Poll: How many times do you check your own translations, segment by segment? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "How many times do you check your own translations, segment by segment?".
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From one to three or more (twice being my average). I’ll go over my translation how many times I feel the text needs even for those clients who thoroughly review my work and then send the translation back for my input. With long projects, my very last proofreading step consists of reading out aloud the whole text and I always notice things that I haven’t noticed before: sentences that are too long, too repetitive or too convoluted.
P.S. As I don't use CAT tools, I don't check se... See more From one to three or more (twice being my average). I’ll go over my translation how many times I feel the text needs even for those clients who thoroughly review my work and then send the translation back for my input. With long projects, my very last proofreading step consists of reading out aloud the whole text and I always notice things that I haven’t noticed before: sentences that are too long, too repetitive or too convoluted.
P.S. As I don't use CAT tools, I don't check segment by segment... ▲ Collapse
| | | | Lorenzo Meloni 
Italy
Local time: 22:40
Member (2022)
English to Italian
| Translation + Self review before the next step | Apr 7 |
It depends a lot on whether the deadlines and volumes allow it, but whenever possible I try to make it a 2-step process, with a good night sleep's in between.
Day 1: Translate and make sure that the target accurately reflects the meaning of the source
Day 2: Self-review the target (intentionally not checking the source, unless something looks odd) to make sure it is fluent and doesn't sound like a translation
I try to do always this regardless of whether someone else wil... See more It depends a lot on whether the deadlines and volumes allow it, but whenever possible I try to make it a 2-step process, with a good night sleep's in between.
Day 1: Translate and make sure that the target accurately reflects the meaning of the source
Day 2: Self-review the target (intentionally not checking the source, unless something looks odd) to make sure it is fluent and doesn't sound like a translation
I try to do always this regardless of whether someone else will review the task afterwards. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Iulia Parvu
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:40
Member (2022)
English to Romanian
+ ...
And that's because I always read/check again each paragraph right after finishing it.
I guess that actually counts for two... 🤔 🤔
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Jeff Whittaker
United States
Local time: 16:40
Spanish to English
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No matter how many times I review the text on screen, I always miss things unless I print out the document (bilingual review in the case of a CAT tool).
Even if I think I've checked it twice and there cannot possibly be anything more, I find at least 2 or 3 corrections per page when I print them on paper. For some reason, you just miss things when you read on screen as opposed to on a paper document.
I pay for a professional shredding service because sometimes I go th... See more No matter how many times I review the text on screen, I always miss things unless I print out the document (bilingual review in the case of a CAT tool).
Even if I think I've checked it twice and there cannot possibly be anything more, I find at least 2 or 3 corrections per page when I print them on paper. For some reason, you just miss things when you read on screen as opposed to on a paper document.
I pay for a professional shredding service because sometimes I go through 1000s of sheets a month.
[Edited at 2024-04-07 17:04 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 22:40
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
| Why is zero not an option? | Apr 7 |
I'm sure some translators do not check their translations at all before shipping it off to the proofreader.
| | | | Kay Denney
France
Local time: 22:40
French to English
My first draft is rubbish, so I feel like I check about a hundred times.
I'll go through once checking that I haven't missed anything, and that the terminology is correct and checking against what I might have used in previous translations.
Then I'll do a spellcheck and check all proper nouns even if the spellcheck breezes past them (I'm always amazed at how often the source text has a spelling mistake in a name, and then there are many names that will be spelled differently... See more My first draft is rubbish, so I feel like I check about a hundred times.
I'll go through once checking that I haven't missed anything, and that the terminology is correct and checking against what I might have used in previous translations.
Then I'll do a spellcheck and check all proper nouns even if the spellcheck breezes past them (I'm always amazed at how often the source text has a spelling mistake in a name, and then there are many names that will be spelled differently in English)
Then I'll check the sound of the text all the way through, still checking against the source text to make sure I'm not changing the meaning in any way. From this point on, I'm no longer checking segment by segment, because I'll be moving bits about. A subordinate clause might become an adjective that then gets shifted to the previous sentence because we can't just heap adjectives up in English. I'll be cutting sentences up and joining bits to the previous or next one. I often do this after exporting if I'm using a CAT tool, and I don't see how you can translate properly without doing it. ▲ Collapse
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I would never check segment by segment, because I don't translate segment by segment. I'm not a machine, so why would I translate like one?
As fellow dinosaurs have already pointed out, it's much more effective to check the text as a whole, on paper.
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Ventnai
Spain
Local time: 22:40
German to English
+ ...
| Twice with QA/spellcheck and then check in Word | Apr 8 |
I usually check segments twice and use the QA and spellcheck functions. I'll then usually view the document in Word, even if it means copying and pasting, so I can see the whole text together. I normally use the Read Aloud function for a final check.
| | | | Michael Bachmann
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:40
Member (2020)
English to German
+ ...
It depends on how much it is, how many tags are involved and how poor the source text is. I prefer to take a break between checks, best to go through all on the following day again if possible. LSO's are my favourite when everything is where it should be on a proper page and context but that's a rare situation.
I had jobs where my text was amended by marketing people before it went online and these people didn't appear to be native speakers, they changed the text and it got grammar issues... See more It depends on how much it is, how many tags are involved and how poor the source text is. I prefer to take a break between checks, best to go through all on the following day again if possible. LSO's are my favourite when everything is where it should be on a proper page and context but that's a rare situation.
I had jobs where my text was amended by marketing people before it went online and these people didn't appear to be native speakers, they changed the text and it got grammar issues and spelling mistakes which weren't mine. Frustrating. ▲ Collapse
| | | | MollyRose
United States
Local time: 15:40
English to Spanish
+ ...
| interesting question | Apr 9 |
I realize that people review differently, and it also depends upon the type of document and the translator's confidence as it relates to the content and jargon of the subject area. It can also vary, depending on whether one is translating into or out of his native language. I usually translate into my second language, and this is my process:
I review each segment (or combination of segments as needed for context) at least once before confirming it and going to the next one. If it ha... See more I realize that people review differently, and it also depends upon the type of document and the translator's confidence as it relates to the content and jargon of the subject area. It can also vary, depending on whether one is translating into or out of his native language. I usually translate into my second language, and this is my process:
I review each segment (or combination of segments as needed for context) at least once before confirming it and going to the next one. If it has a TU match, I read that, too, to make sure it is ok, even if it is 98-101%. This is for accuracy of translation and meaning, comparing with the source, as well as making sure there aren't any grammatical errors in the target language.
After I finish the translation, I review the target, again making sure there are no grammatical or other kinds of errors, and making sure nothing sounds awkward or needs to be tweaked for a better flow or accuracy of synonyms. Sometimes I do this in steps if there are a lot of things to check (once through only to make sure the tags and font style match, then go through it all again checking for other things). If it is a very long document, I might do this in sections instead of waiting until I have finished translating the entire document. This helps me to refocus if my brain seems to be getting tired.
If I send it to a reviewer/proofreader, then of course I consider their suggestions and accept, reject, or make modifications that are different from what I had written and they suggested.
Depending on the document, how new the text is (hardly any matches or where I needed to do extra research), and lead time, I might read it all again a different day, after exporting it to Word or whatever program. Otherwise, I just make sure that the format matches the original as much as possible and that it looks good in the target language. After exporting it to pdf, I look at the pdf, too, because some things are more easily noticed in pdf than in Word, such as consistency in punctuation in bullet points, line endings and how it looks on the page, etc. ▲ Collapse
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