Client constantly changing translations Thread poster: Nicholas Isard
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Nicholas Isard 
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:53
Spanish to English
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Hi everyone,
I was just looking for some advice on an issue I have with a long-standing client of mine (one of my main ones). They are a multinational Spanish engineering company and have recently acquired a Scottish engineering firm. I have been working with them for 10+ years with absolutely no problems and an excellent working relationship.
There is a woman in marketing at the Scottish company who on her first meeting with the CEO told him how awful the English vers... See more Hi everyone,
I was just looking for some advice on an issue I have with a long-standing client of mine (one of my main ones). They are a multinational Spanish engineering company and have recently acquired a Scottish engineering firm. I have been working with them for 10+ years with absolutely no problems and an excellent working relationship.
There is a woman in marketing at the Scottish company who on her first meeting with the CEO told him how awful the English version of their website is and promised him that she would make it her mission to correct it. So now she attempts to do all their translations (she doesn't speak Spanish). Then, in recent months, I keep being told she's had to completely change a translation I've done as it's not up to scratch. As I have an excellent relationship with the company, I said, right the only way to find out exactly what is going on is to have a meeting with her. So, we organised a meeting, during which she pulled up a few translations from the website, which weren't mine and looked like they had been done using MT and said how awful they were. I said, they weren't mind, which she didn't say anything to (and didn't really listen to me at all, if I'm honest, just producing a long monologue), and they proceeded to tell me how important it is that they have excellent translations to be taken seriously in the UK. She then said that what she does is put the texts into an automatic translation and then runs Grammarly (basically implying that the work of a translator is surplus to requirements). She also said she regularly has to completely restructure texts at a paragraph level, to which my reply was that that is not really within the remit of a translation to rejig an entire text (or something I'm really at liberty to do), to which she replied well it's within mine. It is true that the Spanish texts are sometimes a little disjointed and I do rejig them at a paragraph level sometimes, but they always say it's important not to change them as they have been approved by the client.
I got a text back from her today, as we agreed to put her in copy on a translation, and she has replied saying she has had to make loads of changes ("unfortunately not up to tier-one engineering standards"). I've looked through them, and apart from millions of stylistic changes ("begun" with "kicked off", which I thought was a little informal for a press release), she has also made significant changes to the content, which have resulted in some factual errors, like saying "at Galicia" (as she can't go back to the Spanish, I assume).
I really am exacerbated at this stage and she has cast doubt on my abilities to the entire company in Spain, who probably don't know what to do.
I don't know whether internal politics are in play or what it is, or whether she just doesn't like me, but would appreciate any advice from anyone who has been in a similar situation. I've never had a single complaint in my 10+ years as a translator (I always pride myself on the quality of my work and double/triple check all my work) and went over this latest translation five times before sending it.
Thanks!
[Edited at 2023-09-01 13:10 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:53
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Hmmm- a difficult situation.
My suggestion: for now, tell her you will accept all her changes but that you will then ask various other people (agreed between the two of you) to visit the website and comment independently on the quality of the translations.
| | | | Barbara Carrara
Italy
Local time: 13:53
Member (2008)
English to Italian
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| Missing link? | Sep 1, 2023 |
Hi, Nicholas
May I ask, who was your contact person before 'the woman in marketing' started interfering? Is that person no longer there?
The lady in question doesn't seem to have any authority within the company. If that is the case, how can she decide to make it her 'mission to correct' your translations, especially since she doesn't speak a word of Spanish? In fact, even if she heads the marketing department, she still isn't a translator, so again she would have no ri... See more Hi, Nicholas
May I ask, who was your contact person before 'the woman in marketing' started interfering? Is that person no longer there?
The lady in question doesn't seem to have any authority within the company. If that is the case, how can she decide to make it her 'mission to correct' your translations, especially since she doesn't speak a word of Spanish? In fact, even if she heads the marketing department, she still isn't a translator, so again she would have no right to disrupt your work.
She admitted to be resorting to automatic translation and Grammarly. Well, that's a recipe for disaster.
Wonder who's going to take care of her marketing-related tasks, while she is busy 'reworking' your translations... ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Toxic people s*cks | Sep 1, 2023 |
Hello, Nicholas,
considering the way you presented the situation, it seemed to me that she is decided to highlight her "efficiency" in front of your CEO by diminishing the efficiency of your work. And also seems like months have passed since this situation began... perhaps it's too late for what I'm about to say, but anyway...
