| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Common issues I see from translators, as an outsourcer Thread poster: Mark Hemming
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Mark Hemming 
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:43
Slovenian to English
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I've done a fair share of outsourcing translations over the past couple of years, and have noticed (thankfully) that most translators are good at what they do. I've also made a list of common list of issues that I see in linguists' work that will probably help you in video format: here's the link.
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Tbh Mark, I think they’d probably help us more in written format.
| | | | Dan Lucas
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:43
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
| Let me guess, the first item on your list is the folly of misunderstanding your audience... | Jun 17 |
Mark Hemming wrote: I've also made a list of common list of issues that I see in linguists' work that will probably help you in video format: here's the link.
...and providing them with something other than that they would typically consume?
For example, when addressing a very text-oriented bunch of people, one might try to get them to watch a video instead of laying out half a dozen bullet points in a forum post?
Regards,
Dan
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Some common issues a videographer should know:
1. Don’t speak too quickly
2. If you present a table with numbers turn it to the audience not to you
Have a great day!
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Stepan Konev
Russian Federation
Local time: 02:43
English to Russian
Thank you for the video. Just one tip for you: when you talk about excellence, bother yourself to flip the image for your graphs to read properly
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Mark Hemming wrote: I've done a fair share of outsourcing translations over the past couple of years, and have noticed (thankfully) that most translators are good at what they do. I've also made a list of common list of issues that I see in linguists' work that will probably help you in video format: here's the link.
Thanks, it's appreciated!
| | | | Kay Denney
France
Local time: 01:43
French to English
Did the video contain any useful points for us to work on as translators?
When I outsourced work at the agency, common issues included not putting the text through the spell check (always a bad sign even if in itself it was no big deal) and not bothering to properly rewrite sentences to make them sound natural. I really got the impression some translators just worked on the text until Word no longer underlined anything.
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Kay Denney wrote:
Did the video contain any useful points for us to work on as translators?
No
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| You're doing it wrong | Jun 17 |
Christopher Schröder wrote: Kay Denney wrote:
Did the video contain any useful points for us to work on as translators?
No
This is no way to become translation's first uber-influencer.
I want to see a "no" video.
Ideally on tiktok, obvs, preferably interpreting your response through the medium of modern dance. You should be aiming to monetize it by Christmas, I would think.
If I didn't have two left feet, possibly more, I'd love to share a choreographed opinion of my key takeaway from dabbling in outsourcing (only ever as a favour to direct clients), which is that translators really do have incredibly fragile relatives, especially parents. The levels of hospitalisation and, sadly, sometimes fatality, among relatives of my subcontractors runs close to 50%.
[Edited at 2024-06-17 18:18 GMT]
| | | | Daryo
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:43
Serbian to English
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| I won't say anything about the video | Jun 19 |
as I will not be watching it.
My "reading speed" is an order of magnitude faster than my "listening speed", and I value my time.
I don't see why I should spend 10 minutes listening to something that I can read in one minute.
Yes, voice intonation and body language get lost when writing instead of videoing, but I'm sure that for this particular topic that wouldn't matter much.
You could've written a short and convincing text to make your point... See more as I will not be watching it.
My "reading speed" is an order of magnitude faster than my "listening speed", and I value my time.
I don't see why I should spend 10 minutes listening to something that I can read in one minute.
Yes, voice intonation and body language get lost when writing instead of videoing, but I'm sure that for this particular topic that wouldn't matter much.
You could've written a short and convincing text to make your point. Dealing with written words is your bread and butter anyway, isn't it?
[Edited at 2024-06-20 06:36 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Robert Rutledge
United States
Local time: 19:43
Member (2021)
Spanish to English
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| DTP Specialist Perspective | Jun 19 |
Hi Mark,
As a multilingual DTP specialist who is currently trying to wrap up a 20-language project, a few of the points you brought up are quite relatable.
I have noticed in particular a lot of translators tend to literally translate everything that comes their way, even proper nouns, which can make my job somewhat frustrating having to go back in and change things back to how they were in the first place.
