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Is your profile as good as your work? Thread poster: GaryG
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GaryG Local time: 19:47 English + ...
Hi all!
Having perused several profiles in the R-E language pair I have noticed that sometimes the English I\'ve seen there is, well, substandard.
First, I want to note that I\'m not in competition with any of you - I\'m semi-retired and have steady enough work from the same organizations (who often complain about the translations they get from non-native English speakers from languages other than Russian).
Life isn\'t f... See more Hi all!
Having perused several profiles in the R-E language pair I have noticed that sometimes the English I\'ve seen there is, well, substandard.
First, I want to note that I\'m not in competition with any of you - I\'m semi-retired and have steady enough work from the same organizations (who often complain about the translations they get from non-native English speakers from languages other than Russian).
Life isn\'t fair: if you\'re a non-native speaker of English you\'re going to judged more harshly for any mistakes than someone like myself. Think how you would judge MY Russian (which I won\'t amuse you with vs. that of a native speaker: a slight slip by a native is probably going to be overlooked or excused as perhaps a typo (unless there are lot of them in which case the person may be written off as simply an uneducated muzhik and thus unqualified for professional work). But mistakes by foreigner-born translators will likely be judged more harshly as evidence of insufficient colloquial knowledge of English (American English in the case of US employers).
BTW, I can offer advice regarding US English usage if anyone is uncertain about their profile. ▲ Collapse | | |
Nikita Kobrin Lithuania Local time: 01:47 Member (2010) English to Russian + ... Can I be the first in a line? | Aug 16, 2002 |
Dear Gary,
Taking you at your word:
I would be very grateful if you could check my profile. But I don\'t want it to look too American. Just good English.
When a student I was very fond of US English under the great influence of Willis Conover - I was simply mad about his way of speaking and presenting. And I cultivated his manners in myself. British English was too vapid for me at those times. My professors didn\'t like all my... See more Dear Gary,
Taking you at your word:
I would be very grateful if you could check my profile. But I don\'t want it to look too American. Just good English.
When a student I was very fond of US English under the great influence of Willis Conover - I was simply mad about his way of speaking and presenting. And I cultivated his manners in myself. British English was too vapid for me at those times. My professors didn\'t like all my \"wanna\", \"gonna\" and things like that. They used to tell me: \"We do teach you English, not American.\" They say I still have an American accent but in written I would now prefer to look more British (too many Americanisms are around and I think it\'s more \"stylish\" to sound British now
Thank you in advance, Nikita
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xeni (X) English to Russian + ... I'm in the line too! | Aug 16, 2002 |
Quote:
On 2002-08-16 15:38, GaryG wrote:
Hi all!
Having perused several profiles in the R-E language pair I have noticed that sometimes the English I\'ve seen there is, well, substandard.
BTW, I can offer advice regarding US English usage if anyone is uncertain about their profile.
Gary, I\'m uncertain about my p... See more Quote:
On 2002-08-16 15:38, GaryG wrote:
Hi all!
Having perused several profiles in the R-E language pair I have noticed that sometimes the English I\'ve seen there is, well, substandard.
BTW, I can offer advice regarding US English usage if anyone is uncertain about their profile.
Gary, I\'m uncertain about my profile and if you could take time to read it and make your comments it would be highly appreciated. Incidentally, I prefer American English since now my country of residence is the U.S.A.
[ This Message was edited by: on 2002-08-17 02:37 ]
[ This Message was edited by:on2003-01-28 23:52] ▲ Collapse | | |
Jack Doughty United Kingdom Local time: 23:47 Russian to English + ... In memoriam Anyone want British English? | Aug 17, 2002 |
I recently did something like this for someone I got to know through the Spanish forum, who was setting up a translation agency with some friends and had produced a publicity brochure in English. There was nothing grammatically wrong with it, but I was able to make it read more as if it had been written by a native speaker. I would be willing to help in this way for anyone who prefers British English. Nikita Starshaya-Sestra-Kobrin will be glad to know that I have looked at ... See more I recently did something like this for someone I got to know through the Spanish forum, who was setting up a translation agency with some friends and had produced a publicity brochure in English. There was nothing grammatically wrong with it, but I was able to make it read more as if it had been written by a native speaker. I would be willing to help in this way for anyone who prefers British English. Nikita Starshaya-Sestra-Kobrin will be glad to know that I have looked at his/her CV and can find nothing in it that I would alter except for deleting a hyphen from the word newspaper, and that was probably a typo anyway. ▲ Collapse | |
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GaryG Local time: 19:47 English + ... TOPIC STARTER Sure thing, Kseniya! | Aug 17, 2002 |
Of course, I\'ll be glad to help. Living in the US, you can get advice from many quarters but my offer is not limited to those living outside the US.
