How Long Does it Take to Turn Out a Professional Translation?
As in any professional activity, giving good results in translation requires significant time and effort, especially it the document to be translated is long or contains many technical terms. A common question is: How many words can a professional translator translate each day? Although the answer may seem easy allowing to quickly give a number, the reality is more complex. Every person and company in this profession have their own methodologies, capacities, and areas of specialization, so that it is difficult to provide an exact delivery time.
What is a Professional Translation?
A professional translation can be made on all topics. It refers to the service that provides a transcription from an original language to another, which is directed at a restricted public, uses technical language, and has a specific purpose.
Some texts that require professional translations are:
- Documents that use technical language in fields such as engineering, telecommunications, and architecture.
- Manuals and instructions, such as user manuals, catalogues, and technical guidelines, just to name a few.
- Product presentations and documents required to do business in another country.
- Academic documents in the social sciences, articles in specialized journals and news media reports.
- Web page creation, from content to instructions for site maintenance
- Texts related to medical or pharmaceutical topics
- Files regarding marketing or publicity campaigns
- Legal or official documents to carry out international administrative procedures.
These translations have to be made with great care, as they involve complex issues regarding areas that usually handle a highly specialized language and have their own terminology, as well as style and drafting guidelines. In a closely related matter, translators must closely preserve the document’s purpose, so that pressure on them to be exact increases considerably.
What is the Timeline to Produce a Professional Translation?
There are several factors to consider before answering this question. No matter how fast a translator is, often several obstacles arise that complicate the work.
The first factor to consider before giving a delivery date is the number of words in a document. The most common daily average for translation is between 2,000-2,500 words. Thus, if a document has 5,000 words, then the task is likely to take two days to complete.
Another relevant factor is if the text is highly specialized. The more complex the terminology it uses, the longer the time necessary to finish the work. In this type of service, it is ideal to involve a translator specializing in the specific topic. This being said, delivery time should not be much longer than that mentioned previously. However, a specialized text will always require more care and attention to detail.
Computerized and automatic translation can be an option if you want speed. Nonetheless, such translations can never be considered professional. For a translation to have such characteristic, a human being must always intervene to revise the work and put words in the correct context and clarify meanings.
At Servicio Lingüístico Empresarial we can provide the professional translations that you need. We have more than 42 years of experience in the market, supporting the most diverse industries, such as chemical-pharmaceutical, automotive, information technology and legal, among many others. We turn out more than 150 thousand words per month. You will get the result you expect in ideal time. Get in touch with the experts. In less than 24 hrs. we will reply with a quotation and any other information you require. No time to lose? At SLE we can deliver urgent translations.
