| Pages sur ce sujet: < [1 2 3 4] > | 260 words legal test in 1 hour Auteur du fil: Álvaro Espantaleón Moreno
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| Depends on what the agency's business is | Nov 20, 2015 |
Chris S wrote:
Doesn't imposing a realistic time limit like this make it a fairer test of your real-world performance?
I entirely agree that, if the agency's business is delivering urgent translations all the time, they surely want translators who do that type of work and, therefore, this test is the way to go for them. Of course, this is no agency for translators who have many different customers and cannot always give this particular agency the maximum priority.
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matt robinson wrote:
I wouldn't assume that agencies sending out test translations are selling them on as part of a project. There is a limit to how long an agency could survive using this business model.
Sorry Matt, but to me this is sheer urban myth. I have never seen this happening in 20 years in business. Yes, I do know of someone who knew someone who knew someone who spotted a case somewhere...
| | | | | So they lie to you | Nov 20, 2015 |
Alvaro Espantaleon wrote:
As a matter of fact, I always disregard applicants stating that they can translate 3,000 to 5,000 words per day (for any subject and on a regular basis).
That's your prerrogative, of course. Chances are though that your candidates are telling you what you like to hear and do many more words in reality.
In my line of business (technical translation), it is absolutely normal to produce a minimum of 3500-4000 words per day in your areas of specialty. I reckon that means that I would not qualify in your case. Such a pity!
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Italie
Local time: 22:27
italien vers serbe
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| reasonable or not… | Nov 20, 2015 |
…I don’t accept such rush jobs. I like to deliver translation before deadline.
Of course everybody here is able to translate 300 – 500 words in one hour, the problem is the deadline.
A lot of things can happen in 60 min: internet problem, important telephone call, computer breakdown, various software problems – you need time to organize everything on your second pc, you don’t have enough context to be accurate and have to search,…etc.
I... See more …I don’t accept such rush jobs. I like to deliver translation before deadline.
Of course everybody here is able to translate 300 – 500 words in one hour, the problem is the deadline.
A lot of things can happen in 60 min: internet problem, important telephone call, computer breakdown, various software problems – you need time to organize everything on your second pc, you don’t have enough context to be accurate and have to search,…etc.
It’s much easier to translate 3500 words in 24 hours than 260 words in one hour – you have enough time to deal with emergencies.
- english is not my working language- ▲ Collapse
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| Just my experience | Nov 20, 2015 |
Tomás Cano Binder, CT wrote: Alvaro Espantaleon wrote:
As a matter of fact, I always disregard applicants stating that they can translate 3,000 to 5,000 words per day (for any subject and on a regular basis). That's your prerrogative, of course. Chances are though that your candidates are telling you what you like to hear and do many more words in reality. In my line of business (technical translation), it is absolutely normal to produce a minimum of 3500-4000 words per day in your areas of specialty. I reckon that means that I would not qualify in your case. Such a pity!
Very fast=very bad
3,000-5,000 words contract in one day=2 or 3 mistakes per line + 0 flow + missing words +wrong use of language +grammar and sentence structure mistakes, etc. And, of course, the punctuation will be wrong, capitalization will be wrong, abbreviations and symbols will be wrong, the translation will be very literal (sometimes even 100% literal), etc. Not to mention mistranslations: the translator will have to assume lots of things to cope with the deadline and many of them will be wrong; 0 research; doesn't understand what he/she is translating, etc.
When confronted with 20 big mistakes, 40 small mistakes and a text that is almost 100% literal and unreadable, the translator will say that he is not a lawyer and that such and such client were very happy with his previous work, that he is a professional and that he has been translating contracts for 15 years.
Hopefully, most contracts include a boilerplate prevailing language clause stating that the English version will always prevail or even that the translated version is not legally binding.
| | | | | There are all sorts of translators | Nov 20, 2015 |
Alvaro Espantaleon wrote: Tomás Cano Binder, CT wrote: Alvaro Espantaleon wrote:
As a matter of fact, I always disregard applicants stating that they can translate 3,000 to 5,000 words per day (for any subject and on a regular basis). That's your prerrogative, of course. Chances are though that your candidates are telling you what you like to hear and do many more words in reality. In my line of business (technical translation), it is absolutely normal to produce a minimum of 3500-4000 words per day in your areas of specialty. I reckon that means that I would not qualify in your case. Such a pity! Very fast=very bad
I used to work with a colleague who translated 10 thousand words day after day and was valued as the best translator in the company by the QA staff. So there are many types of translators and situations out there.
