Poll: If the deadline is not an issue, when would be the best time for you to proofread your translation? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "If the deadline is not an issue, when would be the best time for you to proofread your translation?".
This poll was originally submitted by Milena Taylor. View the poll results »
| | | | Doan Quang 
Vietnam
Local time: 09:30
Member
English to Vietnamese
| The next day | Jun 16, 2016 |
The next day is the best time to proofread my translation prior to delivery.
| | | | Julian Holmes
Japan
Local time: 11:30
Member (2011)
Japanese to English
On-the-fly and most important areas immediately after I have finished.
With technical translation, there is constant going back and forth, anyway, especially as you become more familiar with content as you go through the document.
| | | | Yvonne Gallagher
Ireland
Local time: 02:30
Member (2010)
French to English
+ ...
The best time is after an hour or two break, or following morning if finished late at night...
If it's a long document I usually proof sections as I go and then give the whole lot a final read-through, preferably after a break
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Teresa Borges
Portugal
Local time: 02:30
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
All my translations go through a number of proofreading and editing stages. The first one happens immediately after completing the first draft and I’ll be comparing the source and the target against each other and looking for missing words or figures (checking all figures and dates in the text and in tables), typos, punctuation errors and spelling. Then, I incorporate the corrections and changes. During the second one, I just look at style considerations, formatting inconsistencies, gaps between words, etc. Then again, I incorporate the corrections and changes. The third one, generally done the next day, consists of reading aloud the whole text. Stage two is sometimes done by a trusted colleague…
| | | | Vera Schoen
Sweden
Local time: 03:30
Member (2008)
German to Swedish
+ ...
Apart from the obvious check as I go along and directly after, I get the best result if I have the possibility of checking again the next day and then a new a few days later.
| | | | | The next day | Jun 16, 2016 |
If I can have a night's sleep between translating and final proofreading, I often come up with better phrases, etc. That's why I prefer not to have a same-day deadline, if possible.
| | | | Chie. I
Japan
Local time: 11:30
Member (2013)
English to Japanese
+ ...
| the next day normally it should be fine | Jun 16, 2016 |
but sometimes it lingers longer and takes some while before I can see it from another point of view. Or just I am too headstand with works
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| deadline should not be an issue | Jun 16, 2016 |
because proofreading should be figured into the timeline you quote your client. I have no problem doing it right afterward, actually, without being influenced by the source text staying in my head. This is probably from long years of practice. I don't know if waiting for the next day would make a difference anymore. I think that when I started out it might have.
| | | | Mario Freitas
Brazil
Local time: 23:30
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
| Immediately, | Jun 16, 2016 |
Although deadline not being an issue is quite rare. Even if you finish two days ahead, the deadline is still an issue, unless you have a client that says "don't worry, you can deliver this whenever you want".
However, there are two reasons IMO to do this immediately: (1) Everything is fresh in your mind, and you shouldn't sleep and let it disperse; (2) You may be surprised by a new urgent job when you wake up, so why run the risk?
Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today
| | | | Andy Watkinson
Spain
Local time: 03:30
Member
Catalan to English
+ ...
| Surprised in BCN | Jun 17, 2016 |
I'm intrigued by the responses to this thread.
First, why talk about deadlines when the question clearly states it's not an issue?
And why "immediately", "after a couple of hours", etc...
Second, it's pretty obvious that the best time to proofread would be as long as possible after you've completed the translation.
It's called distance.
I LOVE
PARIS IN THE
THE SPRINGTIME
| | | | DZiW
Ukraine
English to Russian
+ ...
As I'm using WF Classic (yeah, MS Word env), I often re-read my translation with proper style and formatting for the source is hidden--right to the first segment to translate. So, if the job is rather long, I often re-read and instantly amend the translation before the final touch.
However, I do take my time--at least a night--before having a fresh eye for the last time. I also read some portions aloud and improvise back-translating on-fly, why?
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Chris S
United Kingdom
Swedish to English
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Andy Watkinson wrote:
Second, it's pretty obvious that the best time to proofread would be as long as possible after you've completed the translation.
It's called distance.
You can also have too much distance. Sometimes you carry a lot of info in your head which then gets lost. I can come back to a text a week later and be completely at a loss about why I wrote what I did!
| | | | Andy Watkinson
Spain
Local time: 03:30
Member
Catalan to English
+ ...
| Point taken but.... | Jun 18, 2016 |
Chris S wrote: Andy Watkinson wrote:
Second, it's pretty obvious that the best time to proofread would be as long as possible after you've completed the translation.
It's called distance.
You can also have too much distance. Sometimes you carry a lot of info in your head which then gets lost. I can come back to a text a week later and be completely at a loss about why I wrote what I did!
...I wasn't referring so much to the "technical/informational/lexical" side of things - in my case, the quick refresher course I need to realise why I wrote about the benefits of vanilla options for underlying assets or the niceties of mandatory convertible debentures.
I meant more the distance I (everyone?) needs to realise that what they've written would never be used by anyone with more than a smattering of English.
And the distance that also leads me to ask questions like what's that comma doing there? Does that word xxx actually exist? What was I thinking of when I wrote that?
BTW, Oscar Wilde's comma, not mine.
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