TransAfrique United Kingdom Local time: 21:55 Member (2011) Japanese to English
BTW
Aug 14, 2011
Incidentally this is probably why many editors and proofreaders prefer to charge by the hour instead of by the word. Reading the translation three times over must have taken quite a bit of time.
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Nicole Schnell United States Local time: 13:55 Member English to German + ...
True.
Aug 15, 2011
TransAfrique wrote:
Incidentally this is probably why many editors and proofreaders prefer to charge by the hour instead of by the word. Reading the translation three times over must have taken quite a bit of time.
On the other hand I am editing a colleague's numerous press releases on a regular basis. Usually they are so good that it takes me only a few minutes per press release. I am better off if I charge per word.
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Walter Landesman Uruguay Local time: 17:55 Member (2005) English to Spanish + ...
Agree with Nicole
Aug 15, 2011
Nicole Schnell wrote:
The proofreader is paid to fix errors, nothing else. Changing the style based on personal preferences is a no-no. Who is to decide which style is "better"?
When I review transaltions, I run into many terms and expressions and styles that are not wrong but which I would have done or translated or written in a different way.
However, I keep that to myself, but to the client I tell the text is correct, because it is.
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Phil Hand China Local time: 04:55 Member (2011) Chinese to English
lay some groundwork?
Aug 15, 2011
I agree with the consensus here, if there's no problems don't mess. But it is reasonable to worry about what the client might think. Just communicating often does the trick. A quick email to the client saying, this is great, I'm really going through it with a fine toothcomb and I'm not finding any mistakes. If the client is the suspicious type, you'll see it in their reply. Most likely he'll say, great, then you've got no problem.
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kmtext United Kingdom Local time: 21:55 English + ...
Be honest
Aug 15, 2011
I would tell your client what you've told us: that you've gone through it three times and couldn't find any errors.
You could always do what one of our old proofreaders did and give a percentage score at the end of it - never more than 99% so we didn't get cocky.
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Laurie Price Spain Member (2008) Spanish to English + ...
Bravo colleagues!
Aug 15, 2011
As a longtime editor/copy editor and proofreader, and a less longtime translator, I agree with others here -- let your client know how good the work was and yes, what a joy it was to work with that text and also, that you went through it with a fine-tooth comb, disbelieving your very eyes, but in the end, the work was flawless save one minor addition of an extra space before a period.
As others have said, it's a win-win situation and there is really no need to "borrow problems" -- ie., start making changes to what is already perfectly good. That's what inexperienced proofreaders sometimes do ... feeling that they have to "justify" their time/payment.
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Busy editors should always appreciate a flawless text - such a rarity and something to applaud. However, it does take time to review files and you should be paid for your services at an hourly rate. After all, no news is good news and honesty is the best policy.
Kind regards,
Daniel
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praise the translation, but raise your concerns about style too
Jan 12
I kind of disagree with the consensus...yes, I would praise the translation and say there are not any mistakes, but there's no way I wouldn't raise any issues I had with the style. But maybe that's because I'm a writer and editor, not a translator, I don't know.
If I thought, for whatever reason, that the content could be clearer or be more effective if written in a different way, I'd at least mention that. An article can be 100% accurate in terms of language, but that doesn't mean it is easy to read or particularly effective in communicating its message. if nobody points it out, we will be cursed with overly formal writing and horrible 'business-speak' for ever!
I'd probably give an example of what sort of thing I would prefer to see too, but I wouldn't do any more than that unless I was getting paid extra.
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