posted 05 April 2001 20:20            

As an example, lately I had a problem about a text that was badly written and in parts contradictory. I couldn't ask the customer directly, of course but I always hesitate asking the agency because I don't want to appear unprofessional .

Any comments?

posted 05 April 2001 23:37            

If it's because the original is badly written you have nothing to worry about.

If it's because the text is written in obscure internal corporate jargon - do it!

If it's to save yorself doing dictionary work - don't do it.

posted 06 April 2001 09:33            

Sending in a couple of queries - after you've tried every method possible to find out what something is (and this includes the Internet!) - is perfectly acceptable. In a lot of cases, end-customers use in-house jargon or acronyms and you can't possibly be expected to know some of these things. Even though clients think you should sometimes. It's better to ask than to make a mess of the translation.

If there are just a few unintelligible bits in the source text, by all means query these. But I've found that if an entire text is total garbage, the best thing to do is make your client aware of it as soon as you can (i.e. right at the very beginning of the job). They can then get on to the end-customer and point it out. You should carry on to the best of your abilities if you're short on time, but if you still haven't had a satisfactory response when the job is due, send it anyway with a large disclaimer in your e-mail message. It must be said, though, that it's rare for the source text to ever be rewritten by the originator, you generally have to struggle on anyway.

quote:

---

If it's to save yorself doing dictionary work - don't do it.

---

Never a truer word...! Which is why I mentioned the Internet. I've seen lists of queries from some translators that I've been able to sort out myself after half an hour on the 'Net. If I'm busy and I don't have half an hour to spend surfing, this annoys me, especially since it's what the translator is being paid for. It's a good way of putting clients off you.

BTW, you can also send terminology queries to the NG sci.lang.translation - people there are generally very helpful.

I think the golden rules with queries are:

• keep them to a minimum
  
• do your own research before asking
  

And of course, if you find you have loads of queries on a text, ask yourself whether you should be translating that kind of text at all!!

All the best

------------------

posted 09 April 2001 01:00            

Thank you again,

Tascha