Do I have to translate all the answers to one question? Thread poster: Charlotte Blank
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Hi all,
in a medical questionnaire I just have a rather long list of answering possibilities for one question but only one of them is relevant and has a * on it. I know it will bring more words but would you translate all of those unproper answers as well or just the suitable one?
Charlotte
| | | | | Purchase order? Agreement of some kind? | Dec 12, 2005 |
What did you agree to with the client?
Although it sounds as if you haven't really got any sort of agreement, otherwise you wouldn't be asking. Which is possibly slightly unwise. Maybe you should ask the client, not us?
FWIW though, if I were your target reader, I'd probably prefer to see the whole thing, just so I knew what answers weren't relevant...
| | | | Charlotte Blank 
Germany
Local time: 09:13
Czech to German
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TOPIC STARTER | No agreement | Dec 12, 2005 |
Hi Charlie,
no, I don't have any agreement as I did not see the text before and the agency did not tell me... It's an insurance questionnaire with such questions as "Did the person apply for: 1., 2., 3., ..." where only one of those points is checked.
Charlotte
| | | | Dr Sue Levy (X)
Local time: 09:13
French to English
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| multiple choice questionnaire | Dec 12, 2005 |
If it's a MCQ, obviously you need to translate all the possible responses. The fact that only one is correct is irrelevant.
Good luck!
Sue
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Hi Charlotte,
I usually translate all of them, be they multiple choices of statements, answers, fields, etc. Keep in mind that you are responsible to produce translations which look as close to their originals as possible. When a client needs only specific answers, they usually say so. And if you are not sure, the best thing is to ask the Client.
Happy translating!
Seadeta
| | | | | Ask your client | Dec 12, 2005 |
You don't want to get to deadline date and have your translation incomplete.
HTH.
Regards,
Jerónimo
| | | | Pat Jenner (X)
Local time: 08:13
German to English
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| mark the relevant answer | Dec 13, 2005 |
Don't forget to mark in some way which one of the answers is appropriate, otherwise the client will not be much the wiser!
| | | | | agree with other responses | Dec 14, 2005 |
I get these a lot with standard hospital forms (e.g. including all possible types of billing procedures), and sometimes the irrelevant bits are the most difficult of all to translate! But you must translate them all. And as Pat says, don't forget to highlight the relevant answer in a way as close as possible to the original (using a box with an X in it, putting it in bold, underlining it, or whatever).
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Charlotte Blank
Germany
Local time: 09:13
Czech to German
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Related question | Dec 14, 2005 |
Thanks so far to all of you! So I'm going to translate all these "unnecessary" things as well;-)
There is something else, however, related to the first question: What do you do with headers and footers where on every page there is the same information, such as name of the company, addresses, phone numbers etc.? (I think this has been discussed before but cannot remember where.)
Charlotte
| | | | Pat Jenner (X)
Local time: 08:13
German to English
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| This is something you really do need to sort out with the client. | Dec 15, 2005 |
I do quite a lot of medical reports, and I find that clients have very different approaches (if they've thought about it at all!). You certainly want to avoid struggling with large volumes of often poor quality text, and then find that the client didn't want you to translate/transcribe it (and doesn't want to pay for it...). I would suggest to your client that, unless they really need all this information (opening hours, phone numbers, bank details...), you put in the name of the institution and... See more I do quite a lot of medical reports, and I find that clients have very different approaches (if they've thought about it at all!). You certainly want to avoid struggling with large volumes of often poor quality text, and then find that the client didn't want you to translate/transcribe it (and doesn't want to pay for it...). I would suggest to your client that, unless they really need all this information (opening hours, phone numbers, bank details...), you put in the name of the institution and department where the patient was treated, the date, and the names of the medical staff involved.
If they decide that they do want everything that's in the original, you should also issue a disclaimer on legibility of addresses, bank account numbers, etc. (and also do this if the figures in any lab reports are not clear).
Hope that helps. ▲ Collapse
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