Reviewing an edited translation
Thread poster: Norskpro
Norskpro
Norskpro
Norway
Local time: 21:44
Member
English to Norwegian
+ ...
Nov 12, 2015

I recently did a translation of about 20,000 words. Someone else has reviewed it. The translation agency has now asked me to go through the document to see if I agree or disagree with the changes, then confirming each segment. I have the role of second reviewer. Considering the amount of words and the first reviewer's habit of changing even those things that are correct (but disagreeable to him) it is going to take some time to go through the document.

It would be interesting to kno
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I recently did a translation of about 20,000 words. Someone else has reviewed it. The translation agency has now asked me to go through the document to see if I agree or disagree with the changes, then confirming each segment. I have the role of second reviewer. Considering the amount of words and the first reviewer's habit of changing even those things that are correct (but disagreeable to him) it is going to take some time to go through the document.

It would be interesting to know what others would do in this case, since any extra payment to me for this job has not been mentioned. Is this normal?
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Soonthon LUPKITARO(Ph.D.)
Soonthon LUPKITARO(Ph.D.)  Identity Verified
Thailand
Local time: 03:44
English to Thai
+ ...
2nd person reviewer Nov 12, 2015

Norskpro wrote:

I recently did a translation of about 20,000 words. Someone else has reviewed it. The translation agency has now asked me to go through the document to see if I agree or disagree with the changes, then confirming each segment. I have the role of second reviewer. Considering the amount of words and the first reviewer's habit of changing even those things that are correct (but disagreeable to him) it is going to take some time to go through the document.


In modern quality standards of translation e.g. ISO, the 2nd person reviewer is better [paid by client] for the desired translation quality. This process should have been discussed before job start. [I apply this process but few clients agree. This proves that translation processes are not fully understood by non-professionals.]

Soonthon L.


 
Thayenga
Thayenga  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 21:44
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
A regular reviewing job Nov 12, 2015

Since your customer hasn't returned the file to you with any complaints, performing the review of the proofreader's file can be considered a new assignment, thus should be charged by the hour, using your normal hourly rate.

 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 20:44
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
I'd want to spend a little time on it, even if unpaid Nov 12, 2015

Thayenga wrote:
Since your customer hasn't returned the file to you with any complaints, performing the review of the proofreader's file can be considered a new assignment, thus should be charged by the hour, using your normal hourly rate.

I agree with that comment. If you have to go through confirming each of the segments, then that has to be paid for as it wasn't specified in the original job.

But I'd want to make sure there weren't any real errors of mine in there that the proofreader had spotted, and I'd update those segments for free. That's all part of making sure that your work is as good as it can be, and not laying yourself open to criticism in the future.

Whether to accept or reject the proofreader's purely preferential changes is then up to the agency. They can pay you to make the decisions and do the work, or they can pay someone else. Maybe the proofreader would do it for free?


 
Edward Vreeburg
Edward Vreeburg  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 21:44
Member (2008)
English to Dutch
+ ...
nope, Nov 12, 2015

Run a few quick checks:
- check for spelling mistakes and accept those.
- check if the changes made by the proofer contain any spelling errors and report those

then check the first 10 changes (or the first page or some small part),

if these are all purely preferential and do not improve the style, tell the client that if they want to hear the same for the rest of the job the will need to pay...

Ed


 
LEXpert
LEXpert  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 15:44
Member (2008)
Croatian to English
+ ...
That's what the "Accept all changes" button is for ;) Nov 12, 2015

Unless some kind of specific quality defect is being alleged, just accept everything and be done with it. It's just not worth the time or aggravation to get worked up about it.
As for it being a practice, it varies from company to company. Some places never send edited projects back, some do it routinely. Obviously, you have one here that does, and there is no way to get around doing it. Just spend as little time on it as possible.


[Edited at 2015-11-12 16:30 GMT]


 
Norskpro
Norskpro
Norway
Local time: 21:44
Member
English to Norwegian
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thank you Nov 12, 2015

Thank you everyone for your input. I appreciate getting your opinions. Very helpful.

Rudolf, "Accept all changes" button? Is that in Trados? Does MemoQ have something similar?


