Translation - art & business » Business issues »
The translation of glossaries
Thread poster: Dave Greatrix
Dave Greatrix
Dave Greatrix  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:29
Dutch to English
+ ...
Jun 14, 2002

Would my fellow colleagues agree that the translation/editing of glossaries should be better paid. Or at the very least the client must understand that a glossary is a totally different ball game as the translation of a flowing text and more time should be allowed by the client.



I for one will not be taking on any more editing work, unless I am sure that the original translator was competent.



I have just spent 6 hours editing a glossay of approx. 1200 wo... See more
Would my fellow colleagues agree that the translation/editing of glossaries should be better paid. Or at the very least the client must understand that a glossary is a totally different ball game as the translation of a flowing text and more time should be allowed by the client.



I for one will not be taking on any more editing work, unless I am sure that the original translator was competent.



I have just spent 6 hours editing a glossay of approx. 1200 words. (technical) What a nightmare. First the client had the idea that it would take \"circa 2 hours\". At least 50% of the terms were incorreclty translated, not to mention the additional difficulties presented by the absence of context.



Then blow me, I had an E mail. Could I edit nearly 5000 words in four hours. Forget it!



I hasten to add that the client had understanding for the glossary problems, and we came to a mutual agreement.



I would however be interested to hear the views of other members on this problem.



Thanks,



Dave





[ This Message was edited by: on 2002-06-14 19:51 ] ▲ Collapse
 
Carla Trapani
Carla Trapani
Local time: 14:29
English to Italian
+ ...
experience with glossaries Jun 14, 2002

Once I had to do a translation of a manual concerning a textile loom from German into Italian. The client gave me a glossary to use as reference (all terms are correct, he said\". Then six months later he hired a Swiss person for training courses and small translations. He called me and asked me to edit the manual as the more technical terms were not correct!! I spent six hours to defend my translation and explain that it was not my fault if I had been told to use that glossary and then the glos... See more
Once I had to do a translation of a manual concerning a textile loom from German into Italian. The client gave me a glossary to use as reference (all terms are correct, he said\". Then six months later he hired a Swiss person for training courses and small translations. He called me and asked me to edit the manual as the more technical terms were not correct!! I spent six hours to defend my translation and explain that it was not my fault if I had been told to use that glossary and then the glossary was not correct... Then he apologised.. but never again!!!!

I do not like translating and editing glossaries.. takes too much time to understand the context behind each single word.. In any case, I agree with you... They should be better paid !!



Bye ▲ Collapse
 
Mats Wiman
Mats Wiman  Identity Verified
Sweden
Local time: 14:29
Member (2000)
German to Swedish
+ ...
In memoriam
Most glossary translations are of little use Jun 15, 2002

Guesswork, ambiguities and grammar problems.



I charge € 0.20/word but will charge more next time.



Mats
 
Marijke Singer
Marijke Singer  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 14:29
Member
Dutch to English
+ ...
Glossaries Jun 15, 2002

I have translated a few glossaries. But only when in my field (IT and certain machines) and I usually charge 0.35 EUR per word or per hour. I always find that the best way is to find out from the customer where his products related to the glossary will be installed and then to phone/e-mail the factory or whatever and coordinate with them about the terminology they use. I find that factory A uses a completely different set of words to factory B, so like Matt said, glossaries are a bit useless.
 


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The translation of glossaries







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