Pages in topic:   < [1 2]
How to dimmer rice?
Thread poster: Lingua 5B
Gabriele Demuth
Gabriele Demuth  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 08:46
English to German
Yes, if you look at it that way Apr 29, 2016

Michael Wetzel wrote:


That is a logically plausible conclusion, but I don't know if it is practically valid.

I'm sure that of the dozens of groups of specialists that are likely to have a strong and informed opinion about some aspect of the product, several of them will be able to find some genuine shortcoming analogous to the glaring typo and generally poor quality of the English translation.

I don't think that is likely to stand in any relationship at all to the quality of the rice. Lots of things have to be done to get that rice from being a seed in the ground to a grain of rice in someone's belly and most of them will not be done in an ideal manner. There are important things that can go wrong and unimportant things that can go wrong, and I think the translation here is unimportant.


Of course it doesn't need to be a reflection of the product itself, but it does create a bad impression, as a badly translated website does. Their product may still be great and translation was unimportant to them, it just doesn't look good.

[Edited at 2016-04-29 09:02 GMT]


 
Michael Wetzel
Michael Wetzel  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 09:46
German to English
We can agree on that. Apr 29, 2016

I think the quotation is "You can't not communicate," and this translation is saying "We cut corners," to anyone who is listening and cares. I agree with you on that.

The other practical problem is that food labeling of this kind often needs to be translated into 25+ languages for the European market. 25+ parallel projects of less than 100 words with content that is likely to be categorized as generalist is a recipe for disaster: There is no remotely efficient way to carry out that
... See more
I think the quotation is "You can't not communicate," and this translation is saying "We cut corners," to anyone who is listening and cares. I agree with you on that.

The other practical problem is that food labeling of this kind often needs to be translated into 25+ languages for the European market. 25+ parallel projects of less than 100 words with content that is likely to be categorized as generalist is a recipe for disaster: There is no remotely efficient way to carry out that project at a high level of quality. If the translators are paid EUR 0.10 per word, it will still represent an annoying mini-project that brings in less than EUR 10.00. The editors would be making under EUR 3.00-5.00 and no agency has in-house editors for 25 languages. Granted, the mistake here is in English, but I think this is genuinely a problem for which there is currently no workable solution.


[Edited at 2016-04-29 09:27 GMT]
Collapse


 
Mirko Mainardi
Mirko Mainardi  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 09:46
Member
English to Italian
20k Apr 29, 2016

Lingua 5B wrote:

OK, they managed to make a critical error in this small 50-word piece? What could we expect from them in a 20k translation?


Not sure I'd ever buy a pack of rice that comes with a 20,000 words "instruction manual" for its preparation, though...

On a more serious note, I wouldn't call a typo a "critical error", although it's kind of weird it slipped through spell-checking and proofreading, in a 50 words text.


 
Balasubramaniam L.
Balasubramaniam L.  Identity Verified
India
Local time: 14:16
Member (2006)
English to Hindi
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER
Did you write to the company? Apr 29, 2016

The only way we can turn this incident to our favour is to let the company know about this howler and how it diminishes and tarnishes their brand. I see an opportunity in this to educate the brand owners about the value of investing some money in a good translation. This kind of client education effort is a long and thankless process, nevertheless we all should chip in as and when opportunity permits as this increases the prestige and value of our trade and benefits us all.

So you s
... See more
The only way we can turn this incident to our favour is to let the company know about this howler and how it diminishes and tarnishes their brand. I see an opportunity in this to educate the brand owners about the value of investing some money in a good translation. This kind of client education effort is a long and thankless process, nevertheless we all should chip in as and when opportunity permits as this increases the prestige and value of our trade and benefits us all.

