Poll: Proofreading/editing a bad translation is...
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
SITE STAFF
Dec 4, 2019

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Proofreading/editing a bad translation is...".

This poll was originally submitted by Helen Portefaix. View the poll results »



Mahmoud Fathi
 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 18:40
Spanish to English
+ ...
Particularly irritating Dec 4, 2019

If ever placed in the position of having to proof read/revise a bad translation, my usual feeling is one of resentment that the client didn't use a competent translator to begin with, and also annoyance with whoever translated it for not doing a proper job.
However, most of my post-editing consists of academic papers or articles written by non-native authors, so I can't expect them to turn out as good as they might if done by a proper, competent native speaker translator.


 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 17:40
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Not something I do Dec 4, 2019

I do not enjoy proofreading/editing and I flatly refuse most of the assignments. That being said I have an arrangement with a colleague where we proofread each other. I also accept proofreading and editing tasks from one translation agency as I know the translator and I trust her work.

neilmac
 
Paulinho Fonseca
Paulinho Fonseca  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 14:40
Member (2011)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
A job like any other, but Dec 4, 2019

I usually make the client aware of that quality pinpointing the issues.
In my teaching experience, I could never refuse a bad student in the class. I had to teach the entire class, doing my best to meet the school's needs. So all in all, we do not always have the option to get the best-translated or quality projects for review.

Good luck to you all.


Daniel Fernandes
Julio Madrid
Kaisa I
 
Ventnai
Ventnai  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 18:40
German to English
+ ...
If the payment is right Dec 4, 2019

I don't mind if I am paid by the hour. I do if the so-called translation is paid at a proofreading rate.

 
Elizabeth Tamblin
Elizabeth Tamblin  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:40
French to English
I generally enjoy the challenge Dec 4, 2019

I don't mind a poor translation by a human being. What really winds me up is when someone tries to pass off machine translation as human translation.

Daniel Fernandes
neilmac
Angus Stewart
Catherine Brix
Mary Rizzo
Maria Rosa Fontana
Tradupro17
 
Merab Dekano
Merab Dekano  Identity Verified
Spain
Member (2014)
English to Spanish
+ ...
It depends Dec 4, 2019

If only the terminology is wrong, not big deal. If the language and style are wrong, it’s better to re-translate, unless you are able to raise the dead. I am not.

neilmac
 
MollyRose
MollyRose  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 12:40
English to Spanish
+ ...
helpful IF Dec 4, 2019

I don't mind doing it if the person who did the translating asks me to mark it for the sake of learning and improving their knowledge in the language. But not if they are trying to translate on some sort of regular basis or for pay when they aren't ready for that yet.

 
Christine Andersen
Christine Andersen  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 18:40
Member (2003)
Danish to English
+ ...
Not something I do Dec 4, 2019

Over the years I have come to the conclusion that patching a bad job is more tedious and time consuming than redoing the translation from scratch.

I have reached a stage in my career where I can afford to be picky, and I politely but firmly tell the client I will not spend time on that kind of thing.


Philip Lees
Simona Sgro
Ventnai
ahartje
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Katya Kesten
Vi Pukite
 
Mario Freitas
Mario Freitas  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 14:40
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Irritating and unfair Dec 5, 2019

I always make a detailed report on incompetence to the client, suggesting that translator is not used again, and making myself available for the transaltion instead of the revision next time.

Paulinho Fonseca
 
Maxi Schwarz
Maxi Schwarz  Identity Verified
Local time: 12:40
German to English
+ ...
policy Dec 5, 2019

I tell clients that I charge per hour. I will look at the translation, and if it is poor quality, so that it will be more expensive to edit/proofread than to translate from scratch (due to how long it will take), I recommend translating from scratch. I don't proofread bad translations for that reason. For a really bad translation, it's like fixing a badly built house. It can never be totally ok, and will take a lot of effort to patch up.

Christine Andersen
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Katya Kesten
Daryo
 
Simona Sgro
Simona Sgro  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 18:40
English to Italian
+ ...
I don't do it anymore Dec 5, 2019

I'm at a stage where I ask to see the translation beforehand and if it's too bad I refuse the proofereading task, suggest to be paid by the hour or redo the translation! I don't have time to waste in that kind of bad paid jobs.

Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Katya Kesten
Daryo
 
Egor Shapurov
Egor Shapurov  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 18:40
English to Russian
+ ...
It is easier to translate from a scratch than to proofread a bad translation Dec 5, 2019

That's what I usually tell my clients before refusing such jobs unless they are satisfied with me correcting the most serious mistakes which interfere with understanding - I do that for proofreading rates.

Not a kind of job I like to do but, as the saying goes, sometimes... it... happens.

It is much more fun and much more rewarding to provide a high-quality service but unfortunately not all the clients are even interested in this kind of service in the first place. I do
... See more
That's what I usually tell my clients before refusing such jobs unless they are satisfied with me correcting the most serious mistakes which interfere with understanding - I do that for proofreading rates.

Not a kind of job I like to do but, as the saying goes, sometimes... it... happens.

It is much more fun and much more rewarding to provide a high-quality service but unfortunately not all the clients are even interested in this kind of service in the first place. I don't want to say anything bad about the Russian market where I prefer not to work anymore but it is a bad thing for everyone if the language standards go down just to save some buck.

I have recently got to know that there are some companies which basically chop up the source text - whatever the size and the deadline - and give it to different translators... and don't even want to think about how the result looks and reads like, and I wish more people realized that the language(s) we speak shape our worldviews and our lives.

[Edited at 2019-12-05 15:34 GMT]
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Poll: Proofreading/editing a bad translation is...






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