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The fear of rereading a translation after you've sent it Thread poster: Tom in London
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:03
Member (2008)
Italian to English
After working long and hard to make a translation perfect, and sending it off to the client, I'm always frightened to read it the next day (tempting though this is) in case I find a mistake I hadn't noticed.
Do you have this fear?
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| No, I don't. | May 21, 2015 |
After I have sent it is when I do my best editing.
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Oh yes, Tom, I feel exactly the same.
Pretty strange, isn't it?
But it happens to me all the time. Even after doing my best.
I feel more comfortable if I have to do a reverse translation for one of my direct clients, because than it was already revised by my proofreader and revised again by me.
But generally I experience this strange fear, too. And hate to have a look at the translation if it is not absolutely necessary for some reason. And ... See more Oh yes, Tom, I feel exactly the same.
Pretty strange, isn't it?
But it happens to me all the time. Even after doing my best.
I feel more comfortable if I have to do a reverse translation for one of my direct clients, because than it was already revised by my proofreader and revised again by me.
But generally I experience this strange fear, too. And hate to have a look at the translation if it is not absolutely necessary for some reason. And then I think of my mother, who says that she could never be a translator, because she would never ever be sure if she made the right choice of words - there are so many ways to express yourself. And to some extent all these ways seem to be less valuable than the language that was originally used.
Saludos,
Agnes ▲ Collapse
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Samuel Murray 
Netherlands
Local time: 21:03
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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| Not a fear, exactly... | May 21, 2015 |
Tom in London wrote:
Do you have this fear?
No, but it can be interesting (and a learning experience) to reproofread files that you've delivered two or three years ago.
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I never checked to the answers after an exam, to the questions that I remembered, until I got the results.
[Edited at 2015-05-21 12:24 GMT]
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| Whenever I can | May 21, 2015 |
I always plan to read it (even ask for edited version with track changes, which I sometimes actually get) and update TM accordingly. Helas, not always possible. If a new project drops in, there is no time to go back to the previous one.
Long answer short, I always read my translations once sent, whenever I can.
I call it "continious learning process". Or should we be ashaimed today because we may become a tiny bit better tomorrow?
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After one job is done, it's on to the next. The deadlines loom. No time to ruminate on the past.
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| Yes, absolutely! | May 21, 2015 |
I'm exactly the same as you Tom. It doesn't matter how many times I've checked a translation, or how much I've edited it, I'm always sure that if I look back I'll find some glaring error.
I don't think it's a reflection on translation ability or work quality, I see it more as a personality thing.
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| Multiply that... | May 21, 2015 |
Samuel Murray wrote: Tom in London wrote:
Do you have this fear? No, but it can be interesting (and a learning experience) to reproofread files that you've delivered two or three years ago.
About ten years ago, during a major office cleanup, I recall having found my very first professional (I got paid for them) translations, done... in 1973! I was overwhelmed to discover that the 'promising beginner' fulfilled that promise. While in all these years I had my full share of goofs, I wouldn't change anything in those early translations of mine.
Perhaps the reason is that I never took a translation job that I was not (and couldn't get timely) prepared to do, staying always on the safe side. Nevertheless it took me decades to write and publish - on my web site - a list of (five, so far) broad areas of human knowledge where I'll say 'no' before perusing the material.
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Ty Kendall
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:03
Hebrew to English
| You can drive yourself crazy doing that | May 21, 2015 |
If you're like me and there's always another word you can tweak or a sentence you can rejig (for the 100th time - making absolutely no discernible difference).
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Inga Petkelyte
Portugal
Local time: 20:03
Lithuanian to Portuguese
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Sounds so familiar...
I used to have this fear but then I realised that we all are humans and mistakes may happen to anyone. This is why I always welcome editors' work - two pairs of eyes is always better than just one. Also, whenever sending out my work, I ask to look through it and feel free for any questions or doubts, making myself available for several hours the following day.
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:03
Member (2008)
Italian to English
TOPIC STARTER | Not the only | May 21, 2015 |
It's reassuring to learn that I'm not the only one who has this fear. Like jlrsnyder I'm usually too busy to go back and re-read, but sometimes I'm so pleased with a translation that I can't resist going back to savour it again, a day or two after I've delivered it. That's when I find some stupid mistake - probably a minor typo, a misplaced comma, or something. The feeling I get is described in idiomatic English as "having egg on my face" followed by a need to "eat a large slice of humble pie".<... See more It's reassuring to learn that I'm not the only one who has this fear. Like jlrsnyder I'm usually too busy to go back and re-read, but sometimes I'm so pleased with a translation that I can't resist going back to savour it again, a day or two after I've delivered it. That's when I find some stupid mistake - probably a minor typo, a misplaced comma, or something. The feeling I get is described in idiomatic English as "having egg on my face" followed by a need to "eat a large slice of humble pie".
[Edited at 2015-05-21 14:50 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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| To comfort you | May 21, 2015 |
As you know there is no such thing as perfection.
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:03
Member (2008)
Italian to English
TOPIC STARTER
Gudrun Wolfrath wrote:
As you know there is no such thing as perfection.
It's one of my favourite Salvador Dalì quotes. "Do not strive for perfection. You wil never attain it".
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Neil Coffey
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:03
French to English
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Tom in London wrote:
Do you have this fear?
Definitely. And frequently when I'm referring to one previous translation as a reference for another, it occurs to me, "if only I'd thought of such-and-such an expression, that would have sounded better".
But... I think you have to tell yourself is that translations are performed under real-world conditions. Given infinite time, there is always some extra little improvement you could make...
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