| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Uncertainties about the translation contests Thread poster: Amy Duncan (X)
|
|---|
| Where is the relativity? | Nov 20, 2008 |
Bin Tiede wrote:
The non-winners probably have more obvious errors!
This reminds me of an Italian comedian, upon receiving an award. Somewhat amazed he said "I don't know why I'm getting this award. I haven't done anything lately!" to which the host replied Yes, but among those who did nothing, you came out best!"
In one of these Proz contests, I was insistently prompted to "judge" a few entries. So I eventually had a look at them. Some that were "in", IMHO were pretty bad, worse than a few that were "out". I felt as if I had missed the point, if there was any.
Furthermore, contestants translate into their "native" language, of which mine is Portuguese - Brazilian Portuguese. I would be at least a hundred times better qualified to judge a translation into US English - which some translation jobs here rule me out for not being my "native" language - than one into European Portuguese, a very foreign language to me, in spite of the laws on this matter (see http://www.proz.com/translation-articles/articles/1675/ for more info).
Add to it that I was not given any particular criteria, standards, nor any guidance whatsoever, and I'll tend to think that this is a largely subjective assessment. To make matters worse, some parts of the text were pretty standard to translate, so the judgment would have to be based mostly on nit-picking.
It reminds me of the joke about the selection process for a new employee in a firm. After very extensive and thorough interviewing and psychological testing of a dozen or so of the most qualified candidates, the big boss issued his final verdict: Hire that blonde with the dazzling smile and big breasts!"
| | | | | Can participants vote if they have submitted an entry? | Nov 21, 2008 |
Will participants be able to vote in a language pair they have submitted an entry themselves?
| | | | | I would not be so sure | Nov 21, 2008 |
Bin Tiede wrote:
The non-winners probably have more obvious errors!
In a RO>IT contest, everybody made mistakes
I'll never participate, till I see a change (and a remark for that particular contest).
Paola
| | | | RominaZ 
Argentina
English to Spanish
+ ...
|
|
|
| Some source texts were really beutiful | Nov 23, 2008 |
Can't wait to vote for colleagues who entered their translations.
I am really curios to see the translations of those very nice texts
Well done Romina! You did an excellent choice.
Bye bye all
[Edited at 2008-11-24 13:10 GMT]
| | | | | Why can I judge in these pairs? | Dec 5, 2008 |
I just found out that I'm able to judge 'Quality of writing' in a lot of pairs, e.g. French to Russian, though neither of the two is even a working language of mine.
Edit: Seems fixed by now.
[Edited at 2008-12-05 14:41 GMT]
| | | | _Vivi_
Italy
Local time: 03:15
Italian to English
+ ...
| I so agree with everything you said Amy and feel that there are definitely improvements to be made. | Dec 7, 2008 |
Amy Duncan wrote:
I had considered entering the translation contest in my pair this year, but after looking at last year's results and some of the comments, I changed my mind. I was disturbed by the judges' choices, to be honest, especially by one particularly egregious error they overlooked in the winning entry. I know it's hard to pick a winner sometimes, but when the judges overlook obvious errors, then I'm led to believe that better judges are needed. I'd like to participate in the contests, but I really don't feel like subjecting myself to the kinds of criticisms I sometimes get from non-native speaking clients who think they know English better than I do. I'm not saying that the judges in my pair are non-native speakers, because I really don't know, but from what I've seen, I question their knowledge of both the source and the target language.
Just wondering if anyone else has had these thoughts, and any ideas about how the situation could be improved.
| | | | Monika Silea
Romania
Local time: 04:15
English to Romanian
+ ...
We're human. We're meant to make mistakes. This is a contest meant to get people together, to have some fun, to be fair and to learn from eachother. If we start off with uncertainties and questioning the good intentions of our fellows, than we'd better not join the contest. We'd better miss all the thrill, and stay out and watch carefully and find faults in everything the others DO and we don't DARE DO ourselves.
Enjoy!
| | | | | 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 » Uncertainties about the translation contests | 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 » |
| | Protemos translation business management system | Create your account in minutes, and start working! 3-month trial for agencies, and free for freelancers!
The system lets you keep client/vendor database, with contacts and rates, manage projects and assign jobs to vendors, issue invoices, track payments, store and manage project files, generate business reports on turnover profit per client/manager etc.
More info » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
