| Páginas sobre el tema: < [1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8] > | Poll: When a potential translation job is described to me, the word(s) I dread hearing the most is Autor de la hebra: ProZ.com Staff
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Laura Gentili 
Italia
Local time: 03:27
Miembro 2003
inglés al italiano
+ ...
| user interface strings without context | Mar 18, 2008 |
You start making long lists of queries and nobody answers. They tell you to do your best, that someone knowledgeable will check the strings at a later stage. But then nobody checks them. Then 2 months later they send you the manual to translate and you have to use your previous translation for the strings. You finally have the chance to see the strings in context and you realize you should change many of them. But the client refuses to do that because they have already used the translated string... See more You start making long lists of queries and nobody answers. They tell you to do your best, that someone knowledgeable will check the strings at a later stage. But then nobody checks them. Then 2 months later they send you the manual to translate and you have to use your previous translation for the strings. You finally have the chance to see the strings in context and you realize you should change many of them. But the client refuses to do that because they have already used the translated strings to build the localized version.
Laura ▲ Collapse
| | | | Marlou Franken
Países Bajos
Local time: 03:27
Miembro 2006
inglés al neerlandés
+ ...
| extremely shockingly heartstoppingly urgent | Mar 18, 2008 |
Worked straight through the night until 10 in the morning, in a small team. We could keep each other going. After a few hours of sleep, I had to start editing the job (in a very complicated, tedious way), which took me about 4 days....and as far as I know, everybody involved survived anyway. But of course, I now know what working hard really means.
Next time this request is made, I will require 6 witness letters stating and confirming the PRECISE reason for the urgency, signed by a... See more Worked straight through the night until 10 in the morning, in a small team. We could keep each other going. After a few hours of sleep, I had to start editing the job (in a very complicated, tedious way), which took me about 4 days....and as far as I know, everybody involved survived anyway. But of course, I now know what working hard really means.
Next time this request is made, I will require 6 witness letters stating and confirming the PRECISE reason for the urgency, signed by an important president, king or sultan. But if my overnight delivery of a manual facilitates a surgeon to perform a live saving operation, then I will pull an all nighter again....
[Bijgewerkt op 2008-03-18 21:44] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Mark Nathan
Francia
Local time: 03:27
Miembro 2002
francés al inglés
+ ...
| A bit technical | Mar 18, 2008 |
Nicole Schnell wrote: (Based on a true story. Names of metal parts and machines were changed for privacy reasons.)
Lol !
I've been there all too often. But am learning avoidance techniques.
As more and more stuff makes its way onto the Internet this sort of thing becomes more and more possible. I can't help feeling that real knowledge is being debased.
But then, on the other hand, by translating these quasi-technical texts we are presumably contributing to some kind of progress...
With all the TMs expanding, it can't be long before computers handle this sort of translation (after all, it does not involve any of the things that usually make translation difficult such as cultural references, language specific sentence structure, humour etc.).
| | | | Trudy Peters
Estados Unidos
Local time: 21:27
alemán al inglés
+ ...
... jobs don't bother me. They get turned down automatically
I refuse to do all-nighters anymore and have plenty of work with reasonable deadlines.
Straightforward/easy bothers me more for reasons mentioned by others here. They often turn into nightmares. And I never accept a job without seeing it first.
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Pamela Cruz wrote:
...Because it almost always would be technical, requiring some 'insight' on a very-specific jargon, so I would have to COMB Internet, my library, the collective knowledge among my friends, my dreams, etc... looking for the right words.
Just this weekend, I had to translate 700 words at 0,18 $ CAD/word, which is a pretty good rate but 5 of them took me hours of researchs...I wanted to cry ;((((
| | | | Marlou Franken
Países Bajos
Local time: 03:27
Miembro 2006
inglés al neerlandés
+ ...
Nicole Schnell wrote: Ha! Some innocent 600 words can really make your day if they turn out to be about some particular pin that is part of metal faced full floating seal. All of the sudden you spend your day learning a lot of stuff about cradle-deck roller assemblies and their close tolerances instead of washing your dishes. (Based on a true story. Names of metal parts and machines were changed for privacy reasons.)
:):)
So funny...!! The metal parts can really trust you.
And I understand the others saying sort of the same too, but for some reason I like these difficult little jobs for staying sharp or getting going. But it does seem there is no end sometimes to the specialized vocabulary one could acquire...and the sheer number of subjects to familiarize with..!
[Bijgewerkt op 2008-03-18 22:06]
| | | | Parrot
España
Local time: 03:27
español al inglés
+ ...
| Straightforward | Mar 19, 2008 |
The texts described as such rarely are.
| | | | Nicole Schnell
Estados Unidos
Local time: 18:27
inglés al alemán
+ ...