If you are directly subordinate to her in any way, one thing I would do if I were in your shoes is demand clear instructions from her about style... See more Hello, Nicholas,
considering the way you presented the situation, it seemed to me that she is decided to highlight her "efficiency" in front of your CEO by diminishing the efficiency of your work. And also seems like months have passed since this situation began... perhaps it's too late for what I'm about to say, but anyway...
If you are directly subordinate to her in any way, one thing I would do if I were in your shoes is demand clear instructions from her about style and other aspects, especially those she use to consider inappropriate/incorrect in your work. This should be done in writing, formally. Leaving things "loose" will let her free to always find something to criticize in your work. If her instructions are recorded in some way, she'll have no way of criticizing what she herself has instructed.
I would also take a look at various Scottish engineering companies' websites to check how they do and see if there are aspects in my works that really can be improved.
I suggest you to take advantage of your good relationship with your Spanish client to show your side of the situation. I don't recommend criticizing her directly. However, make it clear that you are doing your best, but it would help if she were more cooperative and positive by the way she talks about your work and about what needs to be done.
And, in last case, it's always good to remember that sometimes ending (toxic) partnerships and move on to new clients is a good thing.
Best of luck to you. ▲ Collapse
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Ana Cuesta
Spain
Local time: 13:53
English to Spanish
| She is not qualified to judge your translation, just the translated copy | Sep 1, 2023 |
I would say try to detach yourself from the process and evaluate to what extent she has a point.
If the final “corrected” copy is substantially better (as in fitter for their marketing purposes) (perhaps even better than the Spanish source one, not difficult since engineers are not always the best writers), try and explain that she seems to be asking for transcreation as opposed to conventional translation and you would be happy to do that (if you are and feel qualified for it,... See more I would say try to detach yourself from the process and evaluate to what extent she has a point.
If the final “corrected” copy is substantially better (as in fitter for their marketing purposes) (perhaps even better than the Spanish source one, not difficult since engineers are not always the best writers), try and explain that she seems to be asking for transcreation as opposed to conventional translation and you would be happy to do that (if you are and feel qualified for it, of course) but then you would need permission to rearrange and depart from the source as you see fit (ask them to consider if the Spanish copy has been approved merely to be used as such, in Spanish-speaking markets, or also to be used as a basis for translation; perhaps explain how different markets/cultures opperate differently and respond differently to different triggers). If they decide to go for transcreation, you may want to switch to charging per hour or update your per word rate to reflect the additional effort (and value).
If she only makes arbitrary changes, pick up a couple of examples to explain in detail how her version not only is not better but it is in fact worse and introduces factual errors (even if offering to transcreate, explain and show how her automated translation routine leads to such factual errors). ▲ Collapse
| | | | expressisverbis
Portugal
Local time: 12:53
Member (2015)
English to Portuguese
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| I completely agree with Barbara | Sep 1, 2023 |
However, here's what I would do:
I would ask your client to send your translations along with that lady's revisions to a "neutral" translator for a third opinion.
Something similar happened to me once from French to European Portuguese, and the result was that the third-party translator agreed with me, even on the punctuation. The client agreed with us, rejecting the reviewed translation, made by someone who only translated from English to my native language...!
On the other h... See more However, here's what I would do:
I would ask your client to send your translations along with that lady's revisions to a "neutral" translator for a third opinion.
Something similar happened to me once from French to European Portuguese, and the result was that the third-party translator agreed with me, even on the punctuation. The client agreed with us, rejecting the reviewed translation, made by someone who only translated from English to my native language...!
On the other hand, there are non-translators reviewing our work. They usually specialise in specific fields, like engineers, and I can tell you that in terms of linguistic knowledge and skills some of them fall short of expectations...
If your client really says that it is important to have excellent translations, I believe they can follow this suggestion.
Talk to them about this and let us know.