Regards,
Gary
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Olga Simon Hungary Local time: 00:47 English to Russian + ... Dear Jack, let me catch you at your word :) | Aug 18, 2002 |
At my University I was taught the so-called RP - British English. Interestingly enough all my life I worked with Americans, Australians or Canadians. Never with anyone from the UK. But I still prefer writing \"programme\" instead of \"program\".
I would be extremely grateful if you could glance through my profile and criticize as much as you can.
Best regards, Olga Simon.
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Eva Blanar Hungary Local time: 00:47 English to Hungarian + ... Could you check mine as well? | Aug 18, 2002 |
That\'s a great and very generous idea, thanks to both of you! I would be really grateful for a proofreading and, eventually, for any ideas of how to \"sell\" myself better.
Thanks in advance - and, if for any reason you want to launch a Hungarian-language webpage... pls don\'t hesitate to contact me. | | |
Oleg Osipov Russian Federation Local time: 02:47 English to Russian + ...
Mine is as good as my work! I am even better in full face... King regards, Kot | |
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GaryG Local time: 19:47 English + ... TOPIC STARTER Glad to help, Eva | Aug 18, 2002 |
Quote: On 2002-08-18 14:42, sbe wrote: That\'s a great and very generous idea, thanks to both of you! I would be really grateful for a proofreading and, eventually, for any ideas of how to \"sell\" myself better.
Thanks in advance - and, if for any reason you want to launch a Hungarian-language webpage... pls don\'t hesitate to contact me.
I\'ve downloaded your ... See more Quote: On 2002-08-18 14:42, sbe wrote: That\'s a great and very generous idea, thanks to both of you! I would be really grateful for a proofreading and, eventually, for any ideas of how to \"sell\" myself better.
Thanks in advance - and, if for any reason you want to launch a Hungarian-language webpage... pls don\'t hesitate to contact me.
I\'ve downloaded your profile and suppose you\'ll be getting a private reply from Jack as well. I don\'t feel qualified to offer advice on how to \"sell\" yourself as I don\'t bid for jobs myself. I\'ll just offer suggestions on making the profile read better to an American client.
From my experience travellling in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and former British colonies in the Caribbean it seems there\'s little difference in English usage between them. Canadian English is sometimes influenced by their southern neighbor, so perhaps Marcus or Vladimir D. will pitch in if someone wants their profile checked for Canadian clientele. ▲ Collapse | | |
GaryG Local time: 19:47 English + ... TOPIC STARTER Followup (follow-on?) question, esp. to native speakers | Aug 18, 2002 |
Jack (et al), I was wondering if you (or other native English speakers) suspect (or know) you were turned down for a job because the client thought you couldn\'t translate into their preferred brand of English.
I just wonder sometimes if clients are peculiar that way.
While I think of it, are there ways (?macros?) to \"convert\" one type of English into another by... See more Jack (et al), I was wondering if you (or other native English speakers) suspect (or know) you were turned down for a job because the client thought you couldn\'t translate into their preferred brand of English.
I just wonder sometimes if clients are peculiar that way.
While I think of it, are there ways (?macros?) to \"convert\" one type of English into another by looking for certain features (obviously the -our/or and -ence/ ense differences can be caught by a localized spellchecker but I wonder about grammatical issues like subject/verb agreement (e.g. \"the government say\" (UK/Commonwealth) vs. \"the government says\" (US)? ▲ Collapse | | |
King??!! :-00 (joke) | Aug 19, 2002 |
Quote: On 2002-08-18 15:02, ooleg wrote: Mine is as good as my work! I am even better in full face... King regards, Kot
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Programme vs program | Aug 19, 2002 |
Quote: On 2002-08-18 07:51, OlgaSimon wrote: At my University I was taught the so-called RP - British English. Interestingly enough all my life I worked with Americans, Australians or Canadians. Never with anyone from the UK. But I still prefer writing \"programme\" instead of \"program\".
