Seeking advice regarding language pair of test translation Tópico cartaz: Gretel Schoukens
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Hello,
A British agency asks me a test translation from EN > NL for a big job, posted for DE > NL. Since I don't have EN in my language combination and the job is for DE, I answered that I would not do this test translation. The reaction was that they, as a British agency, can only test from EN. Strange, because I cooperate f.eg. with a Swedish agency and never had to do a test translation from Swedish.
Of course I know a little bit EN, but I am not able to deliver the ... See more Hello,
A British agency asks me a test translation from EN > NL for a big job, posted for DE > NL. Since I don't have EN in my language combination and the job is for DE, I answered that I would not do this test translation. The reaction was that they, as a British agency, can only test from EN. Strange, because I cooperate f.eg. with a Swedish agency and never had to do a test translation from Swedish.
Of course I know a little bit EN, but I am not able to deliver the same quality from a language I didn't study, like I did FR or DE. The agency has good entries on BB, so it seems me a pity that I even don't have a change to cooperate with them...
What would you do in that case? ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tony M
França
Local time: 01:09
Membro
francês para inglês
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER | A bit silly, really | Nov 30, 2012 |
Any professional agency claiming to work in language pairs outside its own language should be able to put in place testing in the only language pair that is relevant to the project in question.
Doesn't sound terribly professional to me, and I for one wouldn't lose any sleep about not working for them!
One of the agencies with whom I regularly work has FR as their native language, and often gets me to evaluate language tests into EN; even if the source language is not on... See more Any professional agency claiming to work in language pairs outside its own language should be able to put in place testing in the only language pair that is relevant to the project in question.
Doesn't sound terribly professional to me, and I for one wouldn't lose any sleep about not working for them!
One of the agencies with whom I regularly work has FR as their native language, and often gets me to evaluate language tests into EN; even if the source language is not one of my working languages, I can at least give them a first-stage selection of those tests where the EN is a non-starter; after that, they can always if necessary get a translator working with that source language to check the bit I cannot do, i.e. that the translation is accurate with respect to the source text. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tim Drayton 
Chipre
Local time: 02:09
turco para inglês
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Gretel Schoukens wrote:
Hello,
A British agency asks me a test translation from EN > NL for a big job, posted for DE > NL. Since I don't have EN in my language combination and the job is for DE, I answered that I would not do this test translation. The reaction was that they, as a British agency, can only test from EN. Strange, because I cooperate f.eg. with a Swedish agency and never had to do a test translation from Swedish.
Of course I know a little bit EN, but I am not able to deliver the same quality from a language I didn't study, like I did FR or DE. The agency has good entries on BB, so it seems me a pity that I even don't have a change to cooperate with them...
What would you do in that case?
The request is nonsense. Forget about working for this agency.
| | | | Tony M
França
Local time: 01:09
Membro
francês para inglês
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER
It would, of course, be folly to accede to their request to attempt a test translation from EN if it isn't one of your working languages: you would be unlikely to do your best work, and so would be shooting yourself in the foot.
What's puzzling me is, if their working language is EN, how do they then expect to assess your test into NL?? If it was to be assessed by the end customer for the DE>NL job, presumbly that customer might not have EN! So where is this all supposed to lead...?
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| Not so silly, and go for it... | Nov 30, 2012 |
Tony M wrote:
A bit silly, really
Tim Drayton wrote:
The request is nonsense. Forget about working for this agency.
I beg to disagree. Apparently, the agency thinks Gretel's English is good enough to produce a Dutch translation of an English text. Since their correspondence must have been in English, they are probably right, and I consider that to be a compliment for Gretel.
The source language is completely irrelevant. The facts mentioned in the source text must be in the target text for sure, but that's about it. Nobody's going to compare the two texts, apart from the proofreader. Let alone the public.
So what they want from Gretel is an excellent Dutch text to prove she can translate. And the agency is right, that's all that matters.
Bright guys (M/F), at that agency. Please forward their address, Gretel.
Cheers,
Hans
| | | | | I would remind them of the translation pair the offer is for | Nov 30, 2012 |
Remind them what pairs the job they offered are for. Maybe they made a mistake!
And then tell them what you've told us, that you obviously cannot do your best sample translation from a language that you do not master.
How absurd, really.
Good luck.
| | | | neilmac
Espanha
Local time: 01:09
espanhol para inglês
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| Wooly thinking | Nov 30, 2012 |
Tim Drayton wrote:
The request is nonsense. Forget about working for this agency.
My thoughts exactly. Doing a test translation from English to see if you're fit to translate from German sounds like something from Monty Python.
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Does not seem very professional of them, as your working language is not English and they know it, so you would not give your best, surely. If they contact you again, then tell them clearly what you told us.
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LEXpert
Estados Unidos
Local time: 18:09
Membro (2008)
croata para inglês
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| Outsourcing? | Nov 30, 2012 |
Tony M wrote:
What's puzzling me is, if their working language is EN, how do they then expect to assess your test into NL?? If it was to be assessed by the end customer for the DE>NL job, presumably that customer might not have EN! So where is this all supposed to lead...?
They could just be planning to outsource the grading of the test to one of their translators who works in the combination. If it was for a current job, as opposed to a general test to get on their roster, that would still be odd, since they could just hire the translator they already work with in that combination. Then again, he or she might be unavailable, or the job too large for one translator to possibly handle.
The rest of it sounds odd, though - if they don't have a combination they need for your test in-house, outsource it - that's what agencies do. Lots of people in every conceivable combination right here on proz...
| | | | | Not worth your effort | Dec 3, 2012 |
Meta Arkadia wrote:
The source language is completely irrelevant. The facts mentioned in the source text must be in the target text for sure, but that's about it. Nobody's going to compare the two texts, apart from the proofreader. Let alone the public.
I fail to agree with Meta. It is a known fact that the quality of a translation depends, in part, proportionately on the comprehension of the text in source language. A substandard test translation will get you nowhere. My suggestion is in line with the majority of the opinions reflected in this forum. Don't waste your time on them, Gretel, it's not worth your effort.
[Edited at 2012-12-03 12:44 GMT]
| | | | Gretel Schoukens
Eslovênia
Local time: 01:09
alemão para holandês
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CRIADOR(A) DO TÓPICO
Thanks to all of you for your reactions! I understand that I will not wast my time to do this test translation. I can not agree with the point of view that the source language is completely irrelevant. In that case one could translate from Italian f.eg., just with a very small knowledge and a dictionary. No, I don't want to do it that way and prefer to stay professional and consistent...
I wish all of you good test translations and even better jobs ... See more Thanks to all of you for your reactions! I understand that I will not wast my time to do this test translation. I can not agree with the point of view that the source language is completely irrelevant. In that case one could translate from Italian f.eg., just with a very small knowledge and a dictionary. No, I don't want to do it that way and prefer to stay professional and consistent...
I wish all of you good test translations and even better jobs ! ▲ Collapse
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