| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Poll: Have you ever read your own published translation, and not been happy with the quality of your work? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Have you ever read your own published translation, and not been happy with the quality of your work?".
View the poll results »
| | | | | Yes, occasionally | Jul 13, 2021 |
Of course, I have (I have been translating for a long time). I don’t read my own translations very often after they have been published, but almost every time I happen to re-read a translation, I find things to improve. I remember at least one instance when I felt very unhappy with what I had produced. The source text was so badly written that I couldn’t understand even whole sentences and I was so ”green” by then that I wouldn’t dare declining a job coming from a very important client... See more Of course, I have (I have been translating for a long time). I don’t read my own translations very often after they have been published, but almost every time I happen to re-read a translation, I find things to improve. I remember at least one instance when I felt very unhappy with what I had produced. The source text was so badly written that I couldn’t understand even whole sentences and I was so ”green” by then that I wouldn’t dare declining a job coming from a very important client. In the end, the whole experience was extremely useful as I learned a very hard lesson (never ever accept a job without looking at it)! ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:35
Member (2008)
Italian to English
ProZ.com Staff wrote: This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Have you ever read your own published translation, and not been happy with the quality of your work?". View the poll results »
Every time. I always find things I could have done better.
But what really annoys me is translating a website, only to find that the end client has made their own "improvements" before they put my translation online.
[Edited at 2021-07-13 08:57 GMT]
| | | | | At least once | Jul 13, 2021 |
It is a good thing there are deadlines, because I can go on trying to improve my translations almost indefinitely, and at some point you can say everything differently, but not better.
If I read my translations I am normally reasonably satisfied, but I would probably do some of them differently now.
In one particular case I had to translate a catalogue for a museum, and the Danish was written in a very special style with long sentences, where each one almost tells a who... See more It is a good thing there are deadlines, because I can go on trying to improve my translations almost indefinitely, and at some point you can say everything differently, but not better.
If I read my translations I am normally reasonably satisfied, but I would probably do some of them differently now.
In one particular case I had to translate a catalogue for a museum, and the Danish was written in a very special style with long sentences, where each one almost tells a whole story. I did not really have enough time, at least back then, to work on the style.
I tried to imitate the style in the source language, and it simply did not work in English - it seems muddled. Luckily the pictures were more important than the text, and there are not many long sections of text, so I get away with it, but I would certainly do it differently now. ▲ Collapse
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Vera Schoen 
Sweden
Local time: 11:35
Member (2008)
German to Swedish
+ ...
Tom in London wrote:
But what really annoys me is translating a website, only to find that the end client has made their own "improvements" before they put my translation online.
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:35
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Christine Andersen wrote:
[the source text was]...... written in a very special style with long sentences, where each one almost tells a whole story. I did not really have enough time, at least back then, to work on the style.
I tried to imitate the style in the source language, and it simply did not work in English - it seems muddled....
I had the same problem recently. The Italian source text consisted of sentences that went on forever, without punctuation, describing complex technical processes. I got the meanings right but the text didn't "flow". There just wasn't time because I had a very tight deadline imposed on me by the agency. I'll be more careful in future.
[Edited at 2021-07-13 09:02 GMT]
| | | | | I don’t read them | Jul 13, 2021 |
Why would I? I already know what it says.
| | | | Alison Jenner
Switzerland
Local time: 11:35
German to English
+ ...
| The benefit of a bit of distance | Jul 13, 2021 |
I think every one of us would always find something to tweak in a final text with the benefit of a little more distance timewise from the translation.
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:35
Member (2008)
Italian to English
| That's enough | Jul 13, 2021 |
Alison Jenner wrote:
I think every one of us would always find something to tweak in a final text with the benefit of a little more distance timewise from the translation.
There always comes a point - usually dictated by a deadline - at which you decide "that's enough" writing and rewriting the translation until it's (supposedly) perfect. That's the point at which you send it off and forget about it - until you stumble upon it at some later date, only to discover its inadequacies.
