KudoZ questions without context. Why answer? Thread poster: Karl Supierz
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Karl Supierz 
Dominican Republic
Local time: 05:36
English to French
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Hi everybody,
More and more often,I see that some people are aking kudoz questions without giving a single sentance of context. I guess these people are not translators, as you all know that a word out of its context could mean anything and its contrary as well.
I know that sometimes, there is NO context in the original text, but most often ,these are questions from schoolboys or girls who need it for school. Furthermore, some of these questions are really stupid :... See more Hi everybody,
More and more often,I see that some people are aking kudoz questions without giving a single sentance of context. I guess these people are not translators, as you all know that a word out of its context could mean anything and its contrary as well.
I know that sometimes, there is NO context in the original text, but most often ,these are questions from schoolboys or girls who need it for school. Furthermore, some of these questions are really stupid : how to translate \"water\", or \"feeding\"? The answer is to be found in any dictionnary (even the smallest ones !). I suggest people not to answer at such questions (unless it is clearly said there is no context in the source text). Some might find this is an easy way to earn kudoz, but I consider it\'s a waiste of time for everyone. My aim on this site is not to earn kudoz, just to help people or to get help when I need some. I can understand some people are attracted by the idea of having plenty of kudoz in bank, but please, let us not forget the original aim of this site.
Thanks to all
Karl Supierz ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Les élèves et KudoZ | Aug 2, 2002 |
Cher Karl,
Depuis mes débuts sur ProZ en février, ce problème a été débattu des tas de fois, par exemple dans le forum français où tu pourras retrouver toutes les discussions.
Nous avions décidé de laisser les questions faciles aux personnes n\'ayant pas encore beaucoup de points.
Mais en fait, personne ne s\'y est vraiment conformé à la langue.
Et ce qui est bien pire que les élèves ce sont les agences qui nous font faire leur tra... See more Cher Karl,
Depuis mes débuts sur ProZ en février, ce problème a été débattu des tas de fois, par exemple dans le forum français où tu pourras retrouver toutes les discussions.
Nous avions décidé de laisser les questions faciles aux personnes n\'ayant pas encore beaucoup de points.
Mais en fait, personne ne s\'y est vraiment conformé à la langue.
Et ce qui est bien pire que les élèves ce sont les agences qui nous font faire leur travail pour rien. Comme ce qui vient d\'arriver deux fois cette semaine.
Excellente fin de semaine
Geneviève ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Some functions address this | Aug 2, 2002 |
Ignoring an incomplete question is fine. Asking for more context is also a possibility.
Asking easy questions in the easy section is not frowned upon. Even the simplest terms (even \"hello\") can have nuances in translation that are not clarified by dictionaries.
Henry
| | | | kbamert
Local time: 11:36
French to German
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| People with bad habits... | Aug 2, 2002 |
Hello
\"Asking for more context is also a possibility.\"
Frequently people ask for further context, but only one out of hundreds bother to give further context...
Regards
Kurt
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Karl Supierz
Dominican Republic
Local time: 05:36
English to French
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TOPIC STARTER
Hi Henry. I fully agree with you on the fact that a word could have plenty of significations ACCORDING TO ITS CONTEXT. It is totally non professionnal to ask what means \"water\" without specifying the context. If there is none, it does not take that much time to write it down. Some people may be think this site is just build to provide automatized help, like a kind of dictionnary. I used to work for a translation company in the past and dome people contacted us on a regular base just to ask us ... See more Hi Henry. I fully agree with you on the fact that a word could have plenty of significations ACCORDING TO ITS CONTEXT. It is totally non professionnal to ask what means \"water\" without specifying the context. If there is none, it does not take that much time to write it down. Some people may be think this site is just build to provide automatized help, like a kind of dictionnary. I used to work for a translation company in the past and dome people contacted us on a regular base just to ask us to translate a few words for free (exactly the same way, no context, no thanks, just \"What\'s the translation of xxxx ?\" (sometimes without even without specifying the target language). I mean it\'s a matter of politeness, if one expect to teveive something free, the minimum is to ask it correctly and in a way that people can answer the question.
Just to change of subject, Henry I\'like to take advantage of this forum to congratulate you for this site, you made a really great job !