In Memoriam | The little challenges | Mar 19, 2008 |
marlou1911 wrote:
I like these difficult little jobs for staying sharp or getting going. But it does seem there is no end sometimes to the specialized vocabulary one could acquire...
I like that, too, to be honest. Except when I was dumb enough to promise: "Yayy! 600 words? I can squeeze that in easily!"
Such jobs usually come from clients who don't speak German, and the engineers who wrote those texts in the first place don't consider them technical at all. That's probably what they read to their kids as bedtime stories.
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mediamatrix (X)
Local time: 21:27
español al inglés
+ ...
| There's worse than this ... | Mar 19, 2008 |
Hilde Granlund wrote:
too inexperienced
Hilde, you ain't heard nothin' yet!
Wait until you are told 'You are too experienced for this job'.
In other words, even we, the most professional and most ethical agency on Earth, don't dare offer you, a recognised professional with top-notch experience, credentials and knowledge of the ST subject-matter, our standard rate (€0.02/word) for this job, for fear of offending you.
The other word I hate to see in any job-offer is: work. I'm allergic, you see...
MediaMatrix
[Edited at 2008-03-19 02:35]
| | | | | Sorry, there is a minor update! | Mar 19, 2008 |
Sorry, it's finally a major update!
Sorry, finally, we don't translate...
Do we owe you someting, I mean, did you begin this work?
| | | | | "It seems technical" | Mar 19, 2008 |
"I have this small text: it seems a bit technical, perfect for you". This usually means "they" don't have a clue of what the text is about and that this text is very specialised and very difficult.
And of course "pretranslated": this sometimes means the end client has already used search and replace to translate some terms, so I don't know what the source for their translated terms is.
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There is ALWAYS something wrong with the easy ones. I hate when they say it. Besides I agree with the miserable rate and the lack of appreciation.
I also hate when the PM say to me the recountered number of words, or - even worse - just the number of "no match" words. I hear - just 2000 words for tomorrow and when I get home and open the text - there are 2000 new words plus another 4000 fuzzies...
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| A short slogan | Mar 19, 2008 |
Slogans are the killers.
There are clients who come with a four-word slogan (the result of three weeks' brainstorming with the marketing experts, which wasn't very cheap, I'd say) and want me to do the "translation" in short time for a fixed minimum charge.
Slogans playing with words are often ambiguous and a translation seldom works the same way in another culture, depending on different associations and background. Most clients back off when I tell them that I will ... See more Slogans are the killers.
There are clients who come with a four-word slogan (the result of three weeks' brainstorming with the marketing experts, which wasn't very cheap, I'd say) and want me to do the "translation" in short time for a fixed minimum charge.
Slogans playing with words are often ambiguous and a translation seldom works the same way in another culture, depending on different associations and background. Most clients back off when I tell them that I will need at least 3 days to collect some thoughts and filter out the best result - and they anticipated to get it back within 30 minutes ▲ Collapse
| | | | | straightforward | Mar 19, 2008 |
Parrot wrote:
The texts described as such rarely are.
Exactly. It's a red flag, and it can mean any number of things. For example:
- You can do this in no time flat;
- We know better than to tell you it's urgent;
- It's really very technical, but we're pretending it isn't so we can pay you our lowest rate;
- We haven't a clue what this job entails, but we expect you to do your top-notch best in the shortest time and for the lowest rate that you'll let us get away with;
Or, most likely:
- Five other translators have altready turned it down.
[Edited at 2008-03-19 09:12]
[Edited at 2008-03-19 09:13]
| | | | Nikki Graham
Reino Unido
Local time: 02:27
español al inglés
because it usually means I won't be able to fit it in. I've had to turn down some pretty interesting texts recently. But it was certainly a toss up with "it's easy and only 500 words long" meaning "you should be able to fit this in even if you are already fully booked. Don't you dare say no." And, as others have pointed out, they are usually anything but straightforward. I have a regular client who's been saying this to me for years and it really grates on my nerves as they should know better by... See more because it usually means I won't be able to fit it in. I've had to turn down some pretty interesting texts recently. But it was certainly a toss up with "it's easy and only 500 words long" meaning "you should be able to fit this in even if you are already fully booked. Don't you dare say no." And, as others have pointed out, they are usually anything but straightforward. I have a regular client who's been saying this to me for years and it really grates on my nerves as they should know better by now. Anyway, due to this and a whole host of other reasons, I've now decided this agency is in for the chop. ▲ Collapse
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