| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] | Poll: Do you understand what you translate? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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I think it's impossible translate something without understand it; anyway, I always understand what I translate
| | | | Robert Forstag 
United States
Local time: 13:09
Spanish to English
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| Writeaway, right on | Jun 24, 2006 |
Writeaway is absolutely correct that there are some people who repeatedly use Kudoz as a crutch for jobs that they seem poorly equipped to handle. In my view, if there is a clear longstanding pattern of a member/user posting queries to which a quick check of a bilingual dictionary or the Internet would have revealed the answer, then a moderator should step in and address the problem with the offending individual.
I made this suggestion at the end of last year in response to the ge... See more Writeaway is absolutely correct that there are some people who repeatedly use Kudoz as a crutch for jobs that they seem poorly equipped to handle. In my view, if there is a clear longstanding pattern of a member/user posting queries to which a quick check of a bilingual dictionary or the Internet would have revealed the answer, then a moderator should step in and address the problem with the offending individual.
I made this suggestion at the end of last year in response to the general call for recommendations for the site and I renew it now in response to this poll.
[Edited at 2006-06-24 22:44] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Nesrin
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:09
English to Arabic
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| Very well said! | Jun 25, 2006 |
Yasser El Helw wrote:
The most damage someone who does not understand and limits himself/herself to translate word for word is to produce an unintelligible translation. On the other hand, someone who THINKS he/she “understands” is more dangerous because he/she will tend to produce text that is quite intelligent and polished but will reflect his/her own understanding and not the author’s.
no further comment.
| | | | | Yes, ofcourse | Jul 9, 2006 |
I translate just because I understand and I feel that the translated matter should actually convey what it meant originally. Whenever I used to read the translated material, I always felt that although the meaning was correct, many of the translated words couldn't convey the actual message embedded in them. That's why I started translating. Basically I am a veterinary medicine specialist but I translate matter related to science and medicine with the sole purpose of filling the gaps of understan... See more I translate just because I understand and I feel that the translated matter should actually convey what it meant originally. Whenever I used to read the translated material, I always felt that although the meaning was correct, many of the translated words couldn't convey the actual message embedded in them. That's why I started translating. Basically I am a veterinary medicine specialist but I translate matter related to science and medicine with the sole purpose of filling the gaps of understanding between the two languages I work with. I just do it as a social service. I make my living only by working as vet. I will explain it as we can't dream in a language we don't well understand. Likewise I feel for a person with a non-medical/science background, there may be a little gap of aptitude/ understanding science/medicine. (However it may not be 100% true) ▲ Collapse
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That's my answer.
I am fully with JaneTranslate. Especially about the fact that we don't know in advance what a text will be made of. Not only I never read a text entirely before accepting it: I can even say that in 90% of cases, I do not receive the text before I accept it. And I should be very surprised if all the translators who work for agencies said the opposite, because I have been working for various agencies, including... See more That's my answer.
I am fully with JaneTranslate. Especially about the fact that we don't know in advance what a text will be made of. Not only I never read a text entirely before accepting it: I can even say that in 90% of cases, I do not receive the text before I accept it. And I should be very surprised if all the translators who work for agencies said the opposite, because I have been working for various agencies, including the biggest ones on the market, and they (almost) all do the same: they ask for your agreement before they send you the document. Given that context, I don't know how someone can be sure he will always understand everything.
Second, agencies often announce a wrong field for the text. What can also happen is that you have been working for ages for the WYZ customer, in the automative field, so the agency tells you "we have a WYZ project, do you take it?" "Yes of course" - and when you get the document, it's nothing to do with the usual mechanics: it a contract or a manual on how to use their intranet.
Come on, don't tell me this kind of things never happened to any of you...
And in the end, as someone said at the beginning, there might be several other reasons for translating something you don't understand. Someone said: if you don't have enough work. That's a good reason I think. If I take my own example, I'll add one possible reason: because you have no choice. If you are an employee, you have no choice about what you translate. You translate what your boss tells you and that's it. In my own case, I do have some choice indeed, I do chose and refuse projects (although I am sometimes forced to accept them even when I don't want to), but I know that there are agencies where employees have no choice at all.
Third reason: I remember, when I was a trainee, I didn't understand 50% of what I was translating ; then I started to understand more and more and now, some things I fully understand. In our job, you need to practise and learn all the time, and especially at the beginning of your career. You can't go out of university, start to work and pretend you understand everything at once. It's just not serious. So if I understand some colleagues' remarks in this topic, young translators should have no chance to work as translators because they have no experience and shouldn't get a chance to get more experience? Then I'd be happy to know how those people started their career.
On my side, I had the chance to work in a team, which meant I could learn a lot from my elder colleagues. But we perfectly know that a huge majority of us start as freelancers right after university, and often not because they want it, but because they can't find a job. Should we blame them for that? What choice do they have, except sometimes take on jobs they do not understand perfectly in order to build up their experience and expertise? ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Agree with Sonka | Jul 25, 2006 |
You're absolutely right, Sonka, and in light of some of the previous comments, I admire your courage in writing what some will be sure to censure.
Mostly, I think, it comes down to DEFINITION OF TERMS: what, exactly, is meant by "understand"? As in language learning, there are varying degrees of understanding. I hate it when someone asks me, "How long did it take you to learn Spanish?" I can't answer that question; at what point in the process can I say, "Before that point, I did no... See more You're absolutely right, Sonka, and in light of some of the previous comments, I admire your courage in writing what some will be sure to censure.
Mostly, I think, it comes down to DEFINITION OF TERMS: what, exactly, is meant by "understand"? As in language learning, there are varying degrees of understanding. I hate it when someone asks me, "How long did it take you to learn Spanish?" I can't answer that question; at what point in the process can I say, "Before that point, I did not speak Spanish; after that point, I did"? I'm still learning my native English! It's a matter of degree.
And so it is with the texts I translate. Most, I understand well at first reading. Some, I have to do some (or a lot of) digging. Some, especially books and other longer texts, have passages that I may never fully understand. That's when I have an expert in the field (the author, if bilingual) vet my translation. Sometimes I know the lingo but don't have much depth of understanding. For example, I know that bujías are spark plugs but I have no clue how to change them!
Ideally, everything would be translated by excellent, experienced translators who are experts in the field. Wouldn't that be boring? We work in the real world. ▲ Collapse
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