| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] > | Poll: What is the worst that can ever happen to a translator? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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| Mistranslation | Apr 26, 2010 |
I agree in sofar as everything on the list is nothing to laugh about, quite on the contrary. But what I'm wondering about is how selfcentered the vote is. If a client doesn't pay, bad but so what? Is anybody going to loose his life? What if the computer crashes? Well, shouldn't we all have backups? So the worst is the trouble. But there are worse troubles in the world.
But if I'm doing a mistranslation that can have really bad consequences. Not only for me. I might lose a client. Bu... See more I agree in sofar as everything on the list is nothing to laugh about, quite on the contrary. But what I'm wondering about is how selfcentered the vote is. If a client doesn't pay, bad but so what? Is anybody going to loose his life? What if the computer crashes? Well, shouldn't we all have backups? So the worst is the trouble. But there are worse troubles in the world.
But if I'm doing a mistranslation that can have really bad consequences. Not only for me. I might lose a client. But also maybe for someone else. There may be an accident because of a mistranslated handbook. Someone might even die. Is there anything worse in the world?
Christiane ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Power outage - a long blackout | Apr 26, 2010 |
I'd say ANY of them, but a blackout nowadays can cause all of them, and sometimes a sequence of them (e.g. not delivering a time-critical project on time, and therefore not getting paid).
| | | | | Agree with Nicole | Apr 26, 2010 |
I first couldn't decide and now that I read the answers, I agree with Nicole's statement:
All this is a nuisance, but it can be fixed and most certainly nobody will die. Losing your trust in your business partner, be it client or vendor, however is irreversible.
| | | | Speranza 
Local time: 03:01
Spanish to Russian
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| We may need some perspective | Apr 26, 2010 |
Now this is interesting indeed. Am I the only translator whose list of the worst things that can ever happen includes stuff like a loved one's death, a friend getting seriously ill, family pet going missing and so on and absolutely, definitely does not include terrible tragedies like losing a client or experiencing a computer crash? Just imagine that: 50 years from now you look back at your life and think to yourself, "I still remember that terrible day: I mistranslated a word. In my most horrib... See more Now this is interesting indeed. Am I the only translator whose list of the worst things that can ever happen includes stuff like a loved one's death, a friend getting seriously ill, family pet going missing and so on and absolutely, definitely does not include terrible tragedies like losing a client or experiencing a computer crash? Just imagine that: 50 years from now you look back at your life and think to yourself, "I still remember that terrible day: I mistranslated a word. In my most horrible nightmares, I still see the menacing face of the proofreader who angrily deletes the wrong translation and types in the right one!"
Problems? Yes. Need to be solved? Definitely. Worst things that can ever happen? Nowhere near. ▲ Collapse
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Kimberlee Thorne
United States
Local time: 19:01
Member (2005)
Spanish to English
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| The worst things that can happen to a translator... | Apr 26, 2010 |
Is what happened to me recently...
I lost my biggest client due to one of my trusted colleagues who I thought was my friend, contacting my client and offering her services at a lower rate.
On top of this, she tried to ruin my name in the industry. Life will go on, and luckily it wasn't my only client, but it's the Judas (betrayal) factor that hurts, because someone has broken your trust...
Another thing is mistreatment from clients. It makes you feel awful ... See more Is what happened to me recently...
I lost my biggest client due to one of my trusted colleagues who I thought was my friend, contacting my client and offering her services at a lower rate.
On top of this, she tried to ruin my name in the industry. Life will go on, and luckily it wasn't my only client, but it's the Judas (betrayal) factor that hurts, because someone has broken your trust...
Another thing is mistreatment from clients. It makes you feel awful and unappreciated, especially when it's someone you've been working with for a long time -
All of this got me sick with pneumonia for 2 months and I ended up in the hospital -
But I'm a firm believer in two sayings - "Do unto others what you'd have them to unto you" and "What goes around comes around". Life has a way of returning to you what you have done, whether they were good or bad deeds...
[Edited at 2010-04-26 14:32 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Gianni Pastore
Italy
Local time: 03:01
Member (2007)
English to Italian
| I am surprised... | Apr 26, 2010 |
...by the high percentage of people who chose the "computer crash" option. Do you really take a major risk such as working with just one?
| | | | James McVay
United States
Local time: 21:01
Russian to English
+ ...
| I checked not getting paid | Apr 26, 2010 |
So far, at least, I've always been paid -- although I have had some very s-l-o-w payers!
I once got so sick in the middle of a job that I couldn't walk to the computer to let my customer know. I asked my wife -- who is largely computer ignorant -- to email my client, and she had to get a neighbor to help her. The client was very understanding but got another translator to finish the job.
Last winter, we had a power failure that lasted several days, and I was correspon... See more So far, at least, I've always been paid -- although I have had some very s-l-o-w payers!
I once got so sick in the middle of a job that I couldn't walk to the computer to let my customer know. I asked my wife -- who is largely computer ignorant -- to email my client, and she had to get a neighbor to help her. The client was very understanding but got another translator to finish the job.
Last winter, we had a power failure that lasted several days, and I was corresponding with my client in Russian. Luckily, my son speaks Russian and lives in another area. He was able to let my client know the project would be delayed.
I've also had computer crashes, but keep a back-up computer handy, just in case.
What I'm suggesting is that most of the things on the list are survivable. But who among us couldn't keep translating if we didn't get paid? ▲ Collapse
| | | | Juliet Allaway
Spain
Local time: 03:01
Member (2006)
Spanish to English
| Worst things... there are so many.... | Apr 26, 2010 |
How about... forgetting to do a project and getting a call on your mobile phone while you are 2 hours away from home buying shoes in some department store asking you where the file is....
