| Pages in topic: [1 2] > |
Poll: Do you accept assignments to post-edit machine translations? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
|
|---|
This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you accept assignments to post-edit machine translations?".
This poll was originally submitted by cmgrimm. View the poll results »
| | | |
Diana Obermeyer 
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:13
Member (2013)
German to English
+ ...
| maybe I have... | Apr 2, 2014 |
Some of the translations that I have been handed for review might as well have been machine translated... only that wasn't officially admitted.
Of the few requests I have had for actual MT editing, so far none of the potential clients have been willing to allow me to see the files before assignment and I declined them on that basis. How I was meant to agree a price without being given a chance to evaluate the required effort, I don't know.
| | | |
Marjolein Snippe
Netherlands
Local time: 20:13
Member (2012)
English to Dutch
+ ...
Fortunately, in my area (medical/pharmaceutical texts) I have not seen any machine translations. Apart from the one time when a 'translator' had obviously used MT and then tried to pass it off as his own translation. I told the client what was going on, and that it would be better to retranslate the whole thing. They took my word for it, got rid of the translator and have been a good client since then.
I would be rather worried if machine translations started to appear in this field... See more Fortunately, in my area (medical/pharmaceutical texts) I have not seen any machine translations. Apart from the one time when a 'translator' had obviously used MT and then tried to pass it off as his own translation. I told the client what was going on, and that it would be better to retranslate the whole thing. They took my word for it, got rid of the translator and have been a good client since then.
I would be rather worried if machine translations started to appear in this field before a dramatic improvement in the quality of machine translations is seen. ▲ Collapse
| | | |
Michael Harris
Germany
Local time: 20:13
Member (2006)
German to English
not any more.
I made that mistake (HUGE!!!) twice, and since then, never again.
The payment was not bad, but the stress involved is / was painstaking.
Prefer to transplate normally.
| | |
|
|
|
I would accept those kind of assignments if they accept my regular translation rate, as I would of course retranslate it.
It can happen that I am not told it's a machine translation revision, and it can happen that I don't notice when I accept the assignment, but I usually check the document first and if it's machine translated I won't take it unless they accept a higher rate.
| | | |
Graeme Walle (X)
Finland
Local time: 21:13
Finnish to English
+ ...
| Same Experience Here | Apr 2, 2014 |
Michael Harris wrote:
not any more.
I made that mistake (HUGE!!!) twice, and since then, never again.
The payment was not bad, but the stress involved is / was painstaking.
Prefer to transplate normally.
I made the same mistake too.
Both times I had to the work online without seeing the source text in advance.
Both sites were slow to load and update and at least one did not allow me to go back and correct earlier errors, which was incredibly frustrating.
They were very painful experiences although at least one was quite well paid.
I would only take such work again as a last resort.
[Edited at 2014-04-02 10:23 GMT]
| | | |
EvaVer (X)
Local time: 20:13
Czech to French
+ ...
but I have never been asked to. As said before - some "translations" are worse than MT, though.
| | | |
| Strange kind of assignment | Apr 2, 2014 |
It surprises me. Why such work should cost less than just translation? After all, I can do machine translation myself on my computer in seconds and free of charge.
| | |
|
|
|
| Yes - at a very good rate | Apr 2, 2014 |
I have been post-editing machine translation for more than 30 years. The system I have used was developed by the Pan American Health Organization, and it works reasonably well - the performance varies. PAHO pays contractors more for post-editing than most agencies pay for straight translation. They expect translators to use the computer output as a guide and introduce their own style and creativity.
| | | |
Helen Hagon
Local time: 19:13
Member (2011)
Russian to English
+ ...
I made that mistake a couple of times, too. The customer didn't mention it was a machine translation, but I quickly discovered it was easier just to translate the whole thing again from scratch. Now, I don't turn these jobs down per se, but I offer to do them for the same rate as translation and then never hear anything more.
Perhaps it might be different post-editing highly repetitive, term-specific translations produced on sophisticated software, but I currently have no experience... See more I made that mistake a couple of times, too. The customer didn't mention it was a machine translation, but I quickly discovered it was easier just to translate the whole thing again from scratch. Now, I don't turn these jobs down per se, but I offer to do them for the same rate as translation and then never hear anything more.
Perhaps it might be different post-editing highly repetitive, term-specific translations produced on sophisticated software, but I currently have no experience of that end of the market... ▲ Collapse
| | | |
nrichy (X)
France
Local time: 20:13
French to Dutch
+ ...
I would like to give it a try, with good quality machine translation, NOT Google.
I know it exists.
One cannot judge without having tried it once or two times before.
But nobody offers me this kind of work. Am too old and too expensive.
| | | |
If the rate on offer is exceptional, sure, why not.
| | |
|
|
|
Marjolein Snippe
Netherlands
Local time: 20:13
Member (2012)
English to Dutch
+ ...
Muriel Vasconcellos wrote:
I have been post-editing machine translation for more than 30 years. The system I have used was developed by the Pan American Health Organization, and it works reasonably well - the performance varies.
That sounds like an interesting system, Muriel - what is it called?
| | | |
Michael Harris
Germany
Local time: 20:13
Member (2006)
German to English
Alexander Kondorsky wrote:
It surprises me. Why such work should cost less than just translation? After all, I can do machine translation myself on my computer in seconds and free of charge.
This is generally sneaked in a review job, which is a lot cheaper than having it translated by some who knows what they are doing....
| | | |
R. Alex Jenkins
Brazil
Local time: 15:13
Member (2006)
Portuguese to English
+ ...
| Work at an hourly rate, instead of a per word rate. | Apr 2, 2014 |
The fairest way of working as a proofreader or reviser is to agree an hourly rate with the agency in question, although many agencies are not willing to do this because of the risks of suddenly paying for several more hours work than they may have anticipated.
If an agency trusts you then they won't have a problem agreeing on a fair rate between both parties.
The problem seems to be that many agencies want a cheaper option, which just isn't feasible if the translation h... See more The fairest way of working as a proofreader or reviser is to agree an hourly rate with the agency in question, although many agencies are not willing to do this because of the risks of suddenly paying for several more hours work than they may have anticipated.
If an agency trusts you then they won't have a problem agreeing on a fair rate between both parties.
The problem seems to be that many agencies want a cheaper option, which just isn't feasible if the translation has originally been done by a machine and not a human. Revision will take longer if done by a machine and will therefore be more expensive. ▲ Collapse
| | | |
| Pages in topic: [1 2] > |
Login to reply/comment 