Cheers
Karl ▲ Collapse
| | | | | How about "love letters" and things like that? | Aug 2, 2002 |
Not too long ago, we had a unending flood of daily phrases of someone who obviously wanted to have some relationship with a Spanish speaking woman. We were daily subjected to every little phrase he wanted to tell her (hundreds of them), and to my amazement people would respond happily. Me and someone else posted a message saying this was inappropriate, and the author of the phrases sent me a message saying that all I had to do was not to answer his requests. I\'m sorry, but I decided to stop par... See more Not too long ago, we had a unending flood of daily phrases of someone who obviously wanted to have some relationship with a Spanish speaking woman. We were daily subjected to every little phrase he wanted to tell her (hundreds of them), and to my amazement people would respond happily. Me and someone else posted a message saying this was inappropriate, and the author of the phrases sent me a message saying that all I had to do was not to answer his requests. I\'m sorry, but I decided to stop participating in proz altogether. I don\'t want to spend my day deleting one hundred e-mails of someone wanting to know how to say things like \"you make me so happy when you eat chocolate cake.\" Forget it. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Atenea Acevedo (X)
Local time: 03:36
English to Spanish
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| You've made a point | Aug 2, 2002 |
Hi, Karl. I mentioned this once in the Spanish forum. You do make a relevant point about context, as also rightly pointed out by Henry, if the word is so simple it might entail nuances, provide the context so we know what\'s going on!
Have you noticed that Sunday night is particularly peak for school assignments? What about love letters, sentence by sentence by sentence? In any case, I\'m afraid this is a matter of personal ethics, it\'s up to each of us at the site to keep on getting... See more Hi, Karl. I mentioned this once in the Spanish forum. You do make a relevant point about context, as also rightly pointed out by Henry, if the word is so simple it might entail nuances, provide the context so we know what\'s going on!
Have you noticed that Sunday night is particularly peak for school assignments? What about love letters, sentence by sentence by sentence? In any case, I\'m afraid this is a matter of personal ethics, it\'s up to each of us at the site to keep on getting KudoZ this way or just pass.
Cheers! ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Live and let live | Aug 2, 2002 |
I don\'t mind any questions even when you can class them as being \'stupid\'. This is a large group of people who have different ideas and targets. I am free to answer as and when I please. I\'m not here for the KudoZ either. When I answer a question it\'s usually because I want to help. When I\'m going through a slow period (which doesn\'t happen often), I check to see if there are any queries that nobody answered and see what I can come up with. It\'s a bit like trying to do the crossword and ... See more I don\'t mind any questions even when you can class them as being \'stupid\'. This is a large group of people who have different ideas and targets. I am free to answer as and when I please. I\'m not here for the KudoZ either. When I answer a question it\'s usually because I want to help. When I\'m going through a slow period (which doesn\'t happen often), I check to see if there are any queries that nobody answered and see what I can come up with. It\'s a bit like trying to do the crossword and it\'s fun. Like Henry already mentioned words do have different nuances. I asked a question a few weeks back for which I already knew the answer. I just wanted to see what other professionals thought and yes, I\'d included context. I was very happy when the replies confirmed my conclusion. You could term this as abuse of the system too. But I like the safety net. ▲ Collapse
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| turn off 'easy' question | Aug 2, 2002 |
Quote:
On 2002-08-02 16:03, msal wrote:
I\'m sorry, but I decided to stop participating in proz altogether. I don\'t want to spend my day deleting one hundred e-mails of someone wanting to know how to say things like \"you make me so happy when you eat chocolate cake.\" Forget it.
You should try turning off notification of \"easy\" questions. That filters out most of that stuff.
| | | | | Agree with Marijke | Aug 2, 2002 |
Everyone\'s free to use their time as they please, I think answering Kudoz keeps your mind elastic and updates your glossaries. I don\'t bother with words or phrases I can\'t contribute with or viceversa.
| | | | Ildiko Santana
United States
Local time: 02:36
Member (2002)
Hungarian to English
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MODERATOR | help someone or just plain have fun.. | Aug 3, 2002 |
Quote:
Everyone\'s free to use their time as they please, I think answering Kudoz keeps your mind elastic ....
Absolutely.
Not giving a context only lessens the chances for the asker to receive useful tips - their problem, not ours.
On a personal note: any time a new question is posted, I ask myself, \"Am I clever enough to solve this puzzle??\" - I simply love it! Thanks ... See more Quote:
Everyone\'s free to use their time as they please, I think answering Kudoz keeps your mind elastic ....
Absolutely.
Not giving a context only lessens the chances for the asker to receive useful tips - their problem, not ours.
On a personal note: any time a new question is posted, I ask myself, \"Am I clever enough to solve this puzzle??\" - I simply love it! Thanks ProZ! 
Being helpful and useful when someone (usually unknown to us) is in trouble is only an additional bonus - please don\'t give up folks! ;D
P.S. I forgot to mention a major *bonus*: I don\'t know about you guys, but I personally learn a great deal from other colleagues\' feedback. Whether their comments are based on personal experience or a sophisticated net search -- there were, are and will be irreplacable bits and pieces of information coming from colleagues, little gems that one never can find in any dictionary!
[ This Message was edited by: on 2002-08-05 23:50 ] ▲ Collapse
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