Translation Review Time Estimator

Translation revision time: rule and example

To get revision throughput, divide the word count by your hourly rate: hours = words / revision_words_per_hour. On a clean translation a professional reviser moves through roughly 1,000 words/hour. That number falls to 600-800 w/h once the draft is weak enough to need actual rewriting. Pricing usually lands at 30-50% of what the translation itself cost. So a 5,000-word file at 1,200 w/h works out to about 4 hours. Both the ATA and ABRATES codes of ethics insist on a second pair of eyes before anything goes out labeled "revised" or "proofread".

Applications

Think sworn translation certified by a Junta Comercial, where fees come straight from the state tariff tables. Or e-book self-publishing on platforms like Babelcube and Amazon KDP. ISO 17100 quality assurance is another case, since it requires an independent reviser by the book. Project managers at LSPs (Language Service Providers) tend to set aside 20-30% of total project time for revision and QA combined.

FAQ

Revision vs. proofreading? Revision means reading source against target. Proofreading looks only at the target, checking grammar and style.

What if the translation is bad? Once you drop below ~600 w/h, retranslating is the cheaper route. Either charge the higher rate or walk away from the job.

Does QA count as revision? No. Automated QA tools like Xbench and Verifika catch mechanical errors, and that work sits on top of revision rather than replacing it.

Why is the rate higher than translation? You're reading each word rather than producing it, so the cognitive load per word drops and you cover ground faster.