Dear Olga,
I have been told by my colleague (who is a real Pro and kn... See more Quote: On 2002-08-18 07:51, OlgaSimon wrote: At my University I was taught the so-called RP - British English. Interestingly enough all my life I worked with Americans, Australians or Canadians. Never with anyone from the UK. But I still prefer writing \"programme\" instead of \"program\".
Dear Olga,
I have been told by my colleague (who is a real Pro and knows a deal I don\'t about the English Am vs UK usage) that \"Programme\" and \"program\" are not really the difference between Am and UK English. You are to write \"program\" when speaking about software or a clock setting on e.g. a thermostat, whereas \"programme\" can be anything from the Human Aid events to the CPSU Programme...
I would like to ask the Native Speakers to confirm (or disprove) this
Best regards,
Squi ▲ Collapse | |
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Jack Doughty United Kingdom Local time: 23:47 Russian to English + ... In memoriam Program/programme; clients wanting specifically US or UK English | Aug 19, 2002 |
To squi: What you say is correct as far as UK English is concerned, but I believe in US English it is always program in any context. Perhaps GaryG can confirm this. To GaryG: I have never as far as I know lost out because a potential customer wanted specifically US English, but I have very little experience working for US clients. One US client for whom I did work regularly for a couple of years had an enormous house style manual which all the firm\'s translators ... See more To squi: What you say is correct as far as UK English is concerned, but I believe in US English it is always program in any context. Perhaps GaryG can confirm this. To GaryG: I have never as far as I know lost out because a potential customer wanted specifically US English, but I have very little experience working for US clients. One US client for whom I did work regularly for a couple of years had an enormous house style manual which all the firm\'s translators were expected to use, and by keeping to that, I never had any trouble. I have one regular UK client with the peculiar requirement that I use US spelling but UK words, so I have to write e.g. \"The lift door was colored red\", in which a UK reader would think that colored was spelt wrongly, and a US reader might not realize that lift meant elevator. So on my own initiative, I always add the US word in brackets after a UK word where there is a difference, and the client has not objected to this. By the way, Gary, referring to the example you give, although \"The Government say\" is used by the press here, I don\'t think it is good UK English and I wouldn\'t use it myself, I would write \"The Government says\".
[ This Message was edited by: on 2002-08-19 13:50 ]
[ This Message was edited by: on 2002-08-19 13:53 ] ▲ Collapse | | |
Elizabeth Adams United States Local time: 16:47 Member (2002) Russian to English Brands of English | Aug 19, 2002 |
I had to have several other native speakers vouch for me once before getting an interpreting job - the client was worried that since I\'m from Texas, well, you know...
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GaryG Local time: 19:47 English + ... TOPIC STARTER UK/US English | Aug 19, 2002 |
Quote: On 2002-08-19 12:25, jdoughty wrote: To squi: What you say is correct as far as UK English is concerned, but I believe in US English it is always program in any context. Perhaps GaryG can confirm this.
Absolutely - never \"programme\" here.
To GaryG: By the way, Gary, referring to the example you give, although \"The Government say\&quo ... See more Quote: On 2002-08-19 12:25, jdoughty wrote: To squi: What you say is correct as far as UK English is concerned, but I believe in US English it is always program in any context. Perhaps GaryG can confirm this.
Absolutely - never \"programme\" here.
To GaryG: By the way, Gary, referring to the example you give, although \"The Government say\" is used by the press here, I don\'t think it is good UK English and I wouldn\'t use it myself, I would write \"The Government says\".
And this is also true for \"Vodaphone say[s]\"? I had the impression that there was a philosophical difference on how collective singular expressions are handled (let\'s not get into \"datum/data\" and the like!. It can make \"localizing\" your translation much more labor-intensive than just running it through a spellchecker set up for another country. ▲ Collapse | | |
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