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Urgent: How to estimate English target word count
Thread poster: JaneWJH
JaneWJH
JaneWJH  Identity Verified
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Aug 4, 2017

汉译英稿件,中介要我看下,估计英文译件的字数,他们好根据这个跟客户报价。紧急求教,这个译稿字数怎么估算呢?有无常用比例?

还有,因为原稿是Excel格式,显示的是市场调查分栏结果,只好一格格地填写译文,比一般Word文档耗费时间。


 
JaneWJH
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found some useful old posts Aug 4, 2017

http://www.proz.com/forum/linguistics/58362-word_count_for_chinese.html

http://www.proz.com/forum/money_matters/250736-how_do_i_convert_source_word_rates_into_target_word_rates.html
... See more
http://www.proz.com/forum/linguistics/58362-word_count_for_chinese.html

http://www.proz.com/forum/money_matters/250736-how_do_i_convert_source_word_rates_into_target_word_rates.html

嗯,怎么有客户要按 target word count 来付费?!
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David Lin
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中:英数字比例 Aug 4, 2017

Jianhong Jane Wang wrote:

汉译英稿件,中介要我看下,估计英文译件的字数,他们好根据这个跟客户报价。紧急求教,这个译稿字数怎么估算呢?有无常用比例?

还有,因为原稿是Excel格式,显示的是市场调查分栏结果,只好一格格地填写译文,比一般Word文档耗费时间。


Jane,

大概是 1:1.5 的比例。

在此帖题已有更多讨论。

http://www.proz.com/forum/chinese/313357-中翻英如何计算字数.html

用 Excel 格式貌似耗费时间,习惯了以后和用 WORD 差不多。有时候会更容易,因为 Excel 有记忆功能,会自动显示你已经译过的文字,供你选择。

祝报价顺利。


 
David Lin
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语言问题吧 Aug 4, 2017

Jianhong Jane Wang wrote:

嗯,怎么有客户要按 target word count 来付费?!


可能是 PM 和最终客户都不懂中文。所以用英文 target language 估价,对他们来说比较容易处理。

这是非常普遍的现象。

其实对你更划算。你大可要求,由於报价只是大概估计,目的帮助客户做预算及作决定。最终须视乎翻译出来的真正的英文数字来算钱,这样对你比较实际合理。

[Edited at 2017-08-04 10:32 GMT]


 
JaneWJH
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多谢@David Aug 4, 2017

David Lin wrote:

Jianhong Jane Wang wrote:

嗯,怎么有客户要按 target word count 来付费?!


可能是 PM 和最终客户都不懂中文。所以用英文 target language 估价,对他们来说比较容易处理。

这是非常普遍的现象。

另外,你大可要求,由於报价只是大概估计,目的帮助客户做预算及作决定。最终须视乎翻译出来的真正的英文数字来算钱,这样对你比较实际合理。


多谢! 很有帮助。Have a good day!


 
Jinping ZHANG
Jinping ZHANG  Identity Verified
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正解! Aug 8, 2017

David Lin wrote:

Jianhong Jane Wang wrote:

汉译英稿件,中介要我看下,估计英文译件的字数,他们好根据这个跟客户报价。紧急求教,这个译稿字数怎么估算呢?有无常用比例?

还有,因为原稿是Excel格式,显示的是市场调查分栏结果,只好一格格地填写译文,比一般Word文档耗费时间。


Jane,

大概是 1:1.5 的比例。

在此帖题已有更多讨论。

http://www.proz.com/forum/chinese/313357-中翻英如何计算字数.html

用 Excel 格式貌似耗费时间,习惯了以后和用 WORD 差不多。有时候会更容易,因为 Excel 有记忆功能,会自动显示你已经译过的文字,供你选择。

祝报价顺利。


 
David Lin
David Lin  Identity Verified
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谢谢! Aug 8, 2017

Jinping ZHANG wrote:

David Lin wrote:

Jianhong Jane Wang wrote:

汉译英稿件,中介要我看下,估计英文译件的字数,他们好根据这个跟客户报价。紧急求教,这个译稿字数怎么估算呢?有无常用比例?

