| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Proofreaders changing your translation (for the worse) Thread poster: Paula Borges
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Paula Borges 
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:43
Member (2010)
English to Portuguese
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Does this happen to anyone? I often translate for websites and publications. None of the agencies I am working with has been problematic, they all pay on time and are very honest and reasonable.
However, sometimes I see the work published and it has been changed, for the worse. Often there are unacceptable grammar mistakes, showing that it has been proofread by a non-native, that is possibly not even fluent, althought most of it remains unchanged.
I haven't said anythi... See more Does this happen to anyone? I often translate for websites and publications. None of the agencies I am working with has been problematic, they all pay on time and are very honest and reasonable.
However, sometimes I see the work published and it has been changed, for the worse. Often there are unacceptable grammar mistakes, showing that it has been proofread by a non-native, that is possibly not even fluent, althought most of it remains unchanged.
I haven't said anything yet because I do not know who is doing this (it could even be the owner), and I'll always have my copies of the files in case there are any complaints.
Is this common? What would you do? ▲ Collapse
| | | | | It has happened to me a few times. It is frustrating. | Mar 8, 2010 |
Once the document is published, I do not think there is much I can do, as long as my name is not associated to the translation. If my name were to appear on the document, then I would request it to be deleted.
As a matter of fact, it just happened a few days ago. I have a biological document to revise where the English word "disorder" was translated into Spanish as "desorden" (backtranslated as "mess", in English; or "bagunza", in Portuguese). I pointed this out, and I was told to s... See more Once the document is published, I do not think there is much I can do, as long as my name is not associated to the translation. If my name were to appear on the document, then I would request it to be deleted.
As a matter of fact, it just happened a few days ago. I have a biological document to revise where the English word "disorder" was translated into Spanish as "desorden" (backtranslated as "mess", in English; or "bagunza", in Portuguese). I pointed this out, and I was told to stick to the original "desorden". Fine, as long as my name does not appear as the person responsible for the translation. After all, we strive to give the client what the client wants, and the client has been warned. ▲ Collapse
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As a matter of fact, it happened already at my very second translation. I could not do anything since they did not even have the courtesy to show me the "changes" (which were horrible, invented words, tortured sentences, all of this made by a non native speaker) before they printed their little book.
At least they did not print my name on it, that made me happy. I surely complained, but that did not change anything.
I would complain anyway, but still there is not much hope th... See more As a matter of fact, it happened already at my very second translation. I could not do anything since they did not even have the courtesy to show me the "changes" (which were horrible, invented words, tortured sentences, all of this made by a non native speaker) before they printed their little book.
At least they did not print my name on it, that made me happy. I surely complained, but that did not change anything.
I would complain anyway, but still there is not much hope that this would make any difference. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | You deliver a service | Mar 8, 2010 |
Hopefully your name won't appear there as the perp.
If, instead of translating, you painted walls and, after your delivery, the client smeared them all over with smut or graffitti, it'd be their problem. You did your job.
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:43
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Paula Borges wrote:
Is this common? What would you do?
It happens to me all the time. I regularly craft carefully-honed translations for a particular website (I won't say which one) and on a regular basis the webmaster (or someone else) makes a mess of my work.
I say nothing. As soon as the translation is given to the client, it's their property and they can cut it to pieces if they want to. I don't care.
So I tend to agree with José.
[Edited at 2010-03-08 23:23 GMT]
| | | | | Yes, agree, unless | Mar 9, 2010 |
José Henrique Lamensdorf wrote:
Hopefully your name won't appear there as the perp.
If, instead of translating, you painted walls and, after your delivery, the client smeared them all over with smut or graffitti, it'd be their problem. You did your job.
the client smeared them all over with smut or graffiti and signed your name at the bottom right, you should complain.
| | | | Laurent KRAULAND (X)
France
Local time: 19:43
French to German
+ ...
| Reverse operation... | Mar 9, 2010 |
Agencies usually do not allow contacts between translators and end clients. And end clients all too often make a mess out of a translation, simply because they want to "identify" it as being theirs. It is an ego problem, quite in the same way if we would externalise e.g. the creation of a website and then modify the HMTL encoding (or other parts of the website) because "This is exactly how I wanted it to be".
I think some clients (and agencies) need some reverse opera... See more Agencies usually do not allow contacts between translators and end clients. And end clients all too often make a mess out of a translation, simply because they want to "identify" it as being theirs. It is an ego problem, quite in the same way if we would externalise e.g. the creation of a website and then modify the HMTL encoding (or other parts of the website) because "This is exactly how I wanted it to be".
I think some clients (and agencies) need some reverse operation. In other words, to do the main job (as they always know better) and then to let translators do the honing, correcting etc.
I believe their reactions when seeing the results (and therefore all their inconsistencies, errors, shortcomings and so on) would be akin to the explosion of a nuclear bomb - or?
[Edited at 2010-03-09 07:50 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Yes, it has happened to me too... | Mar 9, 2010 |
... but when (and if) I find it out I always let my client know, explaining as politely and calmly as possible what is wrong. With one client, my work (European Portuguese) was being "proofread" by a Spanish administrative employee with no linguistic qualifications whatsoever!
