| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4 5] > | Leaning on Kudoz for translations that are over your head? Thread poster: Anne Pinaglia
|
|---|
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:45
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Ty Kendall wrote:
Wow! Italian to English has really suffered an assault the past few days!
I get the impression that this happens mainly at weekends and is restricted to a small handful of easily-identifiable people who never appear midweek.
Weekend translators?
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:45
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Steve Booth wrote:
he did indeed have 20 years experience of working in the UK
I doubt it. If he had, he'd have known that it's "20 years' experience".
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:45
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Sonia Atkinson wrote:
I decided to hide all questions asked by this particular person some time ago!
Me too. I remember who you mean.
Then there's the person who swamps Kudoz with medical terms, every weekend.
| | | | LEXpert 
United States
Local time: 14:45
Member (2008)
Croatian to English
+ ...
| What, and miss out on the hilarity? | Mar 19, 2012 |
I suppose I wouldn't be too sorry to see the clueless, unresourceful askers go, but there is a certain perverse pleasure in watching discussions organically gain critical mass in the wrong direction and go rapidly downhill (if you'll pardon the mixed metaphors!).
I recall one question regarding the translation into English of a common idiom in one of my source languages. One respondent offered a literal translation, which just happened to be a common English idiom -- but the wrong ... See more I suppose I wouldn't be too sorry to see the clueless, unresourceful askers go, but there is a certain perverse pleasure in watching discussions organically gain critical mass in the wrong direction and go rapidly downhill (if you'll pardon the mixed metaphors!).
I recall one question regarding the translation into English of a common idiom in one of my source languages. One respondent offered a literal translation, which just happened to be a common English idiom -- but the wrong one with an entirely different meaning in English (what are the odds, right?). Of course, because that incorrect answer had a familiar ring to any English speaker, the "agrees" started flowing freely. I thought trying to convince everyone of how completely wrong they were, but ultimately kept my silence. I felt guilty about for a while, until I reminded myself that the correct translation was readily available in the basic bilingual dictionary for this combination, but no-one had thought to consult it. ▲ Collapse
| | |
|
|
|
Claudia Cherici
Italy
Local time: 21:45
Member (2010)
English to Italian
+ ...
Don't you think it would be a good idea to attract moderators to this forum, just to show them how deeply resented this bad practice is?
| | | | | What we need is a sociologist! | Mar 19, 2012 |
I would not know about measures to prevent bad askers (and bad answerers, why not) from lingering in Kudoz, but we clearly need a sociologist who can study all the topics opened about this matter already (I reckon it must have been some 200+ over the last 10 years) and tell us:
- With what frequency does this topic arise, and whether the frequency depends on aspects like economic climate, atmospheric climate in major user concentration areas, season of the year, global translation v... See more I would not know about measures to prevent bad askers (and bad answerers, why not) from lingering in Kudoz, but we clearly need a sociologist who can study all the topics opened about this matter already (I reckon it must have been some 200+ over the last 10 years) and tell us:
- With what frequency does this topic arise, and whether the frequency depends on aspects like economic climate, atmospheric climate in major user concentration areas, season of the year, global translation volumes...
- Why is it that one person is absolutely adamant about the need for a change in Kudoz and can forget about it all and live a perfectly happy life ten days later, with occasional relapses that get more and more spaced in time.
- What triggers these periodic waves of concern about access of bad (or unprepared, or inexperienced, or careless) translators to translation jobs other more experienced translators feel could be doing, when intimately every experienced translator dislikes the kind of customer who gives work to an inexperienced translator?
A sociologist's conclusion about these things would be most interesting. ▲ Collapse
| | | | DZiW (X)
Ukraine
English to Russian
+ ...
I agree with Tomas and also doubt that other translators are capable and able to judge properly what other colleagues know or what ProZ must do, because one can answer for her/himself only.
As for me, I think that it's up to an individual whether to answer those 'ridiculously easy' questions or not, but I was in situations when some quite common terms, say 'light roof' in the context gave me wide variants from a 'glass roof' and 'roof light' -- to a 'roof made of "light" material' (... See more I agree with Tomas and also doubt that other translators are capable and able to judge properly what other colleagues know or what ProZ must do, because one can answer for her/himself only.
