Translation Conversion

[Paul B. Gallagher]

bela shayevich wrote:

> russian words X 1.2 = english words

In my experience, translating into English, the increase is more like 
10-15% for lightly-edited translations; in certain subject areas or with 
heavy editing, it can be as low as 5-10%. Legal texts tend to inflate 
more, as much as 20%. But if I received a translation in a nonlegal 
subject area with that much inflation, I'd wonder why and expect editing 
to reduce it significantly.

However, I don't translate into Russian, so I can't say how much 
decrease to expect; I would guess the decrease will be less than the 
figures quoted above. Other things being equal, a translation in any 
language will usually be longer than an equivalent text written 
originally in that language, because even a perfect translator will have 
to work harder to express culturally alien thoughts. In practice, 
translators are not perfect and often try too hard to be too faithful to 
the original phrasing.

The originator's estimate of 3,000 Russian words seems reasonable for 10 
pages at 1.5-line spacing. If I were drafting in English and aiming for 
that target, I'd write an extra 10% or so -- about 3,300-3,400 words -- 
unless I knew my translator was especially efficient or especially 
laconic. A beginning translator might even produce 3,500 words of 
Russian in response.

-- 
War doesn't determine who's right, just who's left.
--
Paul B. Gallagher
pbg translations, inc.
"Russian Translations That Read Like Originals"
http://pbg-translations.com

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