Last set of Kudoz questions in Proz Thread poster: Musab Hayatli
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Just now, a set of questions was posted in Proz. Is it only me, or do others also find some of the questions posted sometimes incredible? I mean, if someone is saying they are translators, or just speak English, how come words like "as many", and "Irritation", etc,, form an obstacle that they have to post them and request help from other translators. Any dictionary will be helpful enough to provide you with more-than-adequate answers! Are the questions genuine? Are some of the posting merely to ... See more Just now, a set of questions was posted in Proz. Is it only me, or do others also find some of the questions posted sometimes incredible? I mean, if someone is saying they are translators, or just speak English, how come words like "as many", and "Irritation", etc,, form an obstacle that they have to post them and request help from other translators. Any dictionary will be helpful enough to provide you with more-than-adequate answers! Are the questions genuine? Are some of the posting merely to let other translators, tempted by the extra points they will be earning, welling to really do the work for others? I am baffled! ▲ Collapse
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| I agree with you totally | Aug 30, 2004 |
Musab Hayatli wrote:
Just now, a set of questions was posted in Proz. Is it only me, or do others also find some of the questions posted sometimes incredible? I mean, if someone is saying they are translators, or just speak English, how come words like "as many", and "Irritation", etc,, form an obstacle that they have to post them and request help from other translators. Any dictionary will be helpful enough to provide you with more-than-adequate answers! Are the questions genuine? Are some of the posting merely to let other translators, tempted by the extra points they will be earning, welling to really do the work for others? I am baffled!
Sometimes I feel very angry because of the questions posted. You can't believe that these questions are posted by translators. Such as "I miss you" or things of the sort. I can't understand how a translator can ask such a question. I am not willing to answer any of these questions at all, in fact I would feel humiliated if I get points for answering questions like these.
And another thing, sometimes you see ten or more questions posted one after the other by the same translator and apparently from the same text. This is not the kind of thing a translator would do.
Regards to all
Tamara
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Nesrin 
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:58
English to Arabic
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| I agree, but you need to consider this: | Aug 30, 2004 |
For one thing, not all askers are Proz members, and therefore, not all of them are translators or are required to possess the skills translators should possess. For another thing, not all askers are native Arabic speakers, so that justifies some simple phrases/ words like "I miss you".
What I agree with you on and what I find mindboggling is when someone who is very obviously an Arab, like that recent asker, asks about the meaning of phrases like "easy to do". Makes you wonder: how did th... See more For one thing, not all askers are Proz members, and therefore, not all of them are translators or are required to possess the skills translators should possess. For another thing, not all askers are native Arabic speakers, so that justifies some simple phrases/ words like "I miss you".
What I agree with you on and what I find mindboggling is when someone who is very obviously an Arab, like that recent asker, asks about the meaning of phrases like "easy to do". Makes you wonder: how did they manage to grasp the Kudoz system, or even work their way through the internet in the first place, if they find such a phrase hard to understand???
My policy is to simply ignore questions which I find a bit fishy. ▲ Collapse
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Musab Hayatli
Local time: 14:58
English to Arabic
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TOPIC STARTER | You have a point | Aug 30, 2004 |
Nesrin wrote:
For one thing, not all askers are Proz members, and therefore, not all of them are translators or are required to possess the skills translators should possess. For another thing, not all askers are native Arabic speakers, so that justifies some simple phrases/ words like \"I miss you\".
What I agree with you on and what I find mindboggling is when someone who is very obviously an Arab, like that recent asker, asks about the meaning of phrases like \"easy to do\". Makes you wonder: how did they manage to grasp the Kudoz system, or even work their way through the internet in the first place, if they find such a phrase hard to understand???
My policy is to simply ignore questions which I find a bit fishy.
You are right about the fact that sometimes the person asking is not an Arabic speaker, or that it is a question from students. But sometimes it is clear the questions are from a text of some sort, the last set sounded like a choice list for some medical/health questionnaire! It strikes as odd, therefore, that if one is selling oneself as a translator, that they are unable to translate fairly basic English phrases and words. Of course, it is even equally entertaining watching the answers flooding in, some of them makes one wonder even more
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Musab Hayatli
Local time: 14:58
English to Arabic
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TOPIC STARTER | Ignoring ignorant questions | Aug 30, 2004 |
Sometimes I feel very angry because of the questions posted. You can't believe that these questions are posted by translators. Such as "I miss you" or things of the sort. I can't understand how a translator can ask such a question. I am not willing to answer any of these questions at all, in fact I would feel humiliated if I get points for answering questions like these.