"Don't strive for perfection. You will never attain it" Salvadori Dalí
| | | | ipv
Local time: 11:35
Member (2015)
English to Croatian
+ ...
| Of course, but: | Jul 13, 2021 |
"No matter.
Try again.
Fail again.
Fail better." Samuel Beckett 
| | | | Aline Amorim
Brazil
Local time: 06:35
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Christine Andersen wrote:
It is a good thing there are deadlines, because I can go on trying to improve my translations almost indefinitely, and at some point you can say everything differently, but not better.
If I read my translations I am normally reasonably satisfied, but I would probably do some of them differently now.
In one particular case I had to translate a catalogue for a museum, and the Danish was written in a very special style with long sentences, where each one almost tells a whole story. I did not really have enough time, at least back then, to work on the style.
I tried to imitate the style in the source language, and it simply did not work in English - it seems muddled. Luckily the pictures were more important than the text, and there are not many long sections of text, so I get away with it, but I would certainly do it differently now.
Every time. I always find things I could have done better.
| | | | Kay Denney
France
Local time: 11:35
French to English
In that I'm improving all the time, of course any previous translation is not as good as what I can do now.
I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of an ancient translation once, though, so maybe I'm not improving as much as I thought, since I wasn't as bad as I thought...
My pet peeve though is seeing that clients introduce mistakes. I think it's often the layout guy: he'll copy and paste big chunks of text, but will just type little bits himself. Unfortunately the... See more In that I'm improving all the time, of course any previous translation is not as good as what I can do now.
I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of an ancient translation once, though, so maybe I'm not improving as much as I thought, since I wasn't as bad as I thought...
My pet peeve though is seeing that clients introduce mistakes. I think it's often the layout guy: he'll copy and paste big chunks of text, but will just type little bits himself. Unfortunately the little bits of text are often in the biggest fonts, because they're headings. I just saw one thing like that in a website I did, the layout guy had forgotten to put "Description" instead of "Descriptif" in French. I was credited as translator for that website and was hoping to send the link to potential clients as a prime example of my work. Grrr!
[Edited at 2021-07-13 12:51 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:35
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Kay Denney wrote:
My pet peeve though is seeing that clients introduce mistakes. I think it's often the layout guy....
Same here. This must be very common. The end client gets my perfect translation and passes it on to the guy who maintains the website, who doesn't understand English. Instead of copy/pasting the text from my translation, he has to break it up and fit it into his HTML code and makes lots of mistakes with spelling and hyphenation. Nobody checks. Then it goes live and hey presto, you have yet another unprofessional-looking website that defeats the purpose for which it was created (to attract clients).
[Edited at 2021-07-13 13:40 GMT]
| | | | Thayenga
Germany
Local time: 11:35
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
It was my very first job through ProZ.com several years ago. When I read the website I had translated into German, I spotted a mistake and informed my client about it, who referred me to the website owner. Fortunately, they agreed to let me correct it, and... even thanked me. (A sigh of relief.)
| | | | | The unimportance of dotting the i’s | Jul 13, 2021 |
I went on the Tesco website and found a typo so I’m only going to shop at Lidl now.
Then I found a rogue hyphen on the Jaguar website so I’m going to get a Kia instead.
And then I found a grammatical error on Welsh Water’s site so now I’ll have to wait for it to rain to have a shower.
And now I’ve seen the Bank of England misplace an apostrophe so I’m going to have to throw away all my money.
Where will it all end?
I s... See more I went on the Tesco website and found a typo so I’m only going to shop at Lidl now.
Then I found a rogue hyphen on the Jaguar website so I’m going to get a Kia instead.
And then I found a grammatical error on Welsh Water’s site so now I’ll have to wait for it to rain to have a shower.
And now I’ve seen the Bank of England misplace an apostrophe so I’m going to have to throw away all my money.
Where will it all end?
I suppose I might have to start behaving like every other consumer or business and not care less about such things even if I did ever notice them… ▲ Collapse
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