| Страниц в теме: < [1 2] | Translators' collaboration and quality issues Автор темы: Arina Evtikhova
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Laurent KRAULAND (X) 
Франция
Local time: 09:45
французский => немецкий
+ ...
| Quite true... | Mar 7, 2011 |
Daria Bontch-Osmolovskaia wrote:
That said, I do a lot of proofreading/editing, and there are some appalling translators out there, who take on jobs way outside of their competency comfort zone, just for a quick buck. 
Quite true... What I am after is an explanation why translation agencies for example seem unable to weed out the wild growth of substandard translations (I now mean "regular" agencies and not the well-known cheapsters)...
| | | | Laurent KRAULAND (X)
Франция
Local time: 09:45
французский => немецкий
+ ...
| Afterthought... | Mar 7, 2011 |
Arina Evtikhova wrote:
(.../...)
b) you didn't know the translator in question?
- this is not quite accurate: I met this translator at a translation conference, and we had tried to exchange a few projects before which never worked out for different reasons (rates, deadline, etc). The person has a professional website which among other things states "Every project we handle goes through a rigorous quality assurance process conducted by our talented native translators who worked on a variety of projects pertaining to business/marketing, finance, technical, real estate, tourism, hospitality, websites, telecommunications, fashion, press, art area, etc." I mean, it's not someone off the street, they look, act, and present themselves professionally enough.
(.../...)
This glut of specialties and the mention of a "translators' team" would have raised a red flag in my mind. But afterthought is always easy!
| | | | Lingua 5B
Босния и Герцеговина
Local time: 09:45
Член ProZ.com c 2009
английский => хорватский
+ ...
| I doubt it was intentional. | Mar 7, 2011 |
Simone Linke wrote:
but when you know (or assume) that others will proof-read your text, why in the world would you intentionally deliver crap?
The person who did the translation sounds like a charlatan, regardless of the reason why she did this ( perhaps she thought no-one would read the translation so it would go unnoticed), or IMO, most likely she wasn't aware of the quality she produced, at all.
If she is indeed a native speaker, but nonetheless created some cardinal errors ( which I presume is what happened here), then she probably didn't understand the source well and just produced word-for-word translation. Or possibly she was totally out-of- the depth when it comes to the subject-matter.
No, cardinal errors are not the responsibility of a proofreader. Typos and minor errors might be.
[Edited at 2011-03-07 12:05 GMT]
| | | | Simone Linke
Германия
Local time: 09:45
Член ProZ.com c 2009
английский => немецкий
+ ...
Yeah, you're probably right. Once you know that something's wrong with that translator, there are actually several warning signs on her Website etc... but if you're an unsuspecting client..
I hope someone will leave a BB entry.. she doesn't seem to have a BB record yet.
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Don't pay her and use the money on a lawyer's letter threatening legal action if she blacklists you. You might still be left short, but you'll have some satisfaction.
The only time a substandard (and there are EU standards) translation is acceptable is when some waiver is specified due to time constraints or because the request is for an overview rather than perfect translation (although that's an odd enough one.) In this kind of case, I'd prefer to put the client into direct touch ... See more Don't pay her and use the money on a lawyer's letter threatening legal action if she blacklists you. You might still be left short, but you'll have some satisfaction.
The only time a substandard (and there are EU standards) translation is acceptable is when some waiver is specified due to time constraints or because the request is for an overview rather than perfect translation (although that's an odd enough one.) In this kind of case, I'd prefer to put the client into direct touch with the translator, with some kind of disclaimer issued in advance. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Pay her rate minus A, minus B, minus C... | Mar 7, 2011 |
"Every project we handle goes through a rigorous quality assurance process conducted by our talented native translators (...)
Now this has made it very easy to identify this translator.
If I were in Arina's shoes, I would definitely try to come to an agreement of paying the translator's rate minus proofreading, minus this and minus that.
Laurent wrote:
This glut of specialties and the mention of a "translators' team" would have raised a red flag in my mind. But afterthought is always easy!
I am also a leader and PM of a team of translators, Laurent. And I'd say that we are quite quality-oriented and have in-depth knowledge in various subjects too. The thing is that in our team, a job is always assigned to a specialist in the respective field, then checked for formal mistakes and finally proofed by a second (sometimes even third) pair of eyes.
[Upraveno: 2011-03-07 13:34 GMT]
| | | | | You've of course gotten back at the lady in question... | Mar 8, 2011 |
...by virtue of making it easy for everyone to identify her (n'est-ce pas?).
This really goes to show that those who make patently dishonest claims about what they can and cannot do only harm themselves in the end.
| | | | Arina Evtikhova
Франция
Local time: 09:45
английский => русский
+ ...
Автор темы
Thanks all for your feedback, advice and support.
Upon much reflection and consulting with my other colleagues, I think it would be fair to report my unfortunate colleague, but I am not sure if I can BB her, as, technically, in this case I am the outsourcer and not herself...
I am not aware of other resources, so I can only hope nobody else gets into a similar situation. Important lesson learned: it is indispensable to have the word "turnkey" (unless otherwise request... See more Thanks all for your feedback, advice and support.
Upon much reflection and consulting with my other colleagues, I think it would be fair to report my unfortunate colleague, but I am not sure if I can BB her, as, technically, in this case I am the outsourcer and not herself...
I am not aware of other resources, so I can only hope nobody else gets into a similar situation. Important lesson learned: it is indispensable to have the word "turnkey" (unless otherwise requested) when passing/ outsourcing a translation to a colleague, to make sure you are on the same page value-wise . I will not miss that one again, for sure ▲ Collapse
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