Translating alterations to the text
Thread poster: Armorel Young
Armorel Young
Armorel Young  Identity Verified
Local time: 10:46
German to English
Feb 11, 2004

I am translating a printed copy of a fairly complex academic text, which in places has had words crossed out and an alternative - presumably intended to be a correction - written in by hand. The translation is "for information" for a person doing research - it won't be published in any form.

Where manuscript amendments have been made it seems to me that I must indicate this to the person who wants the translation, so that they can make their own evaluation of the alternatives bein
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I am translating a printed copy of a fairly complex academic text, which in places has had words crossed out and an alternative - presumably intended to be a correction - written in by hand. The translation is "for information" for a person doing research - it won't be published in any form.

Where manuscript amendments have been made it seems to me that I must indicate this to the person who wants the translation, so that they can make their own evaluation of the alternatives being provided. Is there a recognised way of doing this? I'm thinking of putting (manuscript amendment:XXX) each time the situation arises, but would be interested to know if people have other ideas.
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Jeff Whittaker
Jeff Whittaker  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 06:46
Member (2002)
Spanish to English
+ ...
suggestions Feb 11, 2004

The best thing to do is to contact the client and find out what they want.

However, if the ammended sections are not too long, you could type the deleted text using the "strikethrough" feature in Word, immediately followed by [handwritten text: xxxx]. I think anyone reading the translation would easily understand what is going on.



Armorel Young wrote:

I am translating a printed copy of a fairly complex academic text, which in places has had words crossed out and an alternative - presumably intended to be a correction - written in by hand. The translation is "for information" for a person doing research - it won't be published in any form.

Where manuscript amendments have been made it seems to me that I must indicate this to the person who wants the translation, so that they can make their own evaluation of the alternatives being provided. Is there a recognised way of doing this? I'm thinking of putting (manuscript amendment:XXX) each time the situation arises, but would be interested to know if people have other ideas.


 
Agnieszka Hayward (X)
Agnieszka Hayward (X)
Poland
Local time: 11:46
German to Polish
+ ...
track changes option Feb 12, 2004

I'd go for the 'track changes on screen' option in Word, at first occurrence of the corrected text explaining in a footnote what your method of indicating the changes was.

tools>
track changes>
highlight changes>
track changes on screen +
track changes on printout

In case the client chooses to use the corrected version as the final document, you simply unclick 'track changes on screen' and on printout and you'll have a ready document without havi
... See more
I'd go for the 'track changes on screen' option in Word, at first occurrence of the corrected text explaining in a footnote what your method of indicating the changes was.

tools>
track changes>
highlight changes>
track changes on screen +
track changes on printout

In case the client chooses to use the corrected version as the final document, you simply unclick 'track changes on screen' and on printout and you'll have a ready document without having to make any further corrections.
HTH
Agnieszka
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PAS
PAS  Identity Verified
Local time: 11:46
Polish to English
+ ...
Insert Comment Feb 12, 2004

You can insert a comment in the 'insert' menu in Word. This highlights the place where you insert the comment in yellow, but the comment only shows when you place the cursor on the highlighted area.

This is slightly less "invasive" than the track changes option, although if the recipient is not aware of that option in Word, they may be confused.

Your pick.

Pawel Skalinski


 
Agnieszka Hayward (X)
Agnieszka Hayward (X)
Poland
Local time: 11:46
German to Polish
+ ...
You can undo or accept the changes Feb 12, 2004

PAS wrote:

This is slightly less "invasive" than the track changes option.

Pawel Skalinski


Track changes option is 'undoable', so both solutions (yours and mine) should pass as moderately invasive I guess.


 
acnjones
acnjones
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:46
Japanese to English
+ ...
I remember reading Feb 13, 2004

I remember reading one of Marx's books published only from his notes. He had crossed out and amended the text all over the place and the translator had indicated all of these by normal page notes (ie. small numbers) to the side or bottom of the page.

 
Armorel Young
Armorel Young  Identity Verified
Local time: 10:46
German to English
TOPIC STARTER
Thank you Feb 15, 2004

Thank you, everyone, for helpful comments. All the suggestions were interesting, and just go to show that there is usually more than one way of doing anything! In the event I ended up using the strikethrough option as that matched very closely the original appearance of the text, but I shall bear the other possibilities in mind for future reference as well.

 


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Translating alterations to the text







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