 
Ana Cuesta
Ana Cuesta  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 21:44
Member
English to Spanish
What I would do... Nov 12, 2015

Norskpro wrote:

I recently did a translation of about 20,000 words. Someone else has reviewed it. The translation agency has now asked me to go through the document to see if I agree or disagree with the changes, then confirming each segment. I have the role of second reviewer. Considering the amount of words and the first reviewer's habit of changing even those things that are correct (but disagreeable to him) it is going to take some time to go through the document.

It would be interesting to know what others would do in this case, since any extra payment to me for this job has not been mentioned. Is this normal?


Start by explaining to the agency that the edits contain a lot of preferential changes and ask them whether you should accept changes unless you have a reason not to (often the case when the reviewer is an in-country affiliate of the end client) or you have the last say on those (most often the case if they trust you as an expert but have sent the file for reviewing by an extra pair of eyes, for added quality/safety or to comply with the client's or legal requests).

In the first case, reject those changes you disagree with (maybe explain your reasoning, although that depends on the number of changes and their importance) and then accept all the rest in one go (as in click "accept all"). In the second case, just the opposite, accept those changes you find helpful and then reject all the rest in one go.

I normally don't charge for it unless requested to write lenghty explanations on why I did/didn't accept each change. The amount of time spent on the edits should be anyway proportional to the payment you originally received for the translation.


 
Thayenga
Thayenga  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 21:44
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
Of course :) Nov 12, 2015

Sheila Wilson wrote:

But I'd want to make sure there weren't any real errors of mine in there that the proofreader had spotted, and I'd update those segments for free. That's all part of making sure that your work is as good as it can be, and not laying yourself open to criticism in the future.


Yes, I would also see if the proofreader had corrected mistakes I made. Sorry, I was in a hurry when answering here.

Sheila Wilson wrote:
Whether to accept or reject the proofreader's purely preferential changes is then up to the agency. They can pay you to make the decisions and do the work, or they can pay someone else. Maybe the proofreader would do it for free?


Purely preferential changes cannot be eliminated, but one's personal preferences should be laid aside when proofreading a file. After all, it is possible to edit a text to death, so to speak.

That the proofreader might do a second review for free is possible. However, this would render very little to the document itself because hardly anybody is willing to change their personally preferred terms.

To simply accept all changes is one option. However, this would automatically also accept incorrect changes.

[Edited at 2015-11-12 15:34 GMT]


 
LEXpert
LEXpert  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 15:44
Member (2008)
Croatian to English
+ ...
OK, don't accept all changes... Nov 12, 2015


To simply accept all changes is one option. However, this would automatically also accept incorrect changes.

[Edited at 2015-11-12 15:34 GMT]


I didn't mean that literally! Obviously you would not want to accept incorrect changes. I just meant that you shouldn't overthink it. Unless the reviewer has said that your translation was defective, nobody at the agency is going analyze every change and your response. They don't have the time for that either.


 
Jacqueline White
Jacqueline White
Austria
Local time: 21:44
Hungarian to English
+ ...
Accept all changes in Memoq Nov 12, 2015

Click on ctrl, shift and U simultaneously to approve all segments.

I think my attitude to charging for it would depend on whether (and to what extent) the reviewer found genuine errors.
Even if I don't agree with all changes made, sometimes it can be a useful process.


 
PawelPtak
PawelPtak
Poland
changes Nov 12, 2015

It is impossible to accept all changes.

 
Norskpro
Norskpro
Norway
Local time: 21:44
Member
English to Norwegian
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Accept or not accept changes Nov 12, 2015

I would not automatically accept all changes. Some changes are for the better, and I may have made mistakes, such as typos. So of course, these changes have to be accepted.

Thank you Lydia for your MemoQ tip. That is very helpful for any future situations for which I'll be needing it.

I delivered the document, and I did not confirm all the segments. I changed a few things back to the original in cases where I felt strongly that the reviewer was wrong, then wrote to the
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I would not automatically accept all changes. Some changes are for the better, and I may have made mistakes, such as typos. So of course, these changes have to be accepted.

Thank you Lydia for your MemoQ tip. That is very helpful for any future situations for which I'll be needing it.

I delivered the document, and I did not confirm all the segments. I changed a few things back to the original in cases where I felt strongly that the reviewer was wrong, then wrote to the PM that I accepted all the other changes.

I do find that a lot of extra work is made by reviewers that insist that their terms are so much better than the original translation and then go on to make unnecessary changes. I try to remember this when I am reviewing another translator's translation.
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