还有,因为原稿是Excel格式,显示的是市场调查分栏结果,只好一格格地填写译文,比一般Word文档耗费时间。


Jane,

大概是 1:1.5 的比例。

在此帖题已有更多讨论。

http://www.proz.com/forum/chinese/313357-中翻英如何计算字数.html

用 Excel 格式貌似耗费时间,习惯了以后和用 WORD 差不多。有时候会更容易,因为 Excel 有记忆功能,会自动显示你已经译过的文字,供你选择。

祝报价顺利。


也欢迎您第一次来中文论坛。有空以后多来。

顺便请教一下,法文对中文会一样比例吗?



[Edited at 2017-08-08 16:33 GMT]


 
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ysun
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Statistically, the ratio of 1: 1.5 could be wrong Aug 14, 2017

The word-count ratio of an English document to the Chinese document translated therefrom varies widely depending on the types of documents to be translated and a number of other factors. For example, if merely two English words “Good evening” are translated, they could become three Chinese characters “晚上好” (1:1.5). However, statistically, the ratio of 1: 1.5 could be wrong.

To get a more reliable ratio, the easiest way is to randomly pick several documents as sampl
... See more
The word-count ratio of an English document to the Chinese document translated therefrom varies widely depending on the types of documents to be translated and a number of other factors. For example, if merely two English words “Good evening” are translated, they could become three Chinese characters “晚上好” (1:1.5). However, statistically, the ratio of 1: 1.5 could be wrong.

To get a more reliable ratio, the easiest way is to randomly pick several documents as samples and translate them with Google Translate. Then, you could figure out a more reliable ratio based on the word-counts for the source and output document. The more words are contained in these documents, the more reliable the ratio would be. If you have a try, you will see that a more reliable ratio would be in the rage of 1:1.6 to 1:1.7.

For a Chinese into English translation project, the actual word-count for the translated document could very well be over 10% less than the estimated word-count calculated from the ratio of 1:1.5. If your charge is based on the actual word-count for the translated English documents, and if you set your price rate based on the estimated word-count calculated from the ratio of 1:1.5, chances are you could end up with losing more than 10% of your income compared to what you initially expected. That is something you may want to avoid.


[Edited at 2017-08-14 14:33 GMT]
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ysun
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Some old postings Aug 21, 2017

http://www.proz.com/forum/chinese/82325-about_how_many_chinese_characters_to_english_words_in_chi_eng_texts.html

LoyalTrans wrote:
1.7:1

Caroline, for your first question, based on my experiences, the ratio is generally about 1.7:1 for Chinese characters to English words (either way translation). Understandably, this rate can vary depending on the nature of the text to be translated.


Shaunna wrote:
About the same-- 1.7:1 Chi:Eng

I hear people talking about 1.5:1, and that appears to be a quite widely accepted ratio, in my impression.

However, my ratio has never been that low. I always feel 亏了 when I translate Chinese into English at ~1.7 ratio, and the price quoted is based on target English word counting.

Now I feel better. At least it's not only me.
Would be interesting to see the ratio for other translators here.


 
ysun
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使用 "1.5: 1" 的比例所产生的问题 Aug 21, 2017

为什么 Shaunna 在上面说“亏了”?且看她的解释:
Shaunna wrote:

That's where the problem is. I use 1.5:1 when quoting, that is, when I quote for 0.10/Chinese source word, I would then quote for 0.15/English target word if they request.

As a result, for a job of, say, 10,000 Chinese characters, what would have been $1000 based on Chinese count will become $882.

