| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4 5] | dealing with poor source texts Thread poster: Maria Popiel
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Umberto Steindler (X) 
Local time: 16:38
German to Italian
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| A legal approach | Apr 3, 2015 |
Legally speaking the translator is a contractor who executes an order placed by a customer, who in turn can be defined as contractee, principal or orderer.
In most civilized countries the contractor (and not only the customer) is protected by the law.
Example. The German Civil Code, (paragraphs 642 – 645) contains provisions to protect a contractor who received faulty or defective “raw” material to carry out his job. These provisions are about 150 years old and they foresee the... See more Legally speaking the translator is a contractor who executes an order placed by a customer, who in turn can be defined as contractee, principal or orderer.
In most civilized countries the contractor (and not only the customer) is protected by the law.
Example. The German Civil Code, (paragraphs 642 – 645) contains provisions to protect a contractor who received faulty or defective “raw” material to carry out his job. These provisions are about 150 years old and they foresee the corresponding indemnification.
The origin of this legislation is obvious. It refers to cases like that of a customer, who orders from a tailor a suit and gives him a bad piece of textile. I assume that most civilized countries have similar provisions.
I am aware of this law, therefore I never had a problem with bad source texts. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | 'Improving' the target text makes the translator look good | Jul 8, 2015 |
I humbly disagree with those who say, 'Garbage in, garbage out'...as if we don't have a responsibility to make our customer look good in the target language!
I think that any 'garbage out' makes the translator look like a poor translator or someone who can't write well in his mother tongue. Neither option is good for us.
IMHO, the issue is this: Can I understand the meaning of the sentence enough to translate it understandably in the target language? If so, I'll make ... See more I humbly disagree with those who say, 'Garbage in, garbage out'...as if we don't have a responsibility to make our customer look good in the target language!
I think that any 'garbage out' makes the translator look like a poor translator or someone who can't write well in his mother tongue. Neither option is good for us.
IMHO, the issue is this: Can I understand the meaning of the sentence enough to translate it understandably in the target language? If so, I'll make the target sentence easy to understand. I take that to be my main job. My translation professor said, 'A translator cannot translate a text until he(she) understands it PERFECTLY.'
Over the years, I've thought a lot about the diplomacy of pointing out errors or opacities. How would YOU react if someone sent an email and said your writing is full of mistakes? Most of us wouldn't know what to do...it's our reputation at stake, isn't it? So what about the source text author's potentially 'hurt feelings' if I point out his(her) mistakes? What do I get from drafting a two hour letter to the author explaining exactly what is wrong with the source text and what I did? Usually, nothing...maybe even resentment! Maybe they won't care.
I finally decided I would just 'do my best' with the text and get 'er done as fast as possible and I've found the customers usually say 'Great translation'. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Marcia Neff
United States
Local time: 09:38
German to English
Guillemette Koning wrote:
I also have to deal a lot with poorly written source texts. As many of my translations are of legal texts, I can't just "improve" the text in the target language, as I'm supposed to give a literal translation. My clients frequently haven't written the text themselves either. If they have I sometimes ask them to explain what they wanted to say. Very delicate, as people are easily offended.
If the clients haven't written the text themselves, I explain that the source text is not very clear and that this affects the translation.
And I definitely try to get rid of clients who frequently send me these kind of documents...
That's great advice, thank you. Could you give me specific wording you would use to delicately communicate that to the client? I assimilated to long into the German culture. I am too direct, trying to 'unlearn' it.
| | | | IrinaN
United States
Local time: 09:38
English to Russian
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| It does not always have to end badly | Jul 5, 2018 |
I think that poor writing and errors are two different species. I wouldn't lecture a client on his poor writing but simply do my best, if the text is understandable. This part comes with the territory. I can't imagine anyone carrying the mess into the target text "as is".
An actual line from Force Majeure clause:
… flood, fire, earthquakes, hurricanes, government regulations and other natural disasters …
I wrote the author that even though I agree with the n... See more I think that poor writing and errors are two different species. I wouldn't lecture a client on his poor writing but simply do my best, if the text is understandable. This part comes with the territory. I can't imagine anyone carrying the mess into the target text "as is".
An actual line from Force Majeure clause:
… flood, fire, earthquakes, hurricanes, government regulations and other natural disasters …
I wrote the author that even though I agree with the notion wholeheartedly, I still need his advice on how to proceed.
The guy (a lawyer) called me almost immediately, still laughing, thanked, I asked him if he had another minute and wouldn’t mind clarifying a couple of other things, he agreed, and, in the end, he also agreed with two of my three comments and told me not to hesitate to contact him any time with questions or “caught mistakes” (quote). The last remark felt sweet, I took it as a sign of trust from the professional lawyer.
No bidder, having 2 pages of anti-corruption slogans in their bid, would blame you for catching "...the entire team can be BOUGHT together..."
The worst offenders are non-native inventors of non-existing technical terms and processes or, as it has been rightfully mentioned before, second and third translations. Just imagine an original filled with some answers given in Kudoz:-) and try to back-translate it! Apparently, the answers infiltrate answerers' own translations or writings, and then we get cordially invited to translate it into our language. I would reject even if I were capable of fixing a thing or two. I have 25+ years of experience but I know my limitations - I can produce a good technical translation in my fields, stand behind it and offer explanations, I've learned a lot but I am still not an engineer to undertake recreation of the entire technical document. The last thing that would be needed there is another amateur. I am not contradicting my previous statements regarding education and specialisms but nothing I have ever said in that regard relates to editors - a technical editor without engineering education is an absurd, IMHO. I wouldn't work with such editor at a gun point.
Maybe my situation is different and, in a way, much easier as I rarely have faceless end clients. Most of the time I work both as a translator and an interpreter for the same major agencies and major projects that last for years. It just happens so that it takes time and practice for people to adapt to the international business environment in person, so to speak, and understand what it takes to communicate through translation and interpretation. They don't swim in it as naturally as we do, yet my experience has taught me that most people, however poor writers they might be, are sane, reasonable and adaptable. In case of errors, there is no need to act on a premise of their overreaction - negativity, especially a harsh one, is certainly not a given, though not entirely impossible.
The insane, unreasonable and inadaptable are free to run their lives without us. ▲ Collapse
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