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Poll: How do you cope with massive changes to your translations?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
SITE STAFF
Dec 27

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "How do you cope with massive changes to your translations?".

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neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 14:30
Spanish to English
+ ...
Other Dec 27

I don't think I understand the question.

Pavel Mondschein
Agnes Fatrai
Luis M. Sosa
Pascale van Kempen-Herlant
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Gjorgji Apostolovski
Philip Lees
 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 13:30
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Other Dec 27

It depends! I never had massive changes made to my translations by an editor (I’m not quite sure if that’s what’s meant here). They almost always do some changes, these usually are welcome and I will take them in consideration later on (I work often with the same editors). Two of my clients have the nasty habit of sending incomplete texts (marked to be completed later on). I don’t like it as it’s rather cumbersome, but they pay well and on time…

Philip Lees
 
Lieven Malaise
Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 14:30
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
+ ...
Reviewers Dec 27

If there would be "massive" changes to my translation, then I know the reviewer hasn't done his job properly. Luckily I only work with professional clients that act professionally and simply don't allow reviewers to undermine other translators with baseless claims of mistakes being made.

Christine Andersen
Yetta Jensen Bogarde
Michele Fauble
Dan Lucas
Philip Lees
 
Christine Andersen
Christine Andersen  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 14:30
Member (2003)
Danish to English
+ ...
Other Dec 27

First, I wait until my initial rage has died down!
Then I check to see whether there is some central misunderstanding or a common theme in the changes.

I take a pride in getting my work right, but I work on texts where style is important - have I understood the client's idea correctly? Are there any improvements that I should accept? I note them in my answer, but these are not so common when the changes are extensive!

There have not been may occasions when anyone... See more
First, I wait until my initial rage has died down!
Then I check to see whether there is some central misunderstanding or a common theme in the changes.

I take a pride in getting my work right, but I work on texts where style is important - have I understood the client's idea correctly? Are there any improvements that I should accept? I note them in my answer, but these are not so common when the changes are extensive!

There have not been may occasions when anyone has made extensive changes to my work, but I do not usually accept and adapt.
On one occasion the editor of a magazine complained about the poor English in a text, and I was asked to explain. The supposed translation was not the same text that I had translated, and I sent him my original version. It was far shorter, and the editor apologised! Somewhere down the line, a picture had been removed, and someone was asked to expand the text to fill the space, removing references to the picture. This person had also changed 'confidence' to 'trust', I remember, and altered a couple of other things. I did a quick translation of the longer Danish version, and everyone was happy!

On other occasions my text has been compared to Google Translate, or someone has looked up words in what I call 'the little red dictionary'. (An excellent small dictionary for general purposes, which many people have, but it does not cover technical terms or many idioms.) I may have used a technical term or an expression that is not in the dictionary, which the proofreader may not be familiar with. Or I alter the syntax - often the source syntax is not incorrect, but simply sounds wrong in English.

I usually explain a few main reasons why I prefer to keep my version, but I do not spend time going through them all. I send the client a lightly revised text and tell them to take it or leave it! ▲ Collapse


Peter Simon
Maria Laura Curzi
Yetta Jensen Bogarde
Dan Lucas
 
Charlie Bavington
Charlie Bavington  Identity Verified
Local time: 13:30
French to English
ChatGPT? Dec 27

neilmac wrote:

I don't think I understand the question.


In keeping with recent polls, I think the only acceptable answer is "I ask ChatGPT what it thinks"

Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Laura Curzi
 
Philip Lees
Philip Lees  Identity Verified
Greece
Local time: 15:30
Greek to English
Other 06:14

Nobody has ever made "massive changes" to one of my translations.

Zea_Mays
 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 14:30
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
What? 07:17

neilmac wrote:
I don't think I understand the question.

Me neither.
 


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Poll: How do you cope with massive changes to your translations?






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