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| User | Thread poster: xxxManticore Eligibility to ask KudoZ questions |
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xxxManticore 
Local time: 01:46
English to German
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I have noticed that some people at Proz.com are using the community to have their translation jobs done. They are translating in fields they might not be qualified for or they just don’t seem to have the required basic knowledge.
I suggest a new scheme where a translator is only eligible to ask questions if he / she has answered questions and his / her answer has been chosen by the asker as the most helpful answer.
Example: for every answer that has been chosen as the most helpful answer you may ask ten questions. – The ratio is obviously open to discussion.
Programming shouldn’t be a problem (there are more complicated programming features on Proz.com).
What do you think?
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:46
 Member (2008)
Italian to English
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Roland Fischer wrote:
I have noticed that some people at Proz.com are using the community to have their translation jobs done. They are translating in fields they might not be qualified for or they just don’t seem to have the required basic knowledge.
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Yes, this is very noticeable and it has often been discussed before. Rather than look for some codified, institutionalised solution that would require technical modifications to how the Proz site works, I personally think the best way is to simply not offer any suggestions to such questions. Let those who wish to do so, do so.
[Edited at 2011-05-16 08:26 GMT]
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Tomás Cano Binder, CT
Spain
Local time: 01:46
 Member (2005)
English to Spanish
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| | Filter them out! | May 16, 2011 |
Exactly. After fighting the same battle several times in the past with little success (basically, Proz.com want to keep their options open and keep a quick flow of questions and answers), my recommendation is that you simply filter these users out of your Kudoz question list.
It works! You stop worrying about the bad translators who clearly were irresponsible and accepted jobs they are not prepared for, and you help responsible translators again. If only good translators help good translators, the market will regulate itself by pushing out irresponsible translators. The reason is simple: their work will be miserable, since you cannot replace knowledge with Kudoz questions.
Good luck!
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xxxManticore
Local time: 01:46
English to German
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TOPIC STARTER |
In general I would agree with you and do nothing about it. But the people in question are just overdoing it. One example: almost 3000 questions asked and a dozen answered. I am sorry, this is abuse. ProZ.com should also be aware that the community's reputation as a whole is at stake.
[Edited at 2011-05-16 08:39 GMT]
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matt robinson
Spain
Local time: 01:46
Member (2010)
Spanish to English
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It does sometimes seem that a translator has jumped in at the deep end, especially when posting multiple questions and/or whole sentences for translation. This may be annoying to translators who are in effect being asked to provide the specialist knowledge which should have been a requirement for taking on the job.
However, it is rare to see more than five entries by a translator relating to a specific translation. This may be due to professional pride on the part of the translator or simply that no further help is required. In any case if you undertake to translate a document and have to research every term the chances are that you will make very little money out of it, and probably be more selective about the jobs you take on in the future.. I believe multiple questions are usually posted by translators who have taken on translation jobs in good faith and subsequently discovered that the subject matter is more difficult than anticipated. It's a learning curve after all, but bear in mind that members pay for the right to use the services provided by ProZ, and in the case of questions asked, the decision to reply or not is in the hands of the membership.
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Tomás Cano Binder, CT
Spain
Local time: 01:46
Member (2005)
English to Spanish
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| | Stop worrying! | May 16, 2011 |
Roland Fischer wrote:
In general I would agree with you and do nothing about it. But the people in question are just overdoing it. One example: almost 3000 questions asked and a dozen answered. I am sorry, this is abuse. ProZ.com should also be aware that the community's reputation as a whole is at stake. |
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I don't agree at all! I had the same worries for over a decade, but now can clearly see that people who behave this way are risking their business only, not mine.
It is your personal behaviour with jobs and with customers what will have a far bigger influence in the community than whatever irresponsible people might do in Proz.com.
Be a good, responsive, responsible, trustworthy professional in your work and personal life, with an exemplary attitude all people around you can see, and the good you do to the profession with be bigger than the harm a dozen bad translators abusing Kudoz could do.