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XXXphxxx (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:43
Portuguese to English
+ ...
| 'International English' | Mar 9, 2010 |
What I do see all the time is my work and that of others being revised into some version of 'Corporate'/'International' English. Irritating but yes, it is their site/publication after all - fine as long as your name isn't on it.
| | | | Paula Borges
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:43
Member (2010)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Translating is funny too! | Mar 9, 2010 |
Laurent KRAULAND wrote:
Agencies usually do not allow contacts between translators and end clients. And end clients all too often make a mess out of a translation, simply because they want to "identify" it as being theirs. It is an ego problem, quite in the same way if we would externalise e.g. the creation of a website and then modify the HMTL encoding (or other parts of the website) because "This is exactly how I wanted it to be".
I think some clients (and agencies) need some reverse operation. In other words, to do the main job (as they always know better) and then to let translators do the honing, correcting etc.
I believe their reactions when seeing the results (and therefore all their inconsistencies, errors, shortcomings and so on) would be akin to the explosion of a nuclear bomb - or? [Edited at 2010-03-09 07:50 GMT]
I have seen this ego problem, it gets too funny sometimes. It happens more often with direct clients, they feel entitled to change and assess a text in a language they barely speak just because they wrote the original text.
I was given the script of a video for an English version. The client overestimated his own abilities a bit. He replaced "A company that takes pride in offering services to lower classes" to "A company that is proud of poverty", as well as "Monthly payments" for "Menstrual payments". Sadly, I've never seen this gem of a video.
| | | | Laurent KRAULAND (X)
France
Local time: 19:43
French to German
+ ...
| Fun can become quite expensive though | Mar 9, 2010 |
Paula Borges wrote:
I was given the script of a video for an English version. The client overestimated his own abilities a bit. He replaced "A company that takes pride in offering services to lower classes" to "A company that is proud of poverty", as well as "Monthly payments" for "Menstrual payments". Sadly, I've never seen this gem of a video.
Fun can become quite expensive though. How about pulping and reprinting brochures, redoing websites from scratch and so on because (*) of such mistakes - which sometimes will be blamed on the translator?
See this one, it is quite "funny": If translation were rocket science
(*) BTW, I just wonder which amount of PR has to be involved to clean up the self-inflicted image mess of such companies.
[Edited at 2010-03-09 10:50 GMT]
| | | | Desdemone (X)
Local time: 14:43
French to English
| Well, now that you mention it... | Mar 9, 2010 |
"A company that takes pride in offering services to lower classes"????
Yikes. It seems non-native proofreaders aren't the only concern.
[Edited at 2010-03-09 11:24 GMT]
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Beba Maranz
Switzerland
Local time: 19:43
German to French
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| The copyright is yours | Mar 9, 2010 |
Tom in London wrote:
Paula Borges wrote:
Is this common? What would you do?
It happens to me all the time. I regularly craft carefully-honed translations for a particular website (I won't say which one) and on a regular basis the webmaster (or someone else) makes a mess of my work.
I say nothing. As soon as the translation is given to the client, it's their property and they can cut it to pieces if they want to. I don't care.
So I tend to agree with José. [Edited at 2010-03-08 23:23 GMT]
until client has paid the related invoice, not from the moment you have handed them over the translation.
| | | | Paula Borges
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:43
Member (2010)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Paula Rennie wrote:
"A company that takes pride in offering services to lower classes"????
Yikes. It seems non-native proofreaders aren't the only concern.
[Edited at 2010-03-09 11:24 GMT]
My work is to translate, not to judge the content of the original text.
Giving you the benefit of the doubt, I do not know what the remark is implying. It is another sentence, taken out of context, requested by my client, illustrating another episode. Hopefully, it's not another gratuitous outburst of bitterness, I don't think that's what these forums are for, tho I've seen lots of those lately.
[Edited at 2010-03-09 12:24 GMT]
[Edited at 2010-03-09 12:29 GMT]
| | | | Paula Borges
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:43
Member (2010)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Laurent KRAULAND wrote:
Paula Borges wrote:
I was given the script of a video for an English version. The client overestimated his own abilities a bit. He replaced "A company that takes pride in offering services to lower classes" to "A company that is proud of poverty", as well as "Monthly payments" for "Menstrual payments". Sadly, I've never seen this gem of a video.
Fun can become quite expensive though. How about pulping and reprinting brochures, redoing websites from scratch and so on because (*) of such mistakes - which sometimes will be blamed on the translator?
See this one, it is quite "funny": If translation were rocket science
(*) BTW, I just wonder which amount of PR has to be involved to clean up the self-inflicted image mess of such companies.
[Edited at 2010-03-09 10:50 GMT]
They will blame the translator. But people like this usually find a new one every month, because they don't think any is good enough. They tend to underestimate our work. I've seen them use babylon and compare the results to the translation in order to judge if the translator is good enough. If they are such experts, I don't see why they even bother paying for translations...
At least we're getting people skills.
[Edited at 2010-03-09 12:04 GMT]
[Edited at 2010-03-09 12:31 GMT]
[Edited at 2010-03-09 12:31 GMT]
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