work alone, and I know that with similar projects I've worked at a rhythm of about 1,500 words/hour (including repetitions and things that I just had to type - if I translated from scratch I usually do 600/hour).
I don't think I'm a slow translator, but I also have other projects and I know I would need at least 2 months.
How long would this project take for you?
On any large project you have to build in time for unexpected events, such as power failures, computer crashes, illness, etc. as well as time for terminology research or queries in addition to required down-time to retain your sanity. If this is for a direct client, you also need to add time for reviewing and other quality-related tasks.
Your 2-month time estimate is not unreasonable, but I would consider it optimistic. 20 days is positively inhumane!
| | | | Giuliana Buscaglione
Vereinigte Staaten
Local time: 03:36
Mitglied (2001)
Deutsch > Italienisch
+ ...
| Unrealistic is what you cannot do | Sep 17, 2018 |
Hello Serena,
unrealistic is anything you cannot handle, not what others can. And this is very personal. Anything else is not relevant. You should know from experience how many words you can translate per day - every day without any interruption until you're done! and not on the base of what you can when you are not tired, and decide with a realistic attitude. Apart from the fact that it ought not to be your concern how much an agency would cost your client, why not team up with a g... See more Hello Serena,
unrealistic is anything you cannot handle, not what others can. And this is very personal. Anything else is not relevant. You should know from experience how many words you can translate per day - every day without any interruption until you're done! and not on the base of what you can when you are not tired, and decide with a realistic attitude. Apart from the fact that it ought not to be your concern how much an agency would cost your client, why not team up with a good colleague and do the job?? If this stress job (yep, that's my opinion, wouldn't touch it, but I don't need to) is so important for you.
Giuliana ▲ Collapse
| | | | | How confident are you in your figures? | Sep 17, 2018 |
As Giuliana mentioned, it doesn't matter what anyone else can or cannot do, they're not in your shoes. But if you feel confident that your figures are accurate, both in match/no match word volume and output rates, this means that over a 20-day period, you would spend 60 hours on repetitions, 100 hours on re-typing and 100 hours on translating from scratch.
That's 260 hours of work in 20 days, for an average of 13 hours per day. Without a day off, other projects/clients or, as Kevin... See more As Giuliana mentioned, it doesn't matter what anyone else can or cannot do, they're not in your shoes. But if you feel confident that your figures are accurate, both in match/no match word volume and output rates, this means that over a 20-day period, you would spend 60 hours on repetitions, 100 hours on re-typing and 100 hours on translating from scratch.
That's 260 hours of work in 20 days, for an average of 13 hours per day. Without a day off, other projects/clients or, as Kevin mentioned, any unforeseen delays. I don't know if it's sustainable in your situation, but I would certainly include a hefty surcharge. ▲ Collapse
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Serena Marangoni
Italien
Local time: 12:36
Englisch > Italienisch
+ ...
THEMENSTARTER
Giuliana Buscaglione wrote:
Hello Serena,
unrealistic is anything you cannot handle, not what others can. And this is very personal. Anything else is not relevant. You should know from experience how many words you can translate per day - every day without any interruption until you're done! and not on the base of what you can when you are not tired, and decide with a realistic attitude. Apart from the fact that it ought not to be your concern how much an agency would cost your client, why not team up with a good colleague and do the job?? If this stress job (yep, that's my opinion, wouldn't touch it, but I don't need to) is so important for you.
Giuliana
Thanks Giuliana, I totally agree, with you. My problem is I have a hard time understanding how my speed compares to others. I don't worry about being able to deliver as much as someone else, I would just like to know if others feel the same, before telling the client that I believe the deadline is unreasonable.
I know that in my case, with my other projects and commitments, I absolutely can't take this job if the deadline isn't put off.
Ironically, less than one week ago this client asked for a discount on future projects, and I agreed but specifically told them that to stay within their budget I would only take their projects in my off-time and prioritize other clients.
| | | | DZiW (X)
Ukraine
Englisch > Russisch
+ ...
I don't work with agencies, but my colleagues mentioned agencies often seek for tight deadline and deliberately close their eyes to teaming up and re-outsourcing, let alone PEMT.
There're seem so many decent specialists even at ProZ. If the project is quite lucrative, then why not find a colleague or two?
[Edited at 2018-09-17 22:23 GMT]
| | | | | What a surprise... | Sep 18, 2018 |
Serena Marangoni wrote:
...
Ironically, less than one week ago this client asked for a discount on future projects, ...
You agreed, and here you go, a mega-size project! Isn't it sweet for savings?
I would suspect they knew all along that this big project was coming, and they are playing on your assumed unwillingness to let such a large project go. They conveniently ignore your comment about only off-time, low priority projects, because they know such a big project gives them negotiating power.
Do not take on anything that is unrealistic.
| | | | Josephine Cassar
Malta
Local time: 12:36
Mitglied (2012)
Englisch > Maltesisch
+ ...
| Personally.. | Sep 18, 2018 |
I find the following unrealistic or unsustainable too. I personally would not be able to do so many in an hour-not even the 600 you mention and if you told them and convinced them you could manage that much, then no wonder they came back with such unrealistic deadlines. Sorry but my take.
Serena Marangoni wrote:
I work alone, and I know that with similar projects I've worked at a rhythm of about 1,500 words/hour (including repetitions and things that I just had to type - if I translated from scratch I usually do 600/hour).
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there are Italian colleagues on this site who claim they can do 10,000 a day... just put an ad here and they will help you. Problem solved... 
| | | | | Roughly XXXX working days | Sep 18, 2018 |
Serena Marangoni wrote:
About 30% of the text is perfect match/context repetition from my TM that can be translated automatically by Trados. I also have an old version of the same manual in the target language, which unfortunately is just low quality scan (no ocr possible). I would have to re-type this translation, and translate "from scratch" only about 20% of the total. (So, about 90,000 words get translated automatically by the software, about 150.000 words have to be reviewed and the translation typed in, and only about 60,000 words need to be translated "from scratch").
To me the main issue here is those 150,000 words that have to be reviewed and their translation typed in. A CAT tool would prove tremendously useful if you could OCR and align the old materials, even if not accurately. At least, your CAT tools could propose useful matches to save you the time of looking for the section / check visually what has changed, which takes a long time / type the whole translation manually.
If you managed to OCR and align the old manual, even with very rough results, you would save a lot of time. To me, without OCR/alignment of the 150,000 words, they would count at least as new, which takes us to 150,000+60,000 words to translate = 210,000 words.
Even at a sustained rate of 1,000 words per hour (which still sounds high since you will have to visually compare materials in the infamous 150,000 words), you would need at least 210 hours, i.e. 26 working days at 8 hours a day. I reckon everybody needs some rest in between, so add 5-6 minimum days of rest to it and you end up with a full month or more, but only if you do not serve other clients, which sounds unreasonable.
Personally I would ask for 2 months for this job, to accommodate some rest and being able to serve other clients.
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Giovanni Guarnieri MITI, MIL wrote:
there are Italian colleagues on this site who claim they can do 10,000 a day... just put an ad here and they will help you. Problem solved...
Not the 10,000-a-day-translators-are-irresponsible-and/or-liars discussion! Please!
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Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT wrote:
Giovanni Guarnieri MITI, MIL wrote:
there are Italian colleagues on this site who claim they can do 10,000 a day... just put an ad here and they will help you. Problem solved...
Not the 10,000-a-day-translators-are-irresponsible-and/or-liars discussion! Please!
I'm surprised nobody has popped up yet saying it's feasible... no sweat...
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