What is the average typing speed of a translator?

What is your profession? A writer or a translator? Being one of these, if you have a task pending of 1500 words which are due in a few hours, and you’re worried that you might not be able to reach the deadline, don’t worry!  All you need to do is to test your typing skills and divide a certain number of words per minute. This way you will be able to determine your average speed and you’ll complete your work within time. If you are wondering about how you can test your average typing speed. Let’s find out in this article!

Well, typing Skills are the main priority of writers and translators as it increases their chances of earning more by becoming professional typists. According to recent research, the fastest typists in the world have a speed ranging from 160 WPM to over 300. You don’t need to type so fast that all people can hear the sound of your clattering keyboard loudly. But if you do so, you have the advantage of achieving many awards in your career. For average typewriters, people ask about the average typing speed. So, let’s determine that as well.

What is the average typing speed of a translator?

The typing speed of each person can vary but the average typing speed is about 36-41 WPM with a 92% of typing accuracy. There are chances that if you type slower than this, then you may face time management issues. Touch typing is not something which you cannot learn and improve but all you need is practice. Some studies indicate that girls write more than boys. But the typing speed for women is 37 WPM and that of men is 44 WPM. Measuring the characters per minute also helps in determining the typing speed.

For a translator, things are a bit difficult. It is because you have to understand the meaning of the whole sentence and then translate the words accordingly. It takes time to choose the correct and appropriate words for your translation. If you work at an agency, then you may be required to work daily and translate about 2000-3000 words. To meet the deadlines, translating 1000 to 2000 words per hour would be perfect for you. But you can slow it down also since you will be left with a lot of time. While translating, when you look at the screen and the words you’re writing rather than looking at the keyboard, you call it to touch typing or typing by feel. You achieve this stage when you’re all trained and fluent in your translation.

Fastest Typists

The fastest typist in the world in 2005 was a woman, Barbara Blackburn. In 2005, using a Simplified Dvorak Keyboard, she was able to write 50 words per minute for 50 minutes and 170 words per minute for the shortest duration of time. She was even clocked at a peak speed of 212 words per minute once. This was even beyond a professional typist. She even received a typing certificate for this record.

An average typist should write about 50 to 80 words per minute if they type for a living. Her example explains that the keyboard you use for typing also plays an important role in speed typing. If you use a keyboard with soft buttons, you can improve your touch typing skills. Some translators write 80 to 95 words per minute and usually the minimum required for dispatch positions, time-sensitive typing jobs, and some advanced typists work at speeds above 120 WPM. Also, check out our post on Certified Translation.

Words per Minute (WPM)

Words per minute mostly abbreviated as WPM are simply the measure of words you can write in one minute. It is often used as a measurement tool for your typing speed, reading, or Morse code sending and receiving. The type of keyboard you use, alphanumeric and numeric entries, reading and comprehension, speech and listening, handwriting, and sign language, all are considered while measuring your typing speed.

There are five keystrokes in the English language including spaces and punctuation that are necessary for the measurement of text entry. Stenotype keyboards enable its trained users to type as fast as 226 WPM at a high typing accuracy for a prolonged period. They are sufficient for real-time activities like closed captioning and court opening. To become a professional with proper typing techniques, it is your chance to start at an early age. It is because more practice means more beneficial results. Let’s find out how we can improve our typing speed.

How to improve your typing speed?

It is not compulsory for you as a translator to have the fastest typing speed, but if you do not break your bad habits and do efforts to improve, then surely it is your mistake. There are several ways through which you can improve your proper typing techniques including:

• First of all, take a deep breath and have trust in yourself because you can do it no matter what. Then, you should find the time and master the keyboard you use and learn proper hand placement. Improving your typing speed requires the use of good equipment as well.
• Secondly, you should learn how to touch type. Proper Touch typing techniques will reduce the time duration of your typing and you’ll be able to do more work in less time. Your correct position matters a lot. You may find the need to alter the height of your chair to get the correct typing posture. Experts say that you should be able to sit up straight so that the elbow should be bent at a 90-degree angle. Use of middle finger should be increased to make your touch typing techniques better. You should also make a comprehensive list of all the words you learn and write any extra minutes you take.
• Using your keyboard shortcuts will also improve your typing speed. Copying, pasting, undoing, and finding a word in your text can easily be done with the shortcuts of your keyboard. You won’t need a mouse with it just adopt a relaxed stance. This will also save your time and improve your typing accuracy. You can also take typing classes for improvement.

Typing Tests

Typing tests or training tools are the most essential steps of improving your average typing speed through proper typing techniques. There are several websites online that help you in determining how many words you can write in a minute. This link https://www.livechat.com/typing-speed-test/#/ will help you in determining your average typing speed. An average person can also measure his proper touch typing skills through this given link.

Why is it important?

The typing speed of a translator is his grip on his profession. Being a translator, you need to have proper typing techniques to impress your clients with fast-delivery services. There are several things you consider while translating documents including typing mistakes, errors, typing accuracy, and meaningful sentences. All these things collectively make you an efficient typist. Testing your average typing speed is very essential for translators because it allows them to determine their strengths and weaknesses.

Apart from translation services, almost every individual requires analysis of their profession and skills to know their strong points and lacking points. After determining their average typing speed, one can challenge themselves to improve the next time. As mentioned above, Barbara Blackburn was also seen improving every single time she writes. This also explains the fact that our life is a learning process and there is no limit or endpoint to this learning. We can always improve from better to best.