Off topic: Things we translate Thread poster: Ritu Bhanot
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I received a profile mail asking for translation of sms
Of course I did it free of cost but this set me thinking of the sort of things we are asked to translate and how this reflects the need to end these frontiers... political boundaries which are so meaningless
And some things that we translate inspite of ourselves. One of the first assi... See more
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Peter Linton (X) 
Local time: 13:25
Swedish to English
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| Drunk driver | May 21, 2006 |
Of one of my earliest translations, and most interesting, was a police report about a drunken driver. The unusual thing was that he was an airline pilot, and was arrested in the cockpit of his plane shortly before takeoff.
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Rajan Chopra
India
Local time: 17:55
Member (2008)
English to Hindi
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| Text full of abuses | May 21, 2006 |
I remember once I had to translate the transcribed text which contained a number of abuses. Since it was required for the purpose of insvestigation, the transcriptionist was forced to incorporate those abuses and I had also to translate them!
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Irene N
United States
Local time: 07:25
English to Russian
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didn't want to translate it... but all my classmates told me that if I didn't someone else would which is true... so I did it but refused to certify it or help him get it certified. Never said anything to the client but...
Are you the judge and the jury? One example - sexual harrassment is a horrble thing that caused women a lot of pain, yet... Have you ever met oh so poor unfortunate girls claiming brutal sexual harrassment and having a girl's talk elsewhere that this is the best ... See more didn't want to translate it... but all my classmates told me that if I didn't someone else would which is true... so I did it but refused to certify it or help him get it certified. Never said anything to the client but...
Are you the judge and the jury? One example - sexual harrassment is a horrble thing that caused women a lot of pain, yet... Have you ever met oh so poor unfortunate girls claiming brutal sexual harrassment and having a girl's talk elsewhere that this is the best way to get the guy fired (out of revenge for not getting him laid, as the truth might be) and/or fix credit card problems when working in corporate environment? I have.
Triple professional misconduct - pouring attitude on the end customer, making money on translation and not completing the assignment (denial of certification), and not informing the client. Translation is one profession, social worker - another, Caring friend and fellow wife - yet another. Sorry, does not sound right to me. ▲ Collapse
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| First Time I heard that one | May 21, 2006 |
Is it really true?
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| An interesting case | May 21, 2006 |
Personally, I haven't been in a sticky situation like yours, but here's an intriguing real-world ethical problem.
A while ago there was a translation customer here on ProZ (maybe still is) who requested translation of his wife/fiance's personal letters (NOT addressed to him) from Russian into English. How he got hold of these letters is unknown to me. Once he posted the whole text of the letter in the job posting. The content of her letters indicated that either she knew he wasn't a... See more Personally, I haven't been in a sticky situation like yours, but here's an intriguing real-world ethical problem.
A while ago there was a translation customer here on ProZ (maybe still is) who requested translation of his wife/fiance's personal letters (NOT addressed to him) from Russian into English. How he got hold of these letters is unknown to me. Once he posted the whole text of the letter in the job posting. The content of her letters indicated that either she knew he wasn't able to read Russian or, perhaps, never thought he could intercept her messages. Thus, it's likely that he was spying on his fiance.
So, do you think it's ethical to
1) translate this kind of stuff
2) offer it up for translation
?
Cheers,
Mikhail ▲ Collapse
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| my best translation | May 22, 2006 |
It was a user's guide on " how to enjoy a good Huelva's cured ham" (jamón curado de Huelva).
I learned a lot about pigs and take 2 kilos in one week (I was always hungry!)
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| Unethical to open other people's mail, period! | May 22, 2006 |
Let's forget for a second that opening others' mail is illegal. Afterall, it is somewhat plausible (I have my doubts) the guy opened them by mistake. However, the notion of him posting the contents on the WWW without the fiancee/wife's knowledge or consent makes me sick.
As far as to whether it would be ethical to translate, all I can say is that I would not want to get in the middle of this situation.
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which is true... so I did it but refused to certify it or help him get it certified. Never said anything to the client but...
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