| Pages in topic: [1 2 3 4] > | Kudoz: do you help colleagues who are clearly translating out of their mother tongue? Thread poster: Giovanni Guarnieri MITI, MIL
|
|---|
I don't. My first reaction is: tough, mate! You deserve it! But I might be an old cynic...
| | | | Margreet Logmans (X) 
Netherlands
Local time: 00:45
English to Dutch
+ ...
That is, if you mean the source text of the translation is in their native language, and they are translating into a target language that is not their native language.
But lately I've seen KudoZ questions being asked by people who report neither target language nor source language as their native language, or even worse: they ask questions in pairs they don't even mention in their profiles. I don't help those people.
I've also stopped answering questions that are so bas... See more That is, if you mean the source text of the translation is in their native language, and they are translating into a target language that is not their native language.
But lately I've seen KudoZ questions being asked by people who report neither target language nor source language as their native language, or even worse: they ask questions in pairs they don't even mention in their profiles. I don't help those people.
I've also stopped answering questions that are so basic that it is clear the asker has hardly any knowledge of the source language.
Cynical? Hmm. Not sure about that. ▲ Collapse
| | | |
translating into a target language that is not their native language...
But why do you do it? Are you a particularly charitable person? Why encourage this abysmal trend?
| | | | JPW (X)
Local time: 23:45
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Not sure about that... | Aug 5, 2008 |
Margreet wrote:
they ask questions in pairs they don't even mention in their profiles. I don't help those people.
There may be a perfectly innocent reason:-
I recently had to ask a KudoZ question in Basque, so I could send a friend my condolences in her native language. I am fairly sure I stated the purpose of the requested help when I posted the question, but others may simply overlook that aspect.
Regards,
JP.
| | |
|
|
|
John Paul Weir wrote: Margreet wrote: they ask questions in pairs they don't even mention in their profiles. I don't help those people.
There may be a perfectly innocent reason:- I recently had to ask a KudoZ question in Basque, so I could send a friend my condolences in her native language. I am fairly sure I stated the purpose of the requested help when I posted the question, but others may simply overlook that aspect. Regards, JP.
if you state the reason and is acceptable. But when someone is translating the instructions for a medical device in a foreign language, surely this is to be discourage...
Do you help?
| | | | Margreet Logmans (X)
Netherlands
Local time: 00:45
English to Dutch
+ ...
Well, as you may have noticed, I also translate into English sometimes, so I myself have to plead guilty in this case too For the record, I always get a native English proofreader to check the quality of my work.
No, I'm not particularly charitable. But I feel this native/non-native debate is much more complicated than a lot of people would like to believe.
I feel the lack of quality assurance and the lac... See more Well, as you may have noticed, I also translate into English sometimes, so I myself have to plead guilty in this case too For the record, I always get a native English proofreader to check the quality of my work.
No, I'm not particularly charitable. But I feel this native/non-native debate is much more complicated than a lot of people would like to believe.
I feel the lack of quality assurance and the lack of proper self-judgment by some people is causing the biggest problems here. So I don't just answer any old question; I do check people's profiles and previous postings and questions to see if it's worthwhile to help them out.
Maybe I also lack self-criticism; if so, I'm willing to learn. So shoot me if you like ▲ Collapse
| | | | Margreet Logmans (X)
Netherlands
Local time: 00:45
English to Dutch
+ ...
John Paul Weir wrote: Margreet wrote: they ask questions in pairs they don't even mention in their profiles. I don't help those people.
There may be a perfectly innocent reason:- I recently had to ask a KudoZ question in Basque, so I could send a friend my condolences in her native language. I am fairly sure I stated the purpose of the requested help when I posted the question, but others may simply overlook that aspect. Regards, JP.
I would help out in a situation like that, but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about multiple questions by people who - when asked in the ATA-box - refused to tell why they did not state any of the languages involved as their working languages and gave no other explanation whatsoever.
| | | | JPW (X)
Local time: 23:45
Spanish to English
+ ...
...I should have expanded.
I don't always have time for KudoZ anyway, but when someone is translating the instructions for a medical device in a foreign language , presumably with no subject-matter knowledge, then there are always some kindly souls who will lend a hand, even if oneself is not inclined or otherwise engaged.
Margreet wrote: I've also stopped answering questions that are so basic that it is clear the asker has hardly any knowledge of the source language.
These are the ones which I can't figure out: it takes less time to look them up than post the question in the first place.
But there is a limit on the amount of questions you can ask - that surely will prevent someone from trying to translate an entire document via KudoZ, n'est-ce pas?
| | |
|
|
|
Jaroslaw Michalak
Poland
Local time: 00:45
Member (2004)
English to Polish
SITE LOCALIZER
As you might see in my profile, I do not translate into English, but I have no objections if some other native Polish translators do. The reason is simple: there are not enough Polish-English translators who are skilled enough in translation, are native speakers of English and, to top it all, have the slightest idea what they are writing about.
This is evident in Kudoz questions, actually: there are not too many native English speakers who answer them... most of the answers come fro... See more As you might see in my profile, I do not translate into English, but I have no objections if some other native Polish translators do. The reason is simple: there are not enough Polish-English translators who are skilled enough in translation, are native speakers of English and, to top it all, have the slightest idea what they are writing about.
This is evident in Kudoz questions, actually: there are not too many native English speakers who answer them... most of the answers come from Polish speakers. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tim Drayton
Cyprus
Local time: 01:45
Turkish to English
+ ...
| same for Turkish | Aug 5, 2008 |
Jabberwock wrote:
There are not enough Polish-English translators who are skilled enough in translation, are native speakers of English and, to top it all, have the slightest idea what they are writing about.
