| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | My first experiences with proofreading – bad quality translations Thread poster: David Sch
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Michael Newton 
United States
Local time: 02:04
Japanese to English
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This is a common business model: have the translation done by a non-native speaker of the target language, then have a skilled translator "proof" it. It happens more often than not that the entire document needs to be retranslated. The agency tries to get a translation for the price of "proofing". The agency can be quite indignant when the translator tells them it needs to be retranslated from scratch. Recently in discussing use of the word "linguist" for translator, the terms "vendor" and "reso... See more This is a common business model: have the translation done by a non-native speaker of the target language, then have a skilled translator "proof" it. It happens more often than not that the entire document needs to be retranslated. The agency tries to get a translation for the price of "proofing". The agency can be quite indignant when the translator tells them it needs to be retranslated from scratch. Recently in discussing use of the word "linguist" for translator, the terms "vendor" and "resource" came up. Agencies are always on the lookout for "native checkers". They never give translation jobs to translators but use them only for "checking", yet another indignity in the electronic sweatshop. ▲ Collapse
| | | | J KIM
South Korea
Local time: 15:04
Korean to English
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It does give me goose bumps just reading your text. You've got to give it back to your pm, and tell him/her that it sucks. Then suggest him you'll do it again charging express fees.
[Edited at 2017-09-19 16:23 GMT]
| | | | | Proofreading | Sep 19, 2017 |
I do accept quite some proofreading/editing jobs and most of the time the quality of the texts I review is good or very good. I only recall a couple of times (literally) that I had to spend much more time that planned. I carried out the job and gave my client very detailed negative (unfortunately) feedback on the text and kindly advised them to drop this particular translator from their database. The client appreciated it.
| | | | | The flip-side | Sep 20, 2017 |
I just wanted to add that there are also a lot of poor proofreaders out there. As is shown by the numerous posts on this forum about translations being rejected by proofreaders who have actually reduced the quality of the original translation. The aim is not to re-write the text the way you would have written it but to correct typos and any reasonable number of accidental mistakes.
Whilst it is easy to assume the agency is simply employing dubious methods, it is worth remembering th... See more I just wanted to add that there are also a lot of poor proofreaders out there. As is shown by the numerous posts on this forum about translations being rejected by proofreaders who have actually reduced the quality of the original translation. The aim is not to re-write the text the way you would have written it but to correct typos and any reasonable number of accidental mistakes.
Whilst it is easy to assume the agency is simply employing dubious methods, it is worth remembering that you will be the first person to have reviewed the document. If the overall standard is unacceptable (if 80% of the text needs re-written), then you should reject the translation rather than re-writing it. This is an inherent part of proofreading and something most agencies would expect you to do. It is also very possible that many of the translations you have received have come from the same translator, as proofreaders and translators are often paired up by agencies. Most agencies have a ranking system for their translators; if one translator receives a certain amount of bad feedback, this is flagged up on the system. The same goes for proofreaders, whose work may also be reviewed once the translator has been given the chance to defend their work.
That said, as others have mentioned, the fact that this is a large translation agency actually increases the chances that they are simply paying low rates to unqualified (or over-worked) translators and relying on skilled proofreaders to correct the text.
In any case, you can always choose not to take on proofreading assignments. As you can see, many translators have no interest in proofreading. Aside from quality issues, it's also quite boring...
Edited to say, I'm not implying you are a bad proofreader. I'm just pointing out that they do exist.
[Edited at 2017-09-20 06:34 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Linda Gunnarson
Sweden
Local time: 08:04
Member (2017)
English to Swedish
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| Thank you, everyone | Sep 20, 2017 |
Georgie Scott wrote:
If the overall standard is unacceptable (if 80% of the text needs re-written), then you should reject the translation rather than re-writing it.