As for me, I think that it's up to an individual whether to answer those 'ridiculously easy' questions or not, but I was in situations when some quite common terms, say 'light roof' in the context gave me wide variants from a 'glass roof' and 'roof light' -- to a 'roof made of "light" material' (which was the case). Perhaps, I'm silly enough, but in my context ANY variant would nicely do and it was just a matter of accuracy and understanding it better.
That's why I asked this 'far too easy' question at KudoZ and I don't feel guilty or anything about it. Also it's obvious that one's 'Pro'-terms are but 'noobish' for someone else, let alone I really doubt there are specialists who know all the terms even in their specialization.
Indeed, some people may forget to search glossaries before asking, but it's not the issue--earn your easy points and be glad and proud of yourself you do know it)) ▲ Collapse
| | | | XXXphxxx (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:45
Portuguese to English
+ ...
| Not just Italian | Mar 19, 2012 |
Anne and Paolo Boidi wrote:
Something about that just doesn't sit right - unless this person, who in this case is a Spanish translator, decided on a whim that "Italian is close enough to Spanish, I'll hack it" and started taking Italian to English work (entirely plausible situation, though a crazy assumption on behalf of the translator), relying on the kindness (and experience) of Proz members to bail them out.
This problem is also rife in the Portuguese>English language pair, the attitude clearly also being "Portuguese is close enough to Spanish, I'll wing it". More than half of my workload at the moment is spent 'revising' these translations. I gave up on KudoZ a few weeks ago and cancelled all notifications. Not sure if/when I'll go back.
[Edited at 2012-03-19 08:57 GMT]
| | |
|
|
|
Mark Hamlen
France
Local time: 21:45
French to English
+ ...
| Another kind of space | Mar 19, 2012 |
Sometimes when I'm working it occurs to me I'd like to ask colleagues about alternate translations to what I normally use for fairly standard constructions. But Kudos just doesn't seem to be the place, as it seems to be the place for askers who don't know what the word or phrase means. In my case I know and I have a standard way of dealing with it, I'd just like to learn alternates from others who also work in my area. This would be very helpful, I think.
| | | | Paul Stevens
Local time: 20:45
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Serial (mis)behaviour | Mar 19, 2012 |
Anne and Paolo Boidi wrote:
Yes, 15 years of experience but still has problems with elementary terms? Something about that just doesn't sit right - unless this person, who in this case is a Spanish translator, decided on a whim that "Italian is close enough to Spanish, I'll hack it" and started taking Italian to English work (entirely plausible situation, though a crazy assumption on behalf of the translator), relying on the kindness (and experience) of Proz members to bail them out.
I seriously suspect that you are referring to someone who does exactly the same with her French to English “queries". To my knowledge, at least 2 threads have been started on this person in the last few months, as follows:
(1) http://www.proz.com/forum/kudoz/214906-kudoz_abuse.html and
(2) http://www.proz.com/forum/kudoz/204646-i_must_be_missing_something.html
I can only assume that the powers that be are perfectly happy for its members to (mis)behave in this manner...
| | | | XXXphxxx (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:45
Portuguese to English
+ ...
| She's certainly not the only one | Mar 19, 2012 |
She's just more noticeable because she covers multiple language pairs but there are equally bad offenders in individual pairs. Anyway, let's cut to the chase and ask the powers that be if they are indeed happy about this... done.
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 21:45
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Yes, it's tough | Mar 19, 2012 |
Ty Kendall wrote:
“Offèrta in English
offer, tender, bid, bidding, offering; donation offered, proposed, suggested offer, give; provide; bid, come up with, present, tender; serve” – Courtesy of Babylon.
Is it really such a stretch to realise that in the given context the first literal definition might not be the most appropriate?
.....
For a non-native speaker or someone unfamiliar with the different contexts and possible usages, "oferta" is one term I have to wrestle with every day in Spanish, especially in revision work, beause you can bet your bottom dollar they'll invariably try to use "offer" or "assortment" when "supply" is the best option, especially if they've used Google... and don't even mention "bid/tender", another can of worms not for the unwary...