Getting the wrong end of the stick re a deadline because you are trying to juggle eight things at the same time... thinking you've finished, getting dressed and you're on your way out of the door and the phone rings and.... where is AMB2048?
Your idiotic 'friend' spills a cup of tea all over your la... See more How about... forgetting to do a project and getting a call on your mobile phone while you are 2 hours away from home buying shoes in some department store asking you where the file is....
Getting the wrong end of the stick re a deadline because you are trying to juggle eight things at the same time... thinking you've finished, getting dressed and you're on your way out of the door and the phone rings and.... where is AMB2048?
Your idiotic 'friend' spills a cup of tea all over your laptop when you are just finishing a massive project then tries to pull off the keyboard to dry it out.
You write "Disney Drug Kit" instead of drum kit and the spell checker doesn't pick it up.
You agree to do a revision and then realise you are going to have to rewrite the whole thing again because it is awful and get paid a pittance for it...
However... what's great is... this job gives us the chance to learn new things and become more knowledgable every day, earn a good living sitting at home.
I know its got lots of drawbacks, but I love it! ▲ Collapse
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Laurent KRAULAND (X)
France
Local time: 03:01
French to German
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| Then I am not alone... | Apr 26, 2010 |
Kimberlee Thorne wrote:
I lost my biggest client due to one of my trusted colleagues who I thought was my friend, contacting my client and offering her services at a lower rate.
On top of this, she tried to ruin my name in the industry. Life will go on, and luckily it wasn't my only client, but it's the Judas (betrayal) factor that hurts, because someone has broken your trust...
Not that I would have lost a big client (I am quoting you in full, Kimberlee, to have the context), but this happened to me not so long ago - same behaviour, same attempts... and the worst: such people feel they 1) have some divine rights to act in such a way and 2) take pride in their "ethics".
[Edited at 2010-04-26 15:12 GMT]
| | | | Beta Cummins
United States
Local time: 21:01
Member (2005)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
| Halfway done | Apr 26, 2010 |
The worse that can happen...?
Here is one:
Getting halfway done with a translation job, when the new client comes back saying that - unkowingly to him, somebody else had already translated the material "for free".
| | | | | When CAT tell a lie | Apr 26, 2010 |
Virtually I would vote for "all of the above" plus few new points raised by colleagues.
So I would like to add another.
When Trados became unreliable. For instance, it says 100% match, so I just skip it and do not take closer look at it when I am self-editing at the end of translation and before submitting.
In fact, the 100% match is NOT exactly a 100% match. Have you ever come across such situation?
As Murphy's Law says, "Anything can go wrong, will". This ... See more Virtually I would vote for "all of the above" plus few new points raised by colleagues.
So I would like to add another.
When Trados became unreliable. For instance, it says 100% match, so I just skip it and do not take closer look at it when I am self-editing at the end of translation and before submitting.
In fact, the 100% match is NOT exactly a 100% match. Have you ever come across such situation?
As Murphy's Law says, "Anything can go wrong, will". This also applies to all aspects of translation works. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Ildiko Santana
United States
Local time: 18:01
Member (2002)
Hungarian to English
+ ...
MODERATOR | Other: hand injury | Apr 26, 2010 |
My worst fear as a translator is a hand injury (broken finger/wrist, arthritis, carpal tunnel, etc.). Computers (and clients) are replaceable, but I could not do anything about the loss of use of a hand/wrist other than wait it out. Fortunately, it has never happened to me (knock on wood!).
[Edited at 2010-04-26 15:55 GMT]
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neilmac
Spain
Local time: 03:01
Spanish to English
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| Most of the above | Apr 26, 2010 |
Not getting paid is bad, but mistranslating something would be extremely embarrassing for me as I set my standards quite high and value my reputation, as well as my own self-esteem.
Internet failure is one of my biggest bugbears, because I live in a rural setting and sometimes we have outages for several days (like last weekend, it was down from Saturday night until Monday and I had a Monday deadline). I bought a Vodafone dongle to use as backup connection in emergencies and it does work, ... See more Not getting paid is bad, but mistranslating something would be extremely embarrassing for me as I set my standards quite high and value my reputation, as well as my own self-esteem.
Internet failure is one of my biggest bugbears, because I live in a rural setting and sometimes we have outages for several days (like last weekend, it was down from Saturday night until Monday and I had a Monday deadline). I bought a Vodafone dongle to use as backup connection in emergencies and it does work, but much to my dismay the credit in it has to be used within a set period or you lose it all, so in the end it works out an absurdly expensive way to check your emails and consult Google or proz...
As for deceased pets, friends or family illnesses, I didn't understand them as part of the equation. Some things are obviously more important than work or money... ▲ Collapse
| | | | Kalinka Hristova
Bulgaria
Local time: 04:01
Member (2007)
English to Bulgarian
+ ...
MODERATOR
If I have to choose which one of these is the worst, then which one is “the best”? 
Still, none of them is the end of the world.
| | | | Tracy Huang
China
Local time: 09:01
English to Chinese
+ ...
All of them are big problems, but to me the worst is crash of computer. Not being paid hardly happens. Once there was a company PM who did not want to pay for my job. She found some excuse， but as I was sure that what i delivered was a high-quality translation and I posted part of my translation on a translation web. Most of the members there praised my job. after i showed the screeshot of the comments to the PM, she paid me the next day.
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