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Poll: Do you happen to correct native speakers outside your native language(s)? Please share. Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you happen to correct native speakers outside your native language(s)? Please share.".
This poll was originally submitted by Maciej Andrzejczak
View the poll here
A forum topic will appear each time a new poll ... See more This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you happen to correct native speakers outside your native language(s)? Please share.".
This poll was originally submitted by Maciej Andrzejczak
View the poll here
A forum topic will appear each time a new poll is run. For more information, see: http://proz.com/topic/33629 ▲ Collapse
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Interlangue (X)
Angola
Local time: 15:47
English to French
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As if I never made any mistakes myself!
I correct mentally for myself but I quit teaching several years ago. Nobody is perfect.
As a rule, I do not correct people in my mother tongue either, unless they claim to be professionals.
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elodienelson (X)
France
Local time: 15:47
English to French
| proofreading of a translation done by someone who obviously had lied about native language | Jan 14, 2009 |
I have recently proofread a french > english translation; when I got the job, I hadn't realized that I would have to proofread an english document (an historical document about postal services in france in the 18th century), and since my mother tongue is french, I was not too sure at first, but there was a very tight deadline, so I accepted. I had both versions in my possession, and I was to check and edit the english version, for the agency was not satisifed with the translator's work. this tra... See more I have recently proofread a french > english translation; when I got the job, I hadn't realized that I would have to proofread an english document (an historical document about postal services in france in the 18th century), and since my mother tongue is french, I was not too sure at first, but there was a very tight deadline, so I accepted. I had both versions in my possession, and I was to check and edit the english version, for the agency was not satisifed with the translator's work. this translator had obviously said his/her mother tongue was english, but I quickly realized it was a lie. the translation was full of grammatical mistakes, there were mistranslations too, it was actually a really poor job. I did the proofreading as best as I could (tioght dealine), I used the english grammar and spell checker, and I sent it back to the agency. I was concerned about possible problems relating to the fact that it was not my mother tongue, but it was actually ok and I got paid as scheduled. So all in all, it was not a bad experience. ▲ Collapse
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No one is perfect and I am sure, I as a non-native, am definitely making more mistakes than someone who is native in a particular language.
There are times when I correct people in a language like Hindi which is not my native language, but am fairly conversant with it, but then that is only when their spoken Hindi is much worse than mine.
[Edited at 2009-01-14 16:22 GMT]
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wonita (X)
China
Local time: 09:47
| I am almost always wrong, | Jan 14, 2009 |
when I attempt to correct a native speaker.
I rely on the language theory to make my judgement, but the living language turns out to be so diverse in dialects, and it continues adopting new expressions and wordings, speakless of all the grammar exceptions. Even a native speaker does not talk according to the grammar rule, he/she communicates better than an always correct non-native speaker.
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i don't ever correct even when children make mistakes, but i do find myself teaching others new words on occasion or explaining obscure kanji. ^.^
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Dagmara Kuliś (X) 
Belgium
Local time: 14:47
English to Polish
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| Yes but only to myself | Jan 14, 2009 |
It does happen that I see a mistake in texts written in Dutch and, for my own linguistic development, I always ask my fiance to confirm if it's wrong or not. And as it happens, sometimes I am right . I would never correct anybody aloud, in any language, including my mother tongue, especially as I do not like to be corrected myself (usually I am more than aware of my mistakes ... See more It does happen that I see a mistake in texts written in Dutch and, for my own linguistic development, I always ask my fiance to confirm if it's wrong or not. And as it happens, sometimes I am right. I would never correct anybody aloud, in any language, including my mother tongue, especially as I do not like to be corrected myself (usually I am more than aware of my mistakes ). ▲ Collapse
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Laureana Pavon
Uruguay
Local time: 10:47
Member (2007)
English to Spanish
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MODERATOR | I can't seem to understand... | Jan 14, 2009 |
... whether this poll wants to know if I proofread translations into languages that are not my native languages or if I correct native speakers when in a conversation.
To answer both: I never proofread/edit outside my native languages, and I never correct people during conversation as I think it would be rude.
Cheers!
Laureana
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| rarely and my husband only ;) | Jan 14, 2009 |
I rarely but happen to correct my American husband to which he laughs and says that I am the language specialist in the family
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| Yes, but I'm polite enough to keep quiet about it | Jan 14, 2009 |
Of course I won't correct native speakers while they are speaking their language!
Now and then, while working on a bilingual document, if I get a chance to fix mistakes in another language, I do it, silently. I assume the writer is not a linguist, but a lawyer, an engineer, whatever, so the language is not necessarily the main item where they will be adding value.
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Melzie
Local time: 15:47
French to English
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My children, whose native language is French. As they are only 7 and 4 part of my job as a parent is to correct them. The elder, however, now writes really quite well and I'm starting to get out of my depth with some stuff.
I do also tell my clients if there is a typo in their original.
[Edited at 2009-01-14 21:05 GMT]
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lillkakan
Local time: 15:47
English to Swedish
Never in conversation. However, I do a fair bit of interactive storytelling online, and quite often native (English) speakers ask me for help with spelling.
I also do proofreading/rough edits for my American boyfriend who writes short stories and book/game/movie reviews for online magazines and fanzines. He has some dyslexia issues and without help with proofreading he would never have had his writing accepted for publishing.
In both cases the people in question know ... See more Never in conversation. However, I do a fair bit of interactive storytelling online, and quite often native (English) speakers ask me for help with spelling.
I also do proofreading/rough edits for my American boyfriend who writes short stories and book/game/movie reviews for online magazines and fanzines. He has some dyslexia issues and without help with proofreading he would never have had his writing accepted for publishing.
In both cases the people in question know that I'm not a native speaker and they ask for my help, so I don't know if it counts for "yes" in this poll. I answered "it depends". ▲ Collapse
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| Keeping silent about it is the best approach | Jan 14, 2009 |
José Henrique Lamensdorf wrote:
Of course I won't correct native speakers while they are speaking their language!
Now and then, while working on a bilingual document, if I get a chance to fix mistakes in another language, I do it, silently. I assume the writer is not a linguist, but a lawyer, an engineer, whatever, so the language is not necessarily the main item where they will be adding value.
I notice a lot of spelling errors in Spanish, in documents written by educated people (such es writing "v" instead of "b", "s" instead of "z", or writing silent "h" where it doesn't belong and not writing it where it does. Yet I never tell the writer about his/her mistakes.
In one of my jobs which involved tape transcription I actually corrected things like this, but I did it silently, without embarrassing a colleague.
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I always teach my Spanish and Portuguese friends the correct way of speaking Spanish or Portuguese. It´s the way I speak it. Basta.
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Parrot
Spain
Local time: 15:47
Spanish to English
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| If the native speaker gave me a substandard original | Jan 14, 2009 |
I MAY HAVE TO. That's not the same as wanting to, or even being interested...
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