So you should take a snap shot of the error with your smartphone and highlight it in red, and send it to them with a nice note. It will take just half an hour, but I think you should invest this time for all our sake.
Collapse


 
DLyons
DLyons  Identity Verified
Ireland
Local time: 08:46
Spanish to English
+ ...
Not so weird. Apr 29, 2016

Mirko Mainardi wrote:

On a more serious note, I wouldn't call a typo a "critical error", although it's kind of weird it slipped through spell-checking and proofreading, in a 50 words text.


It's a valid word for the spell-checker and proofreading was probably non-existent.

Maybe it was a dim sum recipe
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_noodle_roll


 
Mirko Mainardi
Mirko Mainardi  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 09:46
Member
English to Italian
Right Apr 29, 2016

DLyons wrote:

Mirko Mainardi wrote:

On a more serious note, I wouldn't call a typo a "critical error", although it's kind of weird it slipped through spell-checking and proofreading, in a 50 words text.


It's a valid word for the spell-checker and proofreading was probably non-existent.


Ah yes, you're absolutely right! Then it's probably down to a mere lack of proofreading (AND final reread by the original translator).


Maybe it was a dim sum recipe
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_noodle_roll


Or a self-heating packaging that comes with a dimmer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-heating_food_packaging

Balasubramaniam L. wrote:

So you should take a snap shot of the error with your smartphone and highlight it in red, and send it to them with a nice note. It will take just half an hour, but I think you should invest this time for all our sake.


That's a nice idea.


 
Lingua 5B
Lingua 5B  Identity Verified
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 09:46
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Further translation... Apr 29, 2016

...

Remove from the heat and allow to cool for a further 10 minutes.

: )

There are about 20 lines, and each line contains at least one mistake of different severity.

Serious business takes care of their content. Just like they took care of their packaging, graphic design, environmental factor, and refining the flavor of rice, the same way they should monitor and check their content (translation = content).

[Edited at 2016-04-29 12
... See more
...

Remove from the heat and allow to cool for a further 10 minutes.

: )

There are about 20 lines, and each line contains at least one mistake of different severity.

Serious business takes care of their content. Just like they took care of their packaging, graphic design, environmental factor, and refining the flavor of rice, the same way they should monitor and check their content (translation = content).

[Edited at 2016-04-29 12:25 GMT]
Collapse


 
Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
United Kingdom
Member (2011)
Swedish to English
+ ...
??? Apr 29, 2016

Lingua 5B wrote:

Remove from the heat and allow to cool for a further 10 minutes.



Nothing wrong with that.

The previous typo was, however, indisputably deserving of capital punishment.

But it's important to keep things in proportion, so I'll settle for never eating rice again.


 
Lingua 5B
Lingua 5B  Identity Verified
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 09:46
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Some things just sound weird, but the dimmer thing made me open this thread. Apr 29, 2016

for instance wood spoon, I'd say wooden spoon although the double form exists.

Also, should an instruction start with a gerund?

"2. Creating a layer of rice evenly covering the entire nori sheet."

Why are they writing an instruction using Gerund? In all the other steps they used an imperative? I don't know but the entire thing just screams "odd, odd". (put, remove, etc, then creating instea
... See more
for instance wood spoon, I'd say wooden spoon although the double form exists.

Also, should an instruction start with a gerund?

"2. Creating a layer of rice evenly covering the entire nori sheet."

Why are they writing an instruction using Gerund? In all the other steps they used an imperative? I don't know but the entire thing just screams "odd, odd". (put, remove, etc, then creating instead of create).
Collapse


 
Pages in topic:   < [1 2]


To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator:


You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request »

How to dimmer rice?







Trados Business Manager Lite
Create customer quotes and invoices from within Trados Studio

Trados Business Manager Lite helps to simplify and speed up some of the daily tasks, such as invoicing and reporting, associated with running your freelance translation business.

More info »
CafeTran Espresso
You've never met a CAT tool this clever!

Translate faster & easier, using a sophisticated CAT tool built by a translator / developer. Accept jobs from clients who use Trados, MemoQ, Wordfast & major CAT tools. Download and start using CafeTran Espresso -- for free

Buy now! »