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translating newspaper articles
Thread poster: Rober
Rober
Rober
Italy
Local time: 15:26
English to Italian
+ ...
Jul 3, 2014

Dear all, I've been required to translate into english some daily newspaper articles.
Do you think this is possible? I mean, course it is, but it sounds a little bit strange.
Have you ever received such a request? Have you ever done?
Thank you for your points of view, suggestions and considerations
 
John Fossey
John Fossey  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 09:26
Member (2008)
French to English
+ ...
Why not? Jul 3, 2014

Why not? There can be all sorts of reasons why someone might want articles to be translated.

On the other hand, if you feel there's something strange, be sure to check out the client carefully for bona fides and payment history.
 
Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
United Kingdom
Member (2011)
Swedish to English
+ ...
Yes Jul 3, 2014

There are whole businesses out there (cuttings agencies) that just make scrapbooks for big companies so they know what the press are saying about them

And companies quite often fly foreign journalists out to a fancy hotel somewhere nice for a feature and then want to check they say nice enough things about them

Or maybe they want to know what gets lost in translation when top management do interviews with foreign papers, etc, etc
 
philgoddard
philgoddard
United States
German to English
+ ...
Perfectly normal. Jul 3, 2014

But it should be done by an English native speaker, unless the customer just wants to know the gist of what it says.
 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 14:26
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Perfectly normal Jul 3, 2014

I have been translating since 2007 from English into European Portuguese articles published by “The Economist” and “The Guardian” for a Portuguese weekly newspaper (“Expresso”) and a monthly magazine (“Courrier Internacional”). In your case, I guess the main problem will be very tight deadlines as you will be dealing with a daily newspaper...
 
Robert Rietvelt
Robert Rietvelt  Identity Verified
Local time: 15:26
Member (2006)
Spanish to Dutch
+ ...
What's wrong with it? Jul 3, 2014

I am sure that also Italian newspapers are publishing (translated) articles of foreign journalists.

I have had many jobs like that.
 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 15:26
Spanish to English
+ ...
Horses for courses Jul 4, 2014

philgoddard wrote:

But it should be done by an English native speaker, unless the customer just wants to know the gist of what it says.


100% agree. A native speaker is a must for newspaper articles. For example, I have one Italian colleague who speaks such good English that I when we met thought she was Irish (she has an Irish accent). She has occasionally worked with me. However, she'd be the first to agree that she doesn't have the specific "insider" knowledge of nuance that a native speaker would have and texts from newspapers, especially tabloids, would be beyond her capabilities.

[Edited at 2014-07-04 06:48 GMT]
 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 15:26
Spanish to English
+ ...
Stick to the day job Jul 4, 2014

Rober wrote:

Dear all, I've been required to translate into english some daily newspaper articles.
Do you think this is possible? I mean, course it is, but it sounds a little bit strange.
Have you ever received such a request? Have you ever done?
Thank you for your points of view, suggestions and considerations


As you are obviously not a native speaker (the syntax in your post is slightly skewed), I'd refuse the offer if I were you.
 


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