也就是说, 按照"1.5: 1" 的比例,她原以为 10,000 中文字可以译出 10,000/1.5 English words,实际结果却只有 10,000/1.7 English words;原以为可以得到 $1000 的稿酬,结果却只得 $882。


 
ysun
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“根据多数翻译公司长年的项目实践”... Aug 21, 2017

http://www.giltbridge.com/Content/2012/10-12/1102124703.html
注:根据多数翻译公司长年的项目实践,在一般的中英翻译文档中,中文文档的字数与英文文档单词数比例在1.6:1左右。也就是说,如果您有3000单词英文文档需要翻译,那么它的译文中文字数应该在4800字左右;在多数情况下,采用字数换算得到的中文统计结果会比直接统计中文译文得到的字数结果稍低。

The statement “在多数情况下,采用字数换算得到的中文统计结果会比直接统计中文译文得到的字数结果稍低” means that the actual word-count in the Chinese translation could be higher than the word-count calculated according to the ratio of 1.6: 1. In other words, the ratio would be higher than 1.6: 1.


 
JaneWJH
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估算不会很精确 Aug 21, 2017

ysun wrote:

http://www.giltbridge.com/Content/2012/10-12/1102124703.html
注:根据多数翻译公司长年的项目实践,在一般的中英翻译文档中,中文文档的字数与英文文档单词数比例在1.6:1左右。也就是说,如果您有3000单词英文文档需要翻译,那么它的译文中文字数应该在4800字左右;在多数情况下,采用字数换算得到的中文统计结果会比直接统计中文译文得到的字数结果稍低。

The statement “在多数情况下,采用字数换算得到的中文统计结果会比直接统计中文译文得到的字数结果稍低” means that the actual word-count in the Chinese translation could be higher than the word-count calculated according to the ratio of 1.6: 1. In other words, the ratio would be higher than 1.6: 1.


谢谢ysun。我那个项目最终客户没有确认,所以我也不需要做啦。翻译公司要我给出一个比例也只是给客户提供预算的大致范围,说最终付酬也会按照最终定稿的字数。还是这样比较合理。


 
JaneWJH
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English to Chinese
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估算不会很精确 Aug 21, 2017

ysun wrote:

http://www.giltbridge.com/Content/2012/10-12/1102124703.html
注:根据多数翻译公司长年的项目实践,在一般的中英翻译文档中,中文文档的字数与英文文档单词数比例在1.6:1左右。也就是说,如果您有3000单词英文文档需要翻译,那么它的译文中文字数应该在4800字左右;在多数情况下,采用字数换算得到的中文统计结果会比直接统计中文译文得到的字数结果稍低。

The statement “在多数情况下,采用字数换算得到的中文统计结果会比直接统计中文译文得到的字数结果稍低” means that the actual word-count in the Chinese translation could be higher than the word-count calculated according to the ratio of 1.6: 1. In other words, the ratio would be higher than 1.6: 1.


谢谢ysun。我那个项目最终客户没有确认,所以我也不需要做啦。翻译公司要我给出一个比例也只是给客户提供预算的大致范围,说最终付酬也会按照最终定稿的字数。还是这样比较合理。


 
ysun
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此问题具有普遍性 Aug 22, 2017

Jianhong Jane Wang wrote:

谢谢ysun。我那个项目最终客户没有确认,所以我也不需要做啦。翻译公司要我给出一个比例也只是给客户提供预算的大致范围,说最终付酬也会按照最终定稿的字数。还是这样比较合理。

不必客气。虽然你那个项目不需要做了,但此问题具有普遍性,多年来也常有人来这里问。为了让其他同仁避免吃 Shaunna 曾经吃过的亏,我觉得有必要指出这个问题,供大家参考。 LoyalTrans 和 Shaunna 都是很有经验的翻译,以前在论坛上也很活跃。他们的经验也值得借鉴。俗话讲,兼听则明,偏信则暗。统计学数据没有绝对精确,只有相对精确,而且还有例外。不过我相信,1: 1.6-1.7 是比较可信的范围。

按照最终定稿的字数收费确实比较合理。那就不管它什么比例不比例,而是觉得什么价对得起自己就报什么价。


 
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Urgent: How to estimate English target word count






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