(Edited to remove a comment that could be construed as offensive. My apologies.)
[Edited at 2015-11-20 13:27 GMT]
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Alvaro Espantaleon wrote:
Very fast=very bad
That is true of a specific individual. I.e. when you try to work faster than your "normal" speed, you produce poor quality. The same applies to me and every other translator out there. However, everyone has their own "normal" speed. Mine is about 5000 words a day. Yours may be 2500. Somebody else's may be 7000 or 2000. People often say, like you just did, "whoever claims to translate more than X words a day is a liar or botches every single job they take". The thig is, X usually happens to be 500-1000 words more than the daily output of the person saying this. This attitude is a result of an inability to see or admit that others might work quicker/more efficiently than you do. The obvious fact of the matter is that we work at different speeds, and speed in itself is not necessarily an indicator of quality. It is entirely possible to produce junk very slowly. I have seen it happen and I'm sure you have too.
Of course, if somebody tells me they translate 10,000 words a day, I get suspicious too. It's possible to work well that fast, but very few people can actually do it. If somebody tells me they translate 1000 words in a day, I get equally suspicious. There has to be something wrong with your skills to be that slow.
| | | | | Maybe read carefully | Nov 20, 2015 |
Tomás Cano Binder, CT wrote: Alvaro Espantaleon wrote: Tomás Cano Binder, CT wrote: Alvaro Espantaleon wrote:
As a matter of fact, I always disregard applicants stating that they can translate 3,000 to 5,000 words per day (for any subject and on a regular basis). That's your prerrogative, of course. Chances are though that your candidates are telling you what you like to hear and do many more words in reality. In my line of business (technical translation), it is absolutely normal to produce a minimum of 3500-4000 words per day in your areas of specialty. I reckon that means that I would not qualify in your case. Such a pity! Very fast=very bad This is the moment (it comes in every forum topic of this kind, and in fact I was just expecting this kind of reply on your part) when your colleagues who have been in business successfully and internartionally for thrice as long as you are entitled to encourage you to speak for yourself, and not for the industry. I think you are unduly extrapolating your experience in a limited industry to all other professionals and industries. Just as one example: I used to work with a colleague who translated 10 thousand words day after day and was valued as the best translator in the company by the QA staff. There is life beyond legal translation, thank you! 
That's why I said:
A) Just my experience
B) 3,000-5,000 words CONTRACT
C) 3,000 to 5,000 words per day (for any subject and on a regular basis)
I think the one extrapolating is probably you.
[Edited at 2015-11-20 11:04 GMT]
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Alvaro Espantaleon wrote: That's why I said: A) Just my experience B) 3,000-5,000 words CONTRACT C) 3,000 to 5,000 words per day (for any subject and on a regular basis) I think the one extrapolating is probably you. [Edited at 2015-11-20 11:04 GMT]
You certainly did not say anything like "just my experience" above, or state that your claims about "faster than me" = junk only referred to contracts.
3000-5000 for any subject and on a regular basis is certainly not an extreme workload, to the extent that any translator can claim to be able to translate "any subject". I.e. if we take "any subject" to mean "any general text, moderately specialized texts and texts in the translator's field(s) of specialization", then 3000-5000 words a day is normal for many (most?) skilled professionals.
| | | | | More thoughts | Nov 20, 2015 |
Tomás Cano Binder, CT wrote: Alvaro Espantaleon wrote: Tomás Cano Binder, CT wrote: Alvaro Espantaleon wrote:
As a matter of fact, I always disregard applicants stating that they can translate 3,000 to 5,000 words per day (for any subject and on a regular basis). That's your prerrogative, of course. Chances are though that your candidates are telling you what you like to hear and do many more words in reality. In my line of business (technical translation), it is absolutely normal to produce a minimum of 3500-4000 words per day in your areas of specialty. I reckon that means that I would not qualify in your case. Such a pity! Very fast=very bad This is the moment (it comes in every forum topic of this kind, and in fact I was just expecting this kind of reply on your part) when your colleagues who have been in business successfully and internartionally for thrice as long as you are entitled to encourage you to speak for yourself, and not for the industry. I think you are unduly extrapolating your experience in a limited industry to all other professionals and industries. Just as one example: I used to work with a colleague who translated 10 thousand words day after day and was valued as the best translator in the company by the QA staff. There is life beyond legal translation, thank you!