And another thing, sometimes you see ten or more questions posted one after the other by the same translator and apparently from the same text. This is not the kind of thing a translator would do.
Regards to all
Tamara
I initially acted on good faith and tried to reply to these questions, but now, just like you, I try to be selective. It is incredible how many times "I miss you" and "I love you" have been posted!! There must be some kind of emotional crisis in the Arab World
Best
musab
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Parrot
Spain
Local time: 15:58
Spanish to English
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| Take down this link and direct the user to it | Aug 31, 2004 |
http://www.proz.com/kudozrules
The "emotional crisis" has been happening for a long time in other communities, and we have found that politely referring users (or the so-called abusers) to this page helps.
If it doesn't (this will depend purely on individual reactions), please contact your moderator (Fuad or Alaa).
[Edited at 2004-08-31 00:44]
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Musab Hayatli
Local time: 14:58
English to Arabic
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TOPIC STARTER
Parrot wrote: http://www.proz.com/kudozrules The "emotional crisis" has been happening for a long time in other communities, and we have found that politely referring users (or the so-called abusers) to this page helps. If it doesn't (this will depend purely on individual reactions), please contact your moderator (Fuad or Alaa). [Edited at 2004-08-31 00:44]
Thank you for the hint, I will keep this link ready!
Best
musab
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Saifa (X)
Local time: 15:58
German to French
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| not posted by translators | Aug 31, 2004 |
Parrot wrote:
The \"emotional crisis\" has been happening for a long time in other communities
Exactly! I think these questions are not posted by translators: ProZ is an open site, you do not have to be a certified translator to become a member. And also: ProZ is open 24/24, 7/7, so...
I also usually ignore this kind of questions. Exception: when the person explains why he or she is asking for a word or expression you can find in any dictionary (he or she is working at another place and forgot his/her dictionary at home, he or she does not normally work with this specific language but now needs a word or expression to make a surprise to a good friend etc.)
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| Restrictions may be imposed in the future, and easy questions are not necessarily frivolous | Aug 31, 2004 |
Restrictions to posting questions have been proposed and robustly discussed by Henry and many moderators. Some of the proposals seem to have gained acceptance by a large majority, and, as soon as Henry decides, they should be implemented. My own take on the restrictions are (in summary):
- No questions by non-members
- No such thing as unpaid membership
- A new threshold level of membership needs to be developed for those who do not wish to have a full memb... See more Restrictions to posting questions have been proposed and robustly discussed by Henry and many moderators. Some of the proposals seem to have gained acceptance by a large majority, and, as soon as Henry decides, they should be implemented. My own take on the restrictions are (in summary):
- No questions by non-members
- No such thing as unpaid membership
- A new threshold level of membership needs to be developed for those who do not wish to have a full membership but want to particiapate to a limited extent (say, $15 per year)
- The number of daily questions should be commensurate with the membership level
- The number of daily questions must be capped, even for Platinum members
As to question content, "easy" questions are a recognized category. You can restrict your own participation to "pro" questions.
Expressions that are easy to understand are not necessarily easy to translate. Many novice translators have difficulty translating common English expressions to Arabic (or vice versa), although they understand what the expressions mean. That is why "how long will this take" is a legitimate question.
Expressions that are posted ad nauseam (e.g., "I love you") can be squashed; the asker needs to be directed to do a KudoZ search. ▲ Collapse
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Parrot
Spain
Local time: 15:58
Spanish to English
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| Your help (and everyone else's) is appreciated | Sep 1, 2004 |
We aren't always around, so that polite nudge from the members is always appreciated (i.e., we should really be thanking you for helping us ).
It can also happen that someone's mouse gets stuck or the screen does not seem to respond on the asker's end, and you receive six "I love yous" one after the other. In that event, anyone with over 500 kudoz points can erase the repetitions (please make sure they are repeti... See more We aren't always around, so that polite nudge from the members is always appreciated (i.e., we should really be thanking you for helping us).
It can also happen that someone's mouse gets stuck or the screen does not seem to respond on the asker's end, and you receive six "I love yous" one after the other. In that event, anyone with over 500 kudoz points can erase the repetitions (please make sure they are repetitions from the same source).
Thanks! ▲ Collapse
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