Originally written by Jonathan Ellis on August 29, 2008 2:20 AM Originally written by Laurent Krauland on August 28, 2008 7:38 AM 1. consulting a non-linguist buddy or well-intentioned superior (you could even employ his cousin's wife, since she studied languages in school). One of the drawbacks of being a translator into English living in the Netherlands is that the Dutch are convinced they are the world's greatest linguists. My English has been challenged so often by the omniscient Dutch that I have accepted it as an unfortunate fact of life. I remember one of my ads being rejected by the CEO because it was "bad English". He had, apparently, shown it to his wife and she had made the judgement and she should know, I was informed, because "when she was young she spent three months in England as an au pair." Jonathan

This one rings a bell with me as a translation manager as well. You often get end clients using this approach. We were asked to quote to translate a large website some time ago, in the end the client said that they could do it a lot cheeper because they had friends who could speak the target languages... I think the problem here is that people outside the industry often have little idea about what is involved in translation. Sadly I don't think some of the larger agencies help, e.g. use of "free" translation tools on their homepages are hardly going to help people take the industry seriously.

Cheers

Mike

Originally written by Mike Hunter on August 29, 2008 5:43 AM  Sadly I don't think some of the larger agencies help, e.g. use of "free" translation tools on their homepages are hardly going to help people take the industry seriously. Cheers Mike

Although you can also see it the other way around (but who will?): "Here, that's MT and the approximative content of your text in the TL - for a good translation, do call us"...

But offering free translations on a MT basis should, I agree, avoided altogether on such websites as some people will make their own translations on that MT basis anyway, without checking anything but obvious 'misstakes'.

Laurent K.

Originally written by Mike Hunter on August 29, 2008 11:43 AM I think the problem here is that people outside the industry often have little idea about what is involved in translation. Sadly I don't think some of the larger agencies help, e.g. use of "free" translation tools on their homepages are hardly going to help people take the industry seriously. Cheers Mike

About MT's offered through TA websites, also have a look at Post #154480.

Laurent

Although we also have A guide for buyers of translation services, I have decided to open a new chapter here and post this ATA brochure on

It's late and I am tired, but I have read the guide. I know we often complain and that some of the complaints are warranted, but...

My initial reaction is that the writer is talking down to the reader:

This specifications thing sounds important but it also sounds like a lot of work. How do I know I have a full set of specifications? How can I get through the specifications phase as quickly as possible?

Hi Nanna

I didn't like the document much either, which is a shame because it discusses serious issues. I think the "specification" bit is somewhat overstated though, as I think most of the items listed are done in most cases anyway. Not sure that some of the example mistakes would have been solved by use of specifications. There's no substitute for translators, proofreaders, agencies and end clients all engaging brain when working together!

The clients I most enjoy working for are the ones we can work calaboratively with. Another danger of specifications is that if they are unworkable, impractical to impliment, or badly written, they make things worse not better.

I've had bad experiences of car dealerships, nicely ISO accredited, but rude to customers! I wonder if their quality standard requires them to be rude to customers, and then inspections confirm that they are 98% + compliant!

I'm worried that this thread is getting too serious, I liked the tone of some of the original posts. How about a seperate thread on translation standards Jacek?

Cheers

Mike

Hi, Mike,

Do you mean like ISO? (Or: The Standard for Translation Companies)

Or rather along the lines of Standard of Care in Translating Legal Documents?

Jacek

Hi Mike,

Chances are that the only people reading such an article will be translators rather than the first-time clueless buyer. When I look at the article forom the point of view of a first-time buyer, the language is fine and a gentle 'take you by the hand' kind of thing. When I want information about translation, I want the straight goods without any sweet talk, i.e., nicely destilled, easy to access and understand information.

Approached about a terrifically interesting project, I questioned whether the topic was too technical and immediately contacted my old mentor, who contacted an engineer turned translator, who wrote me back within an hour. Across the board, short and clear, word was, don't take it on.  Since trust is not an issue, I didn't need a long 'song and dance' and declined the project. I did, however, spend some time explaining to the PM why I had declined. She was very gracious.

Nanna

I hope this was not a suggestion for PMs to always acknowledge all correspondence and keep applicants informed of the status of their quotes, bids, etc. This is simply unfeasible and I doubt it's done very often, although yes, it certainly reminds me of the good old days when people would carefully select the quality of their parchment or vellum when interacting with others.

Jacek