Although messenger RNA (mRNA) translation is a fundamental biological process, it has never been imaged in real time in vivo with single-molecule precision. To achieve this, we developed nascent chain tracking (NCT), a technique that uses multi-epitope tags and antibody-based fluorescent probes to quantify protein synthesis dynamics at the single-mRNA level. NCT reveals an elongation rate of similar to 10 amino acids per second, with initiation occurring stochastically every similar to 30 seconds. Polysomes contain similar to 1 ribosome every 200 to 900 nucleotides and are globular rather than elongated in shape. By developing multicolor probes, we showed that most polysomes act independently; however, a small fraction (similar to 5%) form complexes in which two distinct mRNAs can be translated simultaneously. The sensitivity and versatility of NCT make it a powerful new tool for quantifying mRNA translation kinetics.