| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Poll: Do you ever translate handwritten documents? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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R. Alex Jenkins 
Brazil
Local time: 01:34
Member (2006)
Portuguese to English
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| I probably would if I was presented with one... | Apr 30, 2014 |
Sorry, I've not got too much time to read through other people's comments, but there's almost a sense of 'old school' when presented with an uneditable PDF which requires pure translating skills. The lack of concordance search is a bit of a problem, but I would definitely attempt to translate a written document if it was not too technically complex and something that I felt I could competently translate.
All The Best
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But if it is legible and handwritting is clear - why not?
| | | | Julian Holmes
Japan
Local time: 13:34
Member (2011)
Japanese to English
| No, thank you | Apr 30, 2014 |
I used to do back in the 'good old days' (approx. 15 to 20 years ago) when engineers could not use word processors and wrote lots of documents by hand.
Trust me. You do not want to read hastily hand-written Japanese. I once translated a 150-page training manual for a monochromatic flat-bed scanner - in fact, the first one made for the prepress industry in Japan. Each of the five sections was written by a different engineer(!!!). Some of the writing looked as if a spider had f... See more I used to do back in the 'good old days' (approx. 15 to 20 years ago) when engineers could not use word processors and wrote lots of documents by hand.
Trust me. You do not want to read hastily hand-written Japanese. I once translated a 150-page training manual for a monochromatic flat-bed scanner - in fact, the first one made for the prepress industry in Japan. Each of the five sections was written by a different engineer(!!!). Some of the writing looked as if a spider had fallen into an ink well and scrambled across the page. Aaaah, those were the days! 
Needless to say, that's all in the past. If handwritten scrawl were to be find its way onto my desk, I'd 'politely' let the customer know how good my bad Japanese is.  ▲ Collapse
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But rarely. Like most of you, maybe.
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I have recently translated letters from a prisoner of war to his wife, sister-in-law and children. It took a while to get used to the handwriting, as the letters were written in the 1940s, but it was fascinating.
We are not often asked to translate handwritten documents, but I do see no reason not to carry out this type of work.
| | | | James McVay
United States
Local time: 00:34
Russian to English
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| Been there, done that… | Apr 30, 2014 |
Won't do it again. I can barely read my own handwriting sometimes.
| | | | | The special joy of doctors' handwriting... | May 1, 2014 |
I'm sure other countries have jokes about the amount of training doctors have to receive to make their handwriting that bad. So it's a cruel twist that the majority of assignments involving the translation of handwriting seem to medical-related.
With any translation of handwriting I preface the translation with a note stating that the source document is handwritten and that while best efforts have been made to correctly interpret the text, there is an unavoidable margin for error. W... See more I'm sure other countries have jokes about the amount of training doctors have to receive to make their handwriting that bad. So it's a cruel twist that the majority of assignments involving the translation of handwriting seem to medical-related.
With any translation of handwriting I preface the translation with a note stating that the source document is handwritten and that while best efforts have been made to correctly interpret the text, there is an unavoidable margin for error. Where there are specific grounds for doubt, especially for a significant item, I signal it in the text. And sometimes I simply have to insert [illegible].
Agencies and clients in my experience have always accepted this approach. I certainly agree that a handwriting surcharge should be applied, but I wouldn't say no just because not everything was legible.
Melissa ▲ Collapse
| | | | Gudrun Maydorn (X)
Germany
Local time: 06:34
English to German
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| Definitely yes | May 2, 2014 |
I specialise in the translation of medical records, so hand-written medical notes are part and parcel of my job - although they come my way less frequently now than they used to.
Deciphering fortunately becomes easier with experience and if anything significant is illegible then I liaise with the doctor or hospital concerned.
(I should maybe add that I work for direct clients only, so I fortunately don't have to go through an agency project manager.)
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Dave Bindon
Greece
Local time: 07:34
Greek to English
In memoriam
I don't think I've had a single week in the last 3 or 4 years without having at least one handwritten (or partly handwritten) text to translate. I charge extra for it because it can be time-consuming if the handwriting's bad, and also because the ability to decipher a Greek doctor's or policeman's scrawl is a skill which not all translators possess.
Just last week I was asked to proofread a translation of a text which included a lot of handwritten medical notes. The translator had d... See more I don't think I've had a single week in the last 3 or 4 years without having at least one handwritten (or partly handwritten) text to translate. I charge extra for it because it can be time-consuming if the handwriting's bad, and also because the ability to decipher a Greek doctor's or policeman's scrawl is a skill which not all translators possess.
Just last week I was asked to proofread a translation of a text which included a lot of handwritten medical notes. The translator had dismissed 90% (at least) of the handwriting as "[illegible]" and, in one case, reduced a whole 1-page report to "[illegible] upper right [illegible]". I managed to decipher the whole report quite easily, and only resorted to "[illegible]" for 2 or 3 words in the entire text. I think the client now understands why my rates for translating handwritten texts are so high, but also understands that the fee is fully justifiable. ▲ Collapse
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