I am a professional translator, expected to do a job, do it well, and get fairly paid on time. I am not expected - and shouldn't expect - to LIKE a job I'm doing.
Of course, if I feel I'm incapable of doing it properly, i.e. a language pair or technical text on a subject I don't translate, I'll try to refer te client to a specialist, if I know one.
Otherwise, it's my chosen profession. Imagine if a hairdresser or a photographer would turn down every ugly prospect. Imagine if a cook refused to prepare escargots because he considers them nasty. Imagine if a mechanic wouldn't fix a car because it's plain old, or imported from a country he dislikes.
This issue makes no sense. Either one is a professional or not.
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Bruno Veilleux Canada Local time: 17:49 English to French + ...
Title
Nov 29, 2009
Tomás Cano Binder, CT wrote:
Doctors certainly prefer to treat a cough than hemorrhoids, but they devote the same care and attention to all patients. Shouldn't we do the same?
How come the poll does not contain an option like "I put the same effort in it" or similar? To me, the 20% in "Other" is most revealing in this sense.
Exactly my point. If I chose to accept the job, I do it and I do it well. If I don't want to do it and can afford to turn it down, then I decline. I'll never provide bad quality on purpose.
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John Cutler Spain Local time: 23:49 Member (2007) Spanish to English + ...
My thoughts exactly
Nov 29, 2009
Alexander Kondorsky wrote:
I try not to take translations which I don't like, but if I have to I just grin and bear it)
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Jenn Mercer United States Local time: 17:49 Member (2009) French to English
MODERATOR
Other
Nov 29, 2009
I may not do it "quickly," but I will get it done on time.
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Amy Duncan Brazil Local time: 18:49 Member (2005) Portuguese to English + ...
Hmmm, don't quite agree...
Nov 29, 2009
José Henrique Lamensdorf wrote:
I am a professional translator, expected to do a job, do it well, and get fairly paid on time. I am not expected - and shouldn't expect - to LIKE a job I'm doing.
Either one is a professional or not.
I don't think turning down jobs we don't like means we're not professional. This would be the same as saying it would be unprofessional for a serious pianist to turn down a cocktail lounge gig. This is the great thing about translating -- if we have enough work coming in, we can make choices so that we can actually enjoy what we do instead of despising it.
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ViktoriaG Canada Local time: 17:49 Member (2005) English to French + ...
It depends
Nov 29, 2009
Given the choice between a fun translation and a boring or troublesome translation, I choose the former. Otherwise, if it comes from a trusted client or a new client I really want to work with, I accept. If not, I turn it down to remain available for more interesting work. In any case, it often happens that I turn down a better paying boring job for an interesting or fun job that pays less (all the while respecting my minimum rates, of course).
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When I worked as a freelancer I had only urgency and priority criteria)
Now I deal only with personal, urgent and important tasks because I have a dozen of officers bumming around. Certainly, in a case of extreme boredom I'm free to make some reviews or even importantly translate a passage or two making abstruse remarks... So my answer is outsourcing.
Frankly speaking occasionally I *almost* envy you, guys)
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Christina Heger Germany Local time: 23:49 English to German + ...
Other
Nov 29, 2009
If I take on a translation and THEN find out, I don't like the text for whatever reason...
Well, that's life, isn't it?
Thing is, I can't just "finish it quickly" - it rather takes a really loooooong time for me to do it.
And if I see, that I postpone a job, I just take a real break and not just a look a my e-mails and take a short walk or go for a ride on my motorbike.
And then, most of the time, the text looks a lot better than before
So, for me it's not postponing it but rather clearing my head.
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Annie Beaudette Canada Local time: 17:49 Member (2008) French to English + ...
I agree with Thomàs
Nov 29, 2009
I was also looking for an option that says something like "I do it and put the same effort into it". I can understand people that turn down a boring job, and in a way, I would like to say no. But in the end, it's never as boring as I thought it would be.
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Nicole Schnell United States Local time: 14:49 Member English to German + ...
Define: "a translation you don't like"
Nov 29, 2009
Because the source text is crawling with mistakes and you have to spend spend a significant amount of time to decipher it? Because the subject matter is outside your scope? Because it is ridiculously underpaid or the deadline is too tight? Then you MUST turn it down if you are a real professional.
Even medical doctors will send you away and tell you that you need to see a specialist instead.
I turn down translations whenever I have the feeling that I will not be able to provide top quality results. I am very blunt about that, and my clients are thankful for my honesty and send a different job my way. Being professional doesn't mean being an omnivore.
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RichardDeegan Peru Local time: 16:49 Spanish to English
Assuming I've accepted it
Nov 30, 2009
...and I have numerous grounds for refusing to participate in a translation: moral, fraud or deceit, manifestos for NY investments banker by a local politician swearing on TV that there are no "foreign" interests behind his campaign, high degree of illegibility rendering any translation virtually useless, etc.
Typical example of a translation I got snookered into was one on "architecture and construction", which turned out to be a ton of exotic bord and plant "lookups". My remedy is NEVER hurry it up to get it out of the way - the fact that the source material is not my cup of tea is no excuse for submitting sloppy work.
Instead I take it in small pieces, sometimes as little as 15 minutes to an hour at a clip, maybe only four such "clips" a day, in order to keep my brain from frying. When I was a bit younger I used to be able to tolerate even castor oil in small doses.
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Gianluca Marras Italy Local time: 23:49 Member (2008) English to Italian
finish quickly
Nov 30, 2009
Well,
That's what I voted, it means for me:
1) same attention (obviously) _ I mean once you accept it you do as it has to be done!!!
2) no interruptions
3) even though the deadline is not tight, don't wait, just do it.
Then, the translation is treated as any other translations.
Specify: reasons why I maybe not like a translation:
- subject (it happens)
- length (Maybe just before the weekend, and you have already planned something for monday
- handwriting
- bad source language
Have a nuce day
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Ildiko Santana United States Local time: 14:49 Member (2002) English to Hungarian + ...
I procrastinate..
Mar 20, 2010
The only two reasons to turn a job down is if I am not qualified to do it or if I am fully booked and wouldn't be able to meet the deadline. If the job is not to my liking (boring, dry, tedious, poorly written, represents ideas I don't associate with, etc.) I find every excuse to stay busy with other things, wait till the very last minute, and then get it done.
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