Maybe by translating more and more words for basically the same rates while living costs keep rising and rising you are not doing yourselves a favour. Maybe your colleague's feat will result in all translators around him being asked the same output. Maybe if a human can translate 10,000 words consistently in the automotive sector, the time has come to move to MT.
| | | | | What was said first | Nov 20, 2015 |
What I read first was:
Alvaro Espantaleon wrote:
When I outsource projects, I always calculate 1,500 words max per day. There is a negative correlation between speed and quality and a positive one between per word rate and quality. That's a statistical truth. As a matter of fact, I always disregard applicants stating that they can translate 3,000 to 5,000 words per day (for any subject and on a regular basis).
I understood that you referred to all industries, not only legal translation. If I misunderstood, I apologise.
(Edited to remove a comment that could be construed as offensive. My apologies.)
[Edited at 2015-11-20 13:28 GMT]
| | | | | Not that easy... | Nov 20, 2015 |
Alvaro Espantaleon wrote:
Maybe if a human can translate 10,000 words consistently in the automotive sector, the time has come to move to MT.
Well, in some cases (like spare parts manuals and very specific documents written with controlled language), they have moved to MT already, but as you can very well understand, technical translation is not that easy to move to MT, as happens with legal translation. I am sure you are happy to learn that there are professionals out there doing the work instead of machines.
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| If a human can translate 10,000 words | Nov 20, 2015 |
Tomás Cano Binder, CT wrote: Alvaro Espantaleon wrote:
Maybe if a human can translate 10,000 words consistently in the automotive sector, the time has come to move to MT. Well, in some cases (like spare parts manuals and very specific documents written with controlled language), they have moved to MT already, but as you can very well understand, technical translation is not that easy to move to MT, as happens with legal translation. I am sure you are happy to learn that there are professionals out there doing the work instead of machines.
he will soon be replaced by a machine (unless your example is irrelevant and just an exception).
Also, low qualified workers are normally praised for being fast (gardeners, bricklayers, etc.) while it is unusual that we value a fast surgeon or a fast novelist. When the most important thing about a worker is his speed, it means that he is considered unskilled.
[Edited at 2015-11-20 13:24 GMT]
| | | | | Just one opinion | Nov 20, 2015 |
Alvaro Espantaleon wrote:
Also, low qualified workers are normally praised for being fast (gardeners, bricklayers, etc.) while it is unusual that we value a fast surgeon or a fast novelist. When the most important thing about a worker is his speed, it means that he is considered unskilled.
Well, that is just one opinion. My experience is that there are many excellent translators (as recognised by their customers and their peers) out there who are also very fast in their line of business. Of course, I am not implying that I am one of them!
(Edited to remove a comment that could be construed as offensive. My apologies.)
[Edited at 2015-11-20 13:56 GMT]
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Tomás Cano Binder, CT wrote: Alvaro Espantaleon wrote:
Also, low qualified workers are normally praised for being fast (gardeners, bricklayers, etc.) while it is unusual that we value a fast surgeon or a fast novelist. When the most important thing about a worker is his speed, it means that he is considered unskilled. Oh my friend. You seem to be trying hard to be offensive and "win" this conversation... Is it so hard to assume that there are colleagues out there who are capable of translating high volumes of words a day with high quality? I encourage you to attend more translation congresses. You might meet interesting people and discover new realities about this industry of ours that could be very enlightening. Good luck!
then. I don't see you are trying to defend an idea. There are plenty of personal attacks in your comments and even false statements about what I may have said.
[Edited at 2015-11-20 13:49 GMT]
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