| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14] > | What is the highest number of KudoZ questions asked by a single individual? Thread poster: Ty Kendall
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Robert Forstag 
United States
Local time: 03:37
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Seems hard to believe | May 17, 2012 |
Kim Metzger wrote:
And this is what we are helping them perpetrate on the Internet:
Großarl’s highest hotel offers you all heartiness and cordial hospitality of a family run business – and perfect service to accompany your summer holiday or winter sports vacation.
After an extensive renovation, our Hotel und Berggasthaus Alpenklang disposes now of 21 new rooms that present all comfort.
etc.
This seems like a machine translation!
A little hard to believe that this kind of scheisse flies in German-speaking countries, given both the high number of English speakers and the generally high quality standards that seem to prevail there.
Unless maybe I've just bought into a cultural myth....
[Edited at 2012-05-17 12:48 GMT]
| | | | | No, this is the real world | May 17, 2012 |
Robert Forstag wrote: Kim Metzger wrote:
And this is what we are helping them perpetrate on the Internet:
Großarl’s highest hotel offers you all heartiness and cordial hospitality of a family run business – and perfect service to accompany your summer holiday or winter sports vacation.
After an extensive renovation, our Hotel und Berggasthaus Alpenklang disposes now of 21 new rooms that present all comfort.
etc.
This seems like a machine translation! A little hard to believe that this kind of scheisse flies in German-speaking countries, given both the high number of English speakers and the generally high quality standards that seem to prevail there. Unless maybe I've just bought into a cultural myth.... [Edited at 2012-05-17 12:48 GMT]
I once worked on a huge rush job to get the 'howlers' out of a hotel catalog that was about to go to print. Most of it had been done by source language natives working under the motto: 'there is no way to be wrong in Englisch. Anything goes, any combination of words, any word at all.'
One of the most difficult aspects of the job was to stop laughing long enough to get it done. Unfortunately there was no time to list the gems. But one was better than the other.
Jawohl Herr Forstag, so isses.......
[Edited at 2012-05-17 13:07 GMT]
| | | | Steffen Walter
Germany
Local time: 09:37
Member (2002)
English to German
+ ...
| I fully agree | May 17, 2012 |
writeaway wrote: Robert Forstag wrote: Kim Metzger wrote:
And this is what we are helping them perpetrate on the Internet:
Großarl’s highest hotel offers you all heartiness and cordial hospitality of a family run business – and perfect service to accompany your summer holiday or winter sports vacation.
After an extensive renovation, our Hotel und Berggasthaus Alpenklang disposes now of 21 new rooms that present all comfort.
etc.
This seems like a machine translation! A little hard to believe that this kind of scheisse flies in German-speaking countries, given both the high number of English speakers and the generally high quality standards that seem to prevail there. Unless maybe I've just bought into a cultural myth.... [Edited at 2012-05-17 12:48 GMT] I once worked on a huge rush job to get the 'howlers' out of a hotel catalog that was about to go to print. Most of it had been done by source language natives working under the motto: 'there is no way to be wrong in Englisch. Anything goes, any combination of words, any word at all.' One of the most difficult aspects of the job was to stop laughing long enough to get it done. Unfortunately there was no time to list the gems. But one was better than the other. Jawohl Herr Forstag, so isses....... [Edited at 2012-05-17 13:07 GMT]
I bet that the English version of (at least) every second German hotel/tourism website (let alone other sectors) leaves a lot to be desired. The example(s) quoted in this thread are just the tip of the iceberg.
To be fair, it also works the other way around: I vividly recall a job I had been assigned at the end of the 1990s, when I had to review/edit the hotel etc. descriptions in the German version of an Australian company's travel catalogue originally translated to a similarly appalling quality standard.
Best,
Steffen
| | | | | Unfortunately, there is no incongruity | May 17, 2012 |
Ty Kendall wrote: Incongruity NataliaAnne wrote:
Bearing all this in mind, I came to the conclusion that any translator who asks questions more frequently than s/he answers them is creating a negative professional image and has to live with the consequences of this. So, there’s already enough shame in this!
I agree, yet astoundingly, the continued stream of questions from such individuals would seem to suggest a continued stream of work...which is completely incongruous with what I (and you) would expect/hope for.
If you think about it, unfortunately there is really no incongruity.
This is how I see the process:
- A bottom feeder posts a job on the Jobs Board at laughable rates.
- The job is taken by a peanut eater*.
- The peanut eater posts on Kudoz a huge amount of questions from that job and delivers the job.
- The bottom feeder delivers the job to the end client, with the satisfaction that they will keep the lion's share of the proceeds.
- The peanut eater gets ready for the next job (go to Step 1), and hopefully he/she will eventually get his/her meager pay.
It is a vicious, never ending cycle...
* Peanut eater – Self-explanatory term used first some time ago on this forum by a Prozian, Laurent Krauland, I believe. Laurent, if you read this, please correct me if you do not want to get the credit for that term.
[Edited at 2012-05-17 19:59 GMT]
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| And a corollary to Miguel's flow chart: | May 17, 2012 |
6. Other peanut eaters get points for answering questions posted by an asker who has posted several thousand questions (and therefore been blacklisted by the translators who really know their stuff) - thereby boosting their visibility as apparently competent translators.
| | | | Ty Kendall
United Kingdom
Local time: 08:37
Hebrew to English
TOPIC STARTER | The Power of KudoZ | May 17, 2012 |
@ Miguel : I like your walkthrough of the process and I have no doubt that's how it transpires.
What I'm still wondering is...even with the help of KudoZ, surely this is just a plaster (a band-aid for the Americans) on a gaping, festering wound.
Even being given the difficult terms and filling in the blanks, can this really produce a first-rate translation? I'm confident that the cracks will show somewhere....