I think while it may be the translators' responsib... See more Hi Mark,
As a multilingual DTP specialist who is currently trying to wrap up a 20-language project, a few of the points you brought up are quite relatable.
I have noticed in particular a lot of translators tend to literally translate everything that comes their way, even proper nouns, which can make my job somewhat frustrating having to go back in and change things back to how they were in the first place.
I think while it may be the translators' responsibility to pick up on what should and shouldn't be translated, in some cases the translation agency needs to tell them what needs to be translated and what shouldn't be. Maybe they should come up with a list of words to not be translated, as you suggest in your video. This would also save the translation agency money because they could also exclude these proper nouns from the overall word count if they wanted to. Or they should at least make these proper nouns "locked" inside the CAT tool so that translators couldn't translate them if they wanted to. If that makes sense. ▲ Collapse
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Robert Rutledge wrote:
Hi Mark,
As a multilingual DTP specialist who is currently trying to wrap up a 20-language project, a few of the points you brought up are quite relatable.
I have noticed in particular a lot of translators tend to literally translate everything that comes their way, even proper nouns, which can make my job somewhat frustrating having to go back in and change things back to how they were in the first place.
I think while it may be the translators' responsibility to pick up on what should and shouldn't be translated, in some cases the translation agency needs to tell them what needs to be translated and what shouldn't be. Maybe they should come up with a list of words to not be translated, as you suggest in your video. This would also save the translation agency money because they could also exclude these proper nouns from the overall word count if they wanted to. Or they should at least make these proper nouns "locked" inside the CAT tool so that translators couldn't translate them if they wanted to. If that makes sense.
Why would an agency work with such hapless translators? I mean, we’re talking the most basic requirements any translator should meet.
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Kay Denney
France
Local time: 01:43
French to English
Robert Rutledge wrote:
This would also save the translation agency money because they could also exclude these proper nouns from the overall word count if they wanted to.
Wow are you trying to give them bad ideas or what? Even if we pay per word, the client is still paying for an entire text, in which each sentence is meaningful. That includes putting the right proper noun in the right place in the sentence.
Also, I might not "translate" proper nouns but you know what, I still check them, unless it's someone really well-known without any spelling issues. I always check "Lewis Carroll" for example because it's plain unnatural to have a double r and a double l.
Lately I've been translating stuff about Surrealists in Czechoslovakia and Romania, you bet I need to check the spelling, because my French client even got "Jean-Michel Basquiat" wrong despite it posing zero challenges for a French-speaking art historian. If they start deducting proper nouns from the wordcount, I'm going to delete those proper nouns from my translation and let them put them back in themselves, should be good for a laugh.
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Kay Denney wrote: Robert Rutledge wrote:
This would also save the translation agency money because they could also exclude these proper nouns from the overall word count if they wanted to. Wow are you trying to give them bad ideas or what? Even if we pay per word, the client is still paying for an entire text, in which each sentence is meaningful. That includes putting the right proper noun in the right place in the sentence.
That jumped out at me too. Several creative ideas to handle such a situation occurred to me, but ultimately I just wouldn't work on a project like that. The very concept is just too ridiculous.
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Christopher Schröder wrote: Robert Rutledge wrote:
Hi Mark,
As a multilingual DTP specialist who is currently trying to wrap up a 20-language project, a few of the points you brought up are quite relatable.
I have noticed in particular a lot of translators tend to literally translate everything that comes their way, even proper nouns, which can make my job somewhat frustrating having to go back in and change things back to how they were in the first place.
I think while it may be the translators' responsibility to pick up on what should and shouldn't be translated, in some cases the translation agency needs to tell them what needs to be translated and what shouldn't be. Maybe they should come up with a list of words to not be translated, as you suggest in your video. This would also save the translation agency money because they could also exclude these proper nouns from the overall word count if they wanted to. Or they should at least make these proper nouns "locked" inside the CAT tool so that translators couldn't translate them if they wanted to. If that makes sense. Why would an agency work with such hapless translators? I mean, we’re talking the most basic requirements any translator should meet.
Because competent translators are more expensive?
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