[Edited at 2011-05-16 08:44 GMT]
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xxxManticore
Local time: 01:46
English to German
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TOPIC STARTER |
I am not worried. - The people abusing the community are almost always the same. Whether you pay for this service in form of a membership fee or not is immaterial. To be a member of a community is a give and take affair, not just take.
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David Wright
Austria
Local time: 01:46
Member (2007)
German to English
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| | Really a problem? | May 16, 2011 |
I see this differently - those multi-askers are still helping the community by getting words into the archives that others can then look up, since the queries are not always, or indeed mainly, the blindingly obvious.
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xxxManticore
Local time: 01:46
English to German
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TOPIC STARTER |
I don't have a problem with multi-askers. I do have a problem with profiles that show a ratio of 1000 questions : 10 answers.
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Emma Goldsmith
Spain
Local time: 01:46
Member (2010)
Spanish to English
| | Ratio is indeed revealing | May 16, 2011 |
Roland Fischer wrote:
I do have a problem with profiles that show a ratio of 1000 questions : 10 answers. |
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I agree that the ratio is a very revealing piece of information. However, I wouldn't want your multi-askers to bump up their ratio by offering red herrings as answers because they haven't really got a clue. Better to keep them on the askers' side only and filter them out, as Tomás recommends.
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GerSi
Slovenia
Local time: 01:46
Member (2010)
German to Slovenian
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| | digging a hole | May 16, 2011 |
I agree with David and others,
these translators are just doing themselves a "Bärendienst" as it can be nicely put in German. They are digging a hole for themselves, because people will notice eventually.
If they have fun typing each term then by all means, they are creating a nice dictionary.
It seems to me, that sometimes if somebody asks too many questions regarding the same project, the community suddenly stops responding on their own.
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Kirsten Bodart
Germany
Local time: 01:46
Member (2011)
Dutch to English
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| | Well, even if you have taken on something | May 16, 2011 |
you are not totally familiar with, there is always something to be found on the internet. It is ridiculous sometimes what people ask (especially thinking about metric measurements here...), but tying the whole thing up to being the most helpful is not an option. If you want to move into a new field, you have no possibility, and if you are working in a field which is highly popular or open to interpretation, say Marketing or Tourism which is about how you say it and preference rather than right, then what is your chance at being picked as 'the most helpful answer'? There are bound to be five suggestions, all of them adequate, but only one is going to be picked. If you are part of a select group, you may be sure you will be the only one to actually answer and consequently get picked. It does not make you a better translator, but it will award you more of a right to ask questions???
If people abuse the system, then ok, filter them.
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xxxManticore
Local time: 01:46
English to German
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TOPIC STARTER |
You are right - I also noticed that the community stops answering. Still, I thought raising this issue (maybe again) would remind all the good "guys" that there are some "bad" ones around.
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Prof. Angie G.
Spain
Local time: 01:46
Member (2003)
French to Italian
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| | Do not agree | May 16, 2011 |
Roland Fischer wrote:
I have noticed that some people at Proz.com are using the community to have their translation jobs done. They are translating in fields they might not be qualified for or they just don’t seem to have the required basic knowledge.
I suggest a new scheme where a translator is only eligible to ask questions if he / she has answered questions and his / her answer has been chosen by the asker as the most helpful answer.
Example: for every answer that has been chosen as the most helpful answer you may ask ten questions. – The ratio is obviously open to discussion.
Programming shouldn’t be a problem (there are more complicated programming features on Proz.com).
What do you think? |
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Please do not forget that there is a membership for students here, so how about them?
[Edited at 2011-05-16 13:00 GMT]
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xxxManticore
Local time: 01:46
English to German
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TOPIC STARTER | | Prof. Angie G. | May 16, 2011 |
With all due respect, especially you as a Professor should know that we are all students, with the exception of a handful who seem to know everything. I also don’t have anything against questions – on the contrary: without questions – no learning. However, I am against excessive ratios between asking and answering.
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The translation workplace 