So, why doesn't anybody, anywhere along the line (the agency,... See more @ Miguel : I like your walkthrough of the process and I have no doubt that's how it transpires.
What I'm still wondering is...even with the help of KudoZ, surely this is just a plaster (a band-aid for the Americans) on a gaping, festering wound.
Even being given the difficult terms and filling in the blanks, can this really produce a first-rate translation? I'm confident that the cracks will show somewhere....
So, why doesn't anybody, anywhere along the line (the agency, the proofreader, the end client) question anything....
And if it is indeed the case that KudoZ is allowing these people to masquerade as respectable, qualified translators, then surely this is the very anthithesis of what this site purports to be about?
I know there are other factors involved, but isn't it about time ProZ got its house in order?
There's something very parasitical about the relationship - and we're the hosts. We feed them information and they carry on living because of us and through us.
Time to de-worm. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Ty Kendall
United Kingdom
Local time: 08:37
Hebrew to English
TOPIC STARTER | After all..... | May 17, 2012 |
Parasitical infections which are left untreated can often have fatal consequences.
[Edited at 2012-05-17 18:06 GMT]
| | | | Robert Forstag
United States
Local time: 03:37
Spanish to English
+ ...
I suspect that the individual in question gets help outside of Kudoz, even to the extent of having entire paragraphs translated. There may be monetary compensation for such help or simply an expression of gratitude.
And yet even with this additional help, what this person is up to can be compared to a hot air balloon held together with more patchwork than original fabric, with the whole apparatus at risk of exploding at any moment.
My guess is that a number of such "ex... See more I suspect that the individual in question gets help outside of Kudoz, even to the extent of having entire paragraphs translated. There may be monetary compensation for such help or simply an expression of gratitude.
And yet even with this additional help, what this person is up to can be compared to a hot air balloon held together with more patchwork than original fabric, with the whole apparatus at risk of exploding at any moment.
My guess is that a number of such "explosions" have occurred, in the form of both sporadic complaints, as well as the decisions of agencies to sever contact with a translator who can't even attain the very minimal quality standards that they likely impose.
So I agree with you in concluding that, in the end, what is produced is not quality work. And this leads in turn to the conclusion that those providing the work: 1.) don't have high quality standards, and 2.) are not paying much for what they get.
As Miguel artfully points out, it is a vicious circle!
[Edited at 2012-05-17 18:46 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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XXXphxxx (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 08:37
Portuguese to English
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| Let's add to the mystery | May 17, 2012 |
How to explain the long string of WWAs?
| | | | | Question no 5000 already lined up | May 17, 2012 |
4006 is the latest high. Isn't there anyone asking in any other language pair(s) who has asked more?
Anyone for a virtual party to celebrate question no. 5000 when it arrives?
| | | | Rachel Fell
United Kingdom
Local time: 08:37
French to English
+ ...
till the next milestone is reached, as things are progressing as usual? Anyone like to speculate?
| | | | | And are any of the prolific askers ... | May 17, 2012 |
... that we're talking about certified PROs?
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Robert Forstag
United States
Local time: 03:37
Spanish to English
+ ...
I suspect that the individual in question gets help outside of Kudoz, even to the extent of having entire paragraphs translated. There may be monetary compensation for such help or simply an expression of gratitude.
And yet even with this additional help, what this person is up to represents a hot air balloon held together with more patchwork than original fabric, with the whole apparatus at risk of exploding at any moment.
So I agree with you in concluding that, in th... See more I suspect that the individual in question gets help outside of Kudoz, even to the extent of having entire paragraphs translated. There may be monetary compensation for such help or simply an expression of gratitude.
And yet even with this additional help, what this person is up to represents a hot air balloon held together with more patchwork than original fabric, with the whole apparatus at risk of exploding at any moment.
So I agree with you in concluding that, in the end, what is produced is not quality work. And this leads in turn to the conclusion that those providing the work: 1.) don't have high quality standards, and 2.) are not paying much for what they get.
As Miguel artfully points out, it is a vicious circle! ▲ Collapse
| | | | Robert Forstag
United States
Local time: 03:37
Spanish to English
+ ...
| WWAs often represent nothing more than a tit-for-tat mutual admiration of convenience | May 17, 2012 |
Lisa Simpson, MCIL wrote:
How to explain the long string of WWAs?
The freelancer enters a five along with a glowing comment and the agency/client posts a WWA with a similarly rhapsodic remark.
It is also a small price to pay for the agencies for the exceedingly cheap labor they are likely getting.
[Alternative message title: "circle j--k marketing"]
[Edited at 2012-05-17 22:26 GMT]
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Armorel Young wrote:
And are any of the prolific askers that we're talking about certified PROs?
Armorel Young wrote:
Are any of the prolific askers that we're talking about certified PROs?
Neither the 4000+ nor the 3500+ is joke-certified, but both endorse the joke-pro guidelines.
We'll never get everyone to stop answering. More and more incompetents keep turning up; they score points (because more knowledgeable answerers don't want their good names to be associated with certain things), move up the rankings, believe they're really good...
It's not just the askers.
The site sells itself as serving professional translators. From my perspective, they serve more gobshites than professionals.
Is all a FarZ.
I've come to accept it as a fact of life. Keeps me blood pressure down
Just use proZ for whatever benefits you! Ignore the tripe! In my 10+ years here, most attempts by proS to make the site more professional have failed miserably. In fact, the site seems to be hell-bent on protecting and encouraging the incompetents, not the professionals. Serving real pros is obviously not in the site's interest, maybe because there are so few good people, compared to the number of cowboys willing to pay for membership. A Farz.
Sorry if I hijacked your thread for a while, Ty. Needed to vent.
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