This is evident in Kudoz questions, actually: there are not too many native English speakers who answer them... most of the answers come from Polish speakers.
Replace "Polish" with "Turkish" above and exactly the same applies to my main language pair.
With the exception of about 6-8 languages that are commonly taught in English-speaking countries, translation from other languages into English is mainly done by speakers of the source and the not the target language. There just aren't enough native English speakers with the necessary competence in these languages to translate from them.
| | | | Nikki Graham
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:45
Spanish to English
I appreciate that other language pairs might be different, but there are plenty of Spanish to English translators, so I don't see why I should help non-native speakers out with their KudoZ questions. In my opinion, they should have refused the job and pointed the client in the direction of a native speaker, just as I would do if someone asked me to translate into Spanish. This the reason why I have filtered a lot of poeple in KudoZ and I no longer see their questions.
| | | | Henry Hinds
United States
Local time: 16:45
English to Spanish
+ ...
In memoriam
I will help some at first because I usually do not look so closely at the asker, only the question. But if it becomes obvious due to repeated long phrases, etc. that the asker is trying to work beyond his/her capabilities, then I forget them.
It is impossible for someone who is not capable and who does not really know the language to produce good work. I start thinking that whatever answers I might have provided could be the only things they got right in their translation, and that ... See more I will help some at first because I usually do not look so closely at the asker, only the question. But if it becomes obvious due to repeated long phrases, etc. that the asker is trying to work beyond his/her capabilities, then I forget them.
It is impossible for someone who is not capable and who does not really know the language to produce good work. I start thinking that whatever answers I might have provided could be the only things they got right in their translation, and that is not going to get them very far. ▲ Collapse
| | |
|
|
|
| Don't participate in cheating translation buyers | Aug 5, 2008 |
Nikki Graham wrote:
I appreciate that other language pairs might be different, but there are plenty of Spanish to English translators, so I don't see why I should help non-native speakers out with their KudoZ questions. In my opinion, they should have refused the job and pointed the client in the direction of a native speaker, just as I would do if someone asked me to translate into Spanish. This the reason why I have filtered a lot of people in KudoZ and I no longer see their questions.
The bottom line is pro translators should NOT help someone produce lousy translations. If a Dutch person is working on a job into English and it's clear from her questions that she can't write decent English and that the results will be horrendous, pros shouldn't participate.
Haven't all pro translators signed up to a code of ethics? Even ProZ.com has asked members to endorse their Professional Guidelines. http://www.proz.com/professional-guidelines
[Edited at 2008-08-05 15:30]
[Edited at 2008-08-05 16:14]
| | | |
Well, this subject was discussed on this forum so many times, too many times in my humble opinion.
I’ve seen some translations done by English native speakers (professional translators) that did not make sense at all. And they didn’t make sense to scientists either (scientists who are English native speakers).
If I would get crazy enough to translate legal texts, even from English into Polish (my mother tongue), certainly I would deliver more than rubbish translations.
But ... See more Well, this subject was discussed on this forum so many times, too many times in my humble opinion.
I’ve seen some translations done by English native speakers (professional translators) that did not make sense at all. And they didn’t make sense to scientists either (scientists who are English native speakers).
If I would get crazy enough to translate legal texts, even from English into Polish (my mother tongue), certainly I would deliver more than rubbish translations.
But vegetation science....this is a different story (for me)
And (as Margreet does), I also get a native English proofreader to check the quality of my work.
So have a nice afternoon everybody
Ewa ▲ Collapse
| | | | | The question is wider than native/non-native | Aug 5, 2008 |
I very rarely answer KudoZ these days. Why? Simply because I don't feel most askers in my pairs actually deserve help.
As I work in small language pairs, I'm able to "get to know" both askers and answerers. These days most askers (and possibly answerers) are less than deserving. A few examples:
- A few days ago there were a lot of questions from askers with a question/answering ratio of something like 1500+/100-
- Not long ago the trend seemed to be for native spe... See more I very rarely answer KudoZ these days. Why? Simply because I don't feel most askers in my pairs actually deserve help.
As I work in small language pairs, I'm able to "get to know" both askers and answerers. These days most askers (and possibly answerers) are less than deserving. A few examples:
- A few days ago there were a lot of questions from askers with a question/answering ratio of something like 1500+/100-
- Not long ago the trend seemed to be for native speakers of language X to ask questions from A to B or vice versa
Not surprisingly, many of the competent answerers in my language pairs have long ago disappeared.
On a more general level, if I had a penny for every question asked by target language native speakers who are totally unable to spot obviously typos in their source language/s, I'd very, very rich...
Most prozians appear to be concerned about whether or not a translator is a native speaker of the target language. An important issue I admit, but what about the level of source language competence? In my opinion, a translator unable to spot obvious typos in his/her source language is seriously unprofessional. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Pages in topic: [1 2 3 4] > | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Kudoz: do you help colleagues who are clearly translating out of their mother tongue? | Trados Studio 2022 Freelance | The leading translation software used by over 270,000 translators.
Designed with your feedback in mind, Trados Studio 2022 delivers an unrivalled, powerful desktop
and cloud solution, empowering you to work in the most efficient and cost-effective way.
More info » |
| | Trados Business Manager Lite | Create customer quotes and invoices from within Trados Studio
Trados Business Manager Lite helps to simplify and speed up some of the daily tasks, such as invoicing and reporting, associated with running your freelance translation business.
More info » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
