| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4] | Thinking of "denouncing" a colleague (whose work is really bad) Thread poster: Michail Strijov
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Kay Denney 
France
Local time: 19:36
French to English
Ice Scream wrote:
I also edit quite a lot of English texts, many of them written by non-natives. To be fair, if I can turn those into good English, you can translate them into Turkish or whatever just as easily.
Chris I don't agree with you here. It can take quite a bit of time and effort to edit such stuff, often it takes a fair bit of sleuthing to even understand it in order to express it more clearly. I'm being paid by the hour to edit it, so I won't moan about spending longer than usual working on it because I'll earn more. Whereas Baran is most likely being paid per word.
I do agree that Baran's English is excellent, but he may not know much about typical mistakes made by Koreans or Brazilians, so it stands to reason that it might be hard to translate such stuff.
When I'm editing something written by a French person (the most likely scenario, since almost all my clients are French), I can tell what they're trying to say because they're using French idiom. I once had a text to edit that had been translated from Dutch, and I ended up asking a Dutch friend to translate bits back into Dutch for her to then explain it to me, because the client "wasn't available" to answer questions (I suspected that the PM didn't want to ask for some obscure reason).
| | | | | Perhaps One Should Avoid Editing Translations That Are Not In One's Areas Of Specialization | Jan 31, 2022 |
I was asked once to edit a rather lengthy "translation" that was the description of the curriculum of a program of study in the social sciences at one of the Italian universities. It was obvious to me that the "translation" had not been produced by a native speaker of English, and she/he was not even conversant with standard pedagogical terminology. But I gritted my teeth and dived into it anyway, since I am quite familiar, besides with my native language, with the kind of terminology employed i... See more I was asked once to edit a rather lengthy "translation" that was the description of the curriculum of a program of study in the social sciences at one of the Italian universities. It was obvious to me that the "translation" had not been produced by a native speaker of English, and she/he was not even conversant with standard pedagogical terminology. But I gritted my teeth and dived into it anyway, since I am quite familiar, besides with my native language, with the kind of terminology employed in those kinds of texts. Therefore, it actually wasn't all that difficult for me to edit, even though it looked daunting at first. That said, I don't think one should necessarily proofread and edit everything an agency sends one's way. If your past work has been good/you already have a proven track record with an agency, they'll probably want to continue to use your services, anyway.
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| | | | Adieu
Ukrainian to English
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You're missing the point.
OP is very clearly complaining of a very familiar situation in overtly two-/three-stage translations that hire from the same pool for revisions, where the translator role knows they can usually get away with not doing their job properly.
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Kay Denney wrote:
Chris I don't agree with you here. It can take quite a bit of time and effort to edit such stuff, often it takes a fair bit of sleuthing to even understand it in order to express it more clearly. I'm being paid by the hour to edit it, so I won't moan about spending longer than usual working on it because I'll earn more. Whereas Baran is most likely being paid per word.
I do agree that Baran's English is excellent, but he may not know much about typical mistakes made by Koreans or Brazilians, so it stands to reason that it might be hard to translate such stuff.
You’re right, Kay. I can often see the underlying Norwegian. Years ago I used to struggle with editing English texts written by a Danish company’s Japanese subsidiary.
But… big but… how often would such texts go into Turkish etc? Surely most texts going out of English will be of a decent publishable standard? Surely only idiots would send nonsense for translation? Obviously there are exceptions, but then simply don’t take those jobs. There have to be plenty where sufficient effort has been made. I only translate texts that are about to be published, so it can be done.
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Baran Keki
Türkiye
Local time: 20:36
Member
English to Turkish
| More often than you think | Feb 1, 2022 |
Ice Scream wrote:
But… big but… how often would such texts go into Turkish etc? Surely most texts going out of English will be of a decent publishable standard? Surely only idiots would send nonsense for translation? Obviously there are exceptions, but then simply don’t take those jobs. There have to be plenty where sufficient effort has been made. I only translate texts that are about to be published, so it can be done.
Just in the last seven days I had to translate the subtitles for a French CEO's message delivered in English, using all sorts of fancy Americanisms and making as little sense as possible (as if he can't deliver his message in his native French... aren't the Frenchies supposed to be proud of their beloved language, and that they won't answer you if you ask them something in English even though they know English?), and then I had to translate the catalog of a British machine manufacturer, where the words "proudly British", "Great Britain" were scattered all over the place, only the text in general didn't give me the impression that it was the work of a British person. I seriously wonder if they outsourced the writing of manuals and catalogs to their affiliates located in another country (perhaps Brazil or Romania?). And yesterday I was dealing with a text likely written by a Dutch person. I still haven't managed to finish a less than 100 word text because I'm unable to figure out what they meant by "feed-through plug". I asked it on Kudoz (both in EN>TR and EN>EN) and received no satisfactory answers so far... even the native English speakers are puzzled by it. Perhaps you can offer an answer? Check it out here:
https://www.proz.com/kudoz/english/electronics-elect-eng/7038536-feed-through-plug.html
I'm afraid I can't pick and choose my work when they come from decent paying agencies (in my language pair). You get used to bad and broken English over the years, otherwise you just have to pack it all in and look for another job, because almost 70 percent of the English texts I receive for translation are written by non-native English speakers or they are translations from other languages into English by non-native English speakers or by 'bad'/'incompetent' native English translators...
Everybody wants to speak English (thanks to Rule Britannia!) Whatcha gonna do?
| | | | Kay Denney
France
Local time: 19:36
French to English
Ice Scream wrote:
But… big but… how often would such texts go into Turkish etc? Surely most texts going out of English will be of a decent publishable standard? Surely only idiots would send nonsense for translation?
A *lot* of foreign companies needing translations into many languages will start on translating from their language into English, then from English into all the others. It's so much simpler than finding someone who translates from Norwegian into Arabic and Turkish. Agencies probably suggest it too. I get Excel files all the time (grr Excel for translation!!!) where the English version is to be placed in the first column, then the source French is in the second, then a host of others in the next columns. The translators working into the other languages then receive my Excel file with my translation plus the French, so that those who do speak French can work from both the source and my translation, and those who don't, don't.
From what I saw of the stuff my EN-FR colleagues worked on, a very significant proportion of clients like to write directly in English, because they think they can.
| | | | | Be more like Bob the Builder! | Feb 1, 2022 |
Baran Keki wrote: . I still haven't managed to finish a less than 100 word text because I'm unable to figure out what they meant by "feed-through plug". I asked it on Kudoz (both in EN>TR and EN>EN) and received no satisfactory answers so far... even the native English speakers are puzzled by it. Perhaps you can offer an answer? Check it out here: https://www.proz.com/kudoz/english/electronics-elect-eng/7038536-feed-through-plug.html I'm afraid I can't pick and choose my work
Yes, you can. That’s the point.
Obviously it needs to be a gradual process so you don’t starve. But if you don’t, you’ll be stuck in the same rut forever.
PS I did know immediately what the product was, but I take your point.
Kay, yes I know, but nobody is forcing anybody to take jobs like that. There are plenty of texts out there that have been created with loving care for publication.
Focus on clients in the English-speaking world and the text quality should be higher.
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