How to use the speaking time calculator
- Paste your script, voiceover or speech into the box, or press “Use a sample” to see how it works.
- Choose a pace. Conversational (150 words per minute) suits most videos, and you can drag the slider to match how you actually speak.
- Read the speaking time on the right. Leave the pause option on for a realistic figure, because a spoken script is never just words back to back.
- Scroll to the table to see how long the same script runs in Spanish, French, German, Hindi and other languages.
- Planning before you write? Switch to “Time to words” and enter the length you want to get a target word count.
How speaking time is calculated
The maths is simple: divide the number of words by your speaking rate in words per minute. A 750-word script read at 150 words per minute takes five minutes. The calculator then adds time for pauses, because people stop for breath, for emphasis and at the end of every sentence. By default it adds about 0.2 seconds for each comma, 0.5 seconds for each sentence and 0.8 seconds for each paragraph break. Switch the option off if you want the pure word-count figure.
Pace is the biggest variable. Most conversational English falls around 150 words per minute. Teaching and training content is usually slower, and energetic ads and short-form clips are faster. If you are unsure, time yourself reading a paragraph aloud and move the slider to match.
Words per minute for common video lengths
Use this table to size a script before you write it. The middle column is the conversational pace most creators use.
| Video length | Slow (120 wpm) | Conversational (150 wpm) | Fast (180 wpm) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 seconds | 60 words | 75 words | 90 words |
| 1 minute | 120 words | 150 words | 180 words |
| 3 minutes | 360 words | 450 words | 540 words |
| 5 minutes | 600 words | 750 words | 900 words |
| 10 minutes | 1200 words | 1500 words | 1800 words |
Why speaking time changes when you dub a video
A translated script is almost never the same length as the original. Spanish, Portuguese and French tend to run longer than English when spoken, while Chinese often runs shorter. That matters for dubbing because the new voice has to fit the same video: the same scene cuts, the same on-screen text and the same moments of silence. If the dub runs long, it spills over the next shot; if it runs short, the video feels empty.
Dubbing by hand means trimming the translation, rewriting lines until they fit, or speeding up the voice until it sounds rushed. The estimates in the table above help you see the problem early. If your English script is three minutes and the Spanish version is likely to be about twenty seconds longer, you know to leave room or tighten the source.
Dubtitle handles the timing for you. It transcribes the original, translates it into any of 84 languages and generates a voice track that keeps the speaker’s voice, tone and pacing, with rhythm and pauses that follow the original. If a line still does not sit right, you can edit it in Studio, adjust the timing and regenerate only the segments you changed instead of redoing the whole video.
Tips for writing a script that dubs well
- Keep sentences short. One idea per sentence is easier to translate and easier to fit to the picture.
- Be careful with idioms and wordplay. Jokes built on English phrasing rarely survive translation, so say what you mean plainly where it matters.
- Leave breathing room. Pauses between thoughts give the dub space to run slightly longer without crowding the next scene.
- Keep names and terms consistent. Product names, acronyms and technical terms should be written the same way every time. A translation glossary locks in how they appear in each language.
- Do not duplicate on-screen text. If a caption already says it, the voice does not need to read it word for word.
From script to dubbed video
If you already have the finished video, you do not need to rewrite or re-record anything. Upload the file or paste a YouTube link, choose your languages, and Dubtitle returns a dubbed version in minutes, not weeks. There is no studio to book and no voice actor to brief. Most videos are processed in 2 to 10 minutes.
You can try it before you commit. The 7-day free trial includes 5 minutes of dubbing for videos up to 60 seconds, with a watermark, and every paid plan is covered by a 30-day money-back guarantee. Not sure where to start? Read the step-by-step guide on how to dub a YouTube video into Hindi, see how AI dubbing compares with subtitles, or check the plans. Ready now? Start your free trial.