| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Poll: Do you enjoy being an invisible translator? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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Mario Freitas 
Brazil
Local time: 11:13
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
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| The capitalist rule | Oct 8, 2016 |
Under the economic standards we live in the western world, authors are taught and oriented, even by lawyers, to prevent any and all kinds of association that may represent a potential claim to share one's profits in the future. And you can be sure all authors and all agencies take all due measures to prevent that. For all books, sites and important documents I ever translated, I always had to sign an agreement that said something like "you'll be well remunerated for your services, but you'll nev... See more Under the economic standards we live in the western world, authors are taught and oriented, even by lawyers, to prevent any and all kinds of association that may represent a potential claim to share one's profits in the future. And you can be sure all authors and all agencies take all due measures to prevent that. For all books, sites and important documents I ever translated, I always had to sign an agreement that said something like "you'll be well remunerated for your services, but you'll never be entitled to any additional remuneration (or any visibility at all) after publication". In other words, if you want the job, you'll have to waive your visibility. ▲ Collapse
| | | | EvaVer (X)
Local time: 16:13
Czech to French
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| I understood the question differently | Oct 8, 2016 |
Most of my clients have never seen me, have no idea what I look like, and that's perfect.
But in the other sense, I am quite happy, too - as long as they pay...
| | | | | I think in some cases at least, being visible is important. | Oct 8, 2016 |
There is a tale told by an interpreter about attendees at a conference who wanted to buy those smart earphones - no matter which language the speaker on the platform was speaking, they could repeat it in the attendee's own language...
And handy typewriters that had Russian letters on the keys - you just typed in the text, and it came out in Russian.
Those stories pre-date Google Translate and the smart phones that supposedly can talk to anyone in any language, but peopl... See more There is a tale told by an interpreter about attendees at a conference who wanted to buy those smart earphones - no matter which language the speaker on the platform was speaking, they could repeat it in the attendee's own language...
And handy typewriters that had Russian letters on the keys - you just typed in the text, and it came out in Russian.
Those stories pre-date Google Translate and the smart phones that supposedly can talk to anyone in any language, but people believed them.
Many people think that is how the 'translation industry' now works. That we just use smart phones and keyboards. I get slightly annoyed when an agency takes the credit - or no credit is given at all - for my translations of published work.
I don't lose sleep over it, but when the photographers and layout designers are credited, why not the translator? After all, the photographer 'simply' points a camera and clicks, and the DTP people 'only' feed the whole lot into InDesign or whatever software they use.  Or so you could claim. If their skills are recognised, why not the translator's?
As long as we are regarded as invisible, anonymous workers on an assembly line, we will also have to accept impossible deadlines and being paid at rates that reflect the public image of what we do. I do not belive that in five or ten years the machines really will be doing it all anyway.
If the public thinks our job is no more difficult than flipping burgers, then we will never get paid more than unskilled workers who flip burgers.
I try to make sure I am not entirely invisible. ▲ Collapse
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I so agree with you. No more to be said.
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inkweaver
Germany
Local time: 16:13
French to German
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In some cases I am downright thankful for being invisible, for example when one of my translations is butchered by a 'proofreader' afterwards. Unfortunately, there seem to be a lot of German 'proofreaders' and 'translators' around who may well be able to understand a foreign language but who on the other hand don't know their own native language well enough to translate into it or proofread a translated text. A recent example: One of my best clients asked me to do a short paid test translation f... See more In some cases I am downright thankful for being invisible, for example when one of my translations is butchered by a 'proofreader' afterwards. Unfortunately, there seem to be a lot of German 'proofreaders' and 'translators' around who may well be able to understand a foreign language but who on the other hand don't know their own native language well enough to translate into it or proofread a translated text. A recent example: One of my best clients asked me to do a short paid test translation for a potential new client. When they got the job to translate the new client's website they asked me again to do it. A paragraph from the test came up in the new translation along with a 100% match in the TM which, however, was not my translation. The meaning was clearly misunderstood, but what nearly made me fall off my chair was the part where whoever was responsible for this 'gem' went on about 'fruchtige Böden' ('fruity soils' instead of 'fertile soils'). Of course I told the agency that this was not my translation and that they should be more careful with what they send out to clients, but I don't know how many of my translations have been 'proofread' in a similar way and possibly published somewhere on the www, so I am glad that I am invisible in this case.
However, I would never accept a book translation without any sort of credit. In that case the client would need to go elsewhere. There are limits to what I will do for money (and I wish other translators would think the same, alas, many don't, otherwise agencies who think that a 'suggested' rate of 0,025 € per source word is a fair rate would have gone out of business a long time ago). ▲ Collapse
| | | | | The question is slightly odd. | Oct 9, 2016 |
An invisible translator, or an interpreter? Even an interpreter is not totally invisible, impartial yes, but not totally invisible. A literary translator is not invisible, as invisible as the author perhaps—the work of art being essential or the focus rather than the creators. Yes, it is a wrongly formulated question, I agree with the people who mentioned that.
The concept of the invisibility of the translator in the translation theory has nothing to do whether the clients see yo... See more An invisible translator, or an interpreter? Even an interpreter is not totally invisible, impartial yes, but not totally invisible. A literary translator is not invisible, as invisible as the author perhaps—the work of art being essential or the focus rather than the creators. Yes, it is a wrongly formulated question, I agree with the people who mentioned that.
The concept of the invisibility of the translator in the translation theory has nothing to do whether the clients see you or not—it has to do with the translator's style or not being obtrusive, or too personal, and their translation based on their personal interpretation of the source text rather than the text itself.
As to Google talking in tongue's, etc, or any other software company, well don't count on it. Perhaps if someone says:'Thank you very much. Nice to meet you" Without adding "my dog ate my damn checkbook", or something like that. If you spoke in controlled language, like a robot, perhaps they could translate or interpret some of it. Otherwise, really hopeless. Completely hopeless in my opinion, especially in the more inflectional languages.
[Edited at 2016-10-09 08:11 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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