When this project began, I had it as my aim to translate at least 400 words per day, which I managed to do almost every day. But looking at the detailed translation schedule (see here), one can see that recently my streak has been a little bit choppy.

I have been on parental leave since the beginning of January, and the freedom from work has allowed me to focus on my translation and the other facets of the project, but starting Monday, I will be returning to work for the first time since all this began. I have never worked full time while having three children, and now my oldest has already started school, so there are many changes that will impact my progress.

Anticipating that I will not be able to translate 400 words per day anymore, I have decided to reduce that quota to 200 words. It should be doable; I can usually translate 400 words in 1.5 to 2.5 hours, depending on the difficulty of the Greek. I think 1 to 1.5 hours is a good approximation for how long it will take to translate 200 words. The approximate deadline for finishing translating the entire Commentary on the Epistles was the end of April, 2024 before the quota change, but now it is pushed back to the middle of December, 2025. This can change, of course, based on my actual output. As of this writing, I am 12 days ahead of schedule.

It is often not easy to hit my quota each day, and sometimes the effort needed to succeed seems beyond what I’m capable of, but I’ve had many miraculous successes when I wanted to stop. The work is still rewarding enough that I will continue to do my utmost given the new circumstances, translating both before I leave the house each morning and during my lunch break at work (when I’m able to).

My progress will be slower, but I’m committed to continue what I set out to do.