Yes, this is what I will do from now on. I was an in-house translator for 15 years and quite enjoyed doing proofreading and/or editing. But after my first year as a freelancer, I'm getting fed up with this. Every proofreading task I was assigned so far needed extensive rewriting because of serious mistakes in grammar and use of vocabulary. I always ask the agency before I do that, though, as I realize it is not part of the proofreader's task. This has actually landed me with some good translation jobs for these agencies, so it is not always a bad idea. However, in most cases I just feel taken advantage of. And I feel as if I did a bad job, since the end result will never be as good as if it had been properly translated to start with.
So, thank you everyone who posted here! I have taken courage from your comments and will be more picky in the future.
| | | | ZhenyaS
United Kingdom
Local time: 07:04
English to Russian
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| Proofreading of texts written in your native language | Sep 20, 2017 |
Recently, I had to proofread power points written in Russian (my mother tongue). They were not translations as such although they were written by British teachers of Russian who were supposed to read some Russian books or watch Russian movies and give an overview of them. I was crying over them. Not only authors forgot to watch the movies or read the texts but also managed to copy paste huge chunks of text from Wiki.ru. I was paid by hour although the number of hours spent on every power point w... See more Recently, I had to proofread power points written in Russian (my mother tongue). They were not translations as such although they were written by British teachers of Russian who were supposed to read some Russian books or watch Russian movies and give an overview of them. I was crying over them. Not only authors forgot to watch the movies or read the texts but also managed to copy paste huge chunks of text from Wiki.ru. I was paid by hour although the number of hours spent on every power point were agreed beforehand. You can assume that this work took me much longer then expected - I reread and re-watched everything, contacted experts and even authors of books to clarify those power points. I was lucky to work with a great editor who actually contacted me and offered to pay me more as he realized how much time I must have spent doing this proofreading.
Next time I take a job like this I would be very careful estimating time needed for accomplishing it and charging per hour seems to be the only reasonable way out for us as quality of texts (translated or just written) varies so much! ▲ Collapse
| | | | Mervyn Henderson (X)
Spain
Local time: 08:04
Spanish to English
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I have an iron-clad rule. No proofreading, correcting, revising or "taking a look" at translations (taking a look ...?).
I have this rule because:
(1) I don't like it - I always find it much more difficult than translating from scratch.
(2) it is necessarily paid by the hour, but the customer is horrified that I calculate the hourly rate at more or less what I could translate in an hour, because, hey, WHY should I earn less? Particularly in view of (1).
... See more I have an iron-clad rule. No proofreading, correcting, revising or "taking a look" at translations (taking a look ...?).
I have this rule because:
(1) I don't like it - I always find it much more difficult than translating from scratch.
(2) it is necessarily paid by the hour, but the customer is horrified that I calculate the hourly rate at more or less what I could translate in an hour, because, hey, WHY should I earn less? Particularly in view of (1).
(3) sometimes the translation is so bad I really don't know what they mean, whereupon the customer gently asks if it would help to send me the original text. Yeah, right, I want to drive myself bonkers looking at the crappy translation, the original AND my corrections all at once.
(4) I'm treading on delicate ground by changing another translator's work, people can take it really badly, my corrections might not be quite right either, and it can lead to an endless and pointless toing and froing of explanations and illustrations.
(5) it puts me in a foul mood during it and for ages afterwards.
Very occasionally I get roped into it by accident, accepting a job when I was too busy to look at it properly, and three or four hours afterwards finding it's a little late in the day to say no to them now, or also for a very good customer. But I always think "Never, ever again". The only stuff I'm happy to check is my own. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Just Proofreading. | Aug 22, 2018 |
As you described the work, it is just not limited to proofreading. Proofreaders job is to do light editing (such as correcting inconsistent spelling or hyphenations), the professional proofreader is not a copyeditor. If too many errors are cited, he or she may return the proof for further editing. You need to charge for your job accordingly. If it is meant for editing task (Checking for and correcting errors in grammar, spelling, syntax, and punctuation), include that cost.
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