I've just spent an hour revising a thousand words translated by a Slavonic speaker using google and I could have translated it faster from scratch, due to minor imprecisions like this. And today's supposed to be a public holiday here!
| | |
|
|
|
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 21:45
Spanish to English
+ ...
Rudolf Vedo CT wrote:
I suppose I wouldn't be too sorry to see the clueless, unresourceful askers go, but there is a certain perverse pleasure in watching discussions organically gain critical mass in the wrong direction and go rapidly downhill (if you'll pardon the mixed metaphors!).
Am with you on that, I just wish we could make some barbed comments about it without being "modded".
| | | | | But not all are beginners | Mar 19, 2012 |
Maria, you make a good point. I too used to need a lot more help than I do now. But some of this people have been working as a translator for at least a decade and are asking questions on things I could have found an answer to in 10 minutes during my first week as a professional translator. I can send you a good example in a private message if you like.
I'm afraid I do sometimes answer such questions when they're in one of my fields. I know if I don't somebody will. I have good scor... See more Maria, you make a good point. I too used to need a lot more help than I do now. But some of this people have been working as a translator for at least a decade and are asking questions on things I could have found an answer to in 10 minutes during my first week as a professional translator. I can send you a good example in a private message if you like.
I'm afraid I do sometimes answer such questions when they're in one of my fields. I know if I don't somebody will. I have good scores in a couple of my specialist fields and very good clients paying excellent rates have found me by searching for specialist translators (and apart from the good rates the texts are in my expert fields which means the work is much quicker). I'm afraid I don't want some non-specialist getting ahead of me in the ranking because he has been able to answer 15 simple questions in a day. I'd rather ignore the questions then vote them as non-pro, but people don't seem willing to back me up when I vote a question as non-pro and doing so seems to be frowned upon.
Maria Dimitrova wrote:
I don't see anything wrong with overusing KudoZ, if you don't breach the site rules or the NDA rules. If you have just started as a translator, you don't have the word-searching skills yet and you surely need some reassurance from colleagues with more experience. It is better to consult your colleagues, than deliver low-quality translation. Besides, there is an option to vote to re-classify some easy questions as non-Pro. It is a win-win situation, the translator gets help and the answerer gets some points and improves his or her ranking in the database.
I myself have used KudoZ a lot in the past, when I was starting as a translator. Of course, I have never tried to translate almost each sentence, but I really sought help quite often. Now when I go back and see what stupid questions I have asked, I even feel a bit ashamed. But then, this is just normal, translation skills improve over time and as you gain more experience, you need less help. Now I try to use KudoZ more often for answering questions, than asking, although, I still need to consult colleagues every now and then.
So I think we have to be more tolerant to beginners - they might ask easy questions now, but you never know, maybe they will improve their skills rapidly and will be able to even help you out with difficult terms in the future. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Ai se eu te pego... | Mar 19, 2012 |
Lisa Simpson, MCIL wrote:
This problem is also rife in the Portuguese>English language pair, the attitude clearly also being "Portuguese is close enough to Spanish, I'll wing it". More than half of my workload at the moment is spent 'revising' these translations. I gave up on KudoZ a few weeks ago and cancelled all notifications. Not sure if/when I'll go back.
[Edited at 2012-03-19 08:57 GMT]
I hope one of these people doesn't attempt to translate Michel Teló's song. It's either going to sound very vulgar or like he's supporting domestic violence, depending on whether the person is familiar with Latin American Spanish or Spanish Spanish.
| | | | | Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4 5] > | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Leaning on Kudoz for translations that are over your head? | Wordfast Pro | Translation Memory Software for Any Platform
Exclusive discount for ProZ.com users!
Save over 13% when purchasing Wordfast Pro through ProZ.com. Wordfast is the world's #1 provider of platform-independent Translation Memory software. Consistently ranked the most user-friendly and highest value
Buy now! » |
| | TM-Town | Manage your TMs and Terms ... and boost your translation business
Are you ready for something fresh in the industry? TM-Town is a unique new site for you -- the freelance translator -- to store, manage and share translation memories (TMs) and glossaries...and potentially meet new clients on the basis of your prior work.
More info » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