Good luck! ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Engineering has its own lingo | Sep 1, 2023 |
Nicholas Isard wrote:
I've looked through them, and apart from millions of stylistic changes ("begun" with "kicked off", which I thought was a little informal for a press release)
Nicholas, believe it or not, but "kick-off" is a legitimate term in project management, and it's not a beginning in general, but a formal starting milestone. Your profile doesn't say you are an engineer, so maybe you ought to listen to engineering people at least in some instances.
| | | | | Asking for a neutral third-party translator | Sep 1, 2023 |
expressisverbis wrote:
However, here's what I would do:
I would ask your client to send your translations along with that lady's revisions to a "neutral" translator for a third opinion.
Something similar happened to me once from French to European Portuguese, and the result was that the third-party translator agreed with me, even on the punctuation. The client agreed with us, rejecting the reviewed translation, made by someone who only translated from English to my native language...!
On the other hand, there are non-translators reviewing our work. They usually specialise in specific fields, like engineers, and I can tell you that in terms of linguistic knowledge and skills some of them fall short of expectations...
If your client really says that it is important to have excellent translations, I believe they can follow this suggestion.
Talk to them about this and let us know.
Good luck!
I couldn't agree more with Expressis Verbis's suggestion.
Since both the quality and the accuracy of your translations are being questioned by this jack-of-all-trades lady - your underlying professional honour also being at stake as I can feel it - I would suggest to submit your whole work to an experienced third-party, who may intervene as a "neutral translator", in order for them to arbitrate what seems to be a "stumbling block".
By doing so, you would prove your good faith and good will to defend the merits of your work and get your intricate position to be vindicated, or not (it's do or die indeed)...
In my humble opinion, this alternative solution might help you restore your professional honour and confidence towards your long-standing client, and - hopefully - defeat this jack-of-all-trades lady in the eyes of her own employer.
If it works as expected, you will sweep the board... 😉
[Modifié le 2023-09-01 19:36 GMT]
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I had a similar problem many years ago with a Belgian client. He had a Spanish employee who claimed to know Portuguese and started "reviewing" my translations with preposterous results. I took the trouble of noting down all the changes she made and comment on them one by one, pointing out all the mistakes made and explaining why. After a while, the client understood that she shouldn’t be reviewing my translations but your case seems more complex, given that your client is the Spanish company a... See more I had a similar problem many years ago with a Belgian client. He had a Spanish employee who claimed to know Portuguese and started "reviewing" my translations with preposterous results. I took the trouble of noting down all the changes she made and comment on them one by one, pointing out all the mistakes made and explaining why. After a while, the client understood that she shouldn’t be reviewing my translations but your case seems more complex, given that your client is the Spanish company and the Scottish company is a subsidiary. I wonder on what authority this lady alters your translations? It's a shame that she's apparently justifying her salary by harming you. Like you, I’m all for going out of my way to help my clients but sometimes one has to slam on the brakes and step back. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Three facts just don't compute for me | Sep 1, 2023 |
She doesn't speak Spanish. They'd always say it's important to keep things as they were in the original Spanish. And now they're giving her a carte blanche to rewrite the whole thing as she pleases? In such a case, I'd just leave all or most of the stylistic changes intact (in my translations, I can always explain why I made a particular stylistic choice, but once my work has been taken over by someone else, I no longer care) and make a table highlighting all the spots where her edits changed th... See more She doesn't speak Spanish. They'd always say it's important to keep things as they were in the original Spanish. And now they're giving her a carte blanche to rewrite the whole thing as she pleases? In such a case, I'd just leave all or most of the stylistic changes intact (in my translations, I can always explain why I made a particular stylistic choice, but once my work has been taken over by someone else, I no longer care) and make a table highlighting all the spots where her edits changed the meaning and showing what the changes were about. That's a lot of work, I suppose, so it all depends on how much time you're prepared to spend defending your reputation. A few dozen examples should do the trick. After all, a language pro can usually beat a marketer at the language game ▲ Collapse
| | | | | I've had this... | Sep 2, 2023 |
after a while, I asked the company to remove me from the job and give it to a different translator. I know you probably don't want to do this, but there is a limit to everything.
| | | | | Redefine her role | Sep 2, 2023 |
Call the Job she does for editing. It is up to the company to have their marketing wizard do her magic. So redefine her job, tell the company that they can edit as the like, and that she is doing what translators refer to as preferential changes.
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Barbara Carrara
Italy
Local time: 13:53
Member (2008)
English to Italian
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...since this thread was started.
Nicholas, will you ever get back to us?
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