| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] > | Audience 'misconduct' during interpretation Thread poster: Sandra Alboum
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Henry Hinds 
United States
Local time: 07:17
English to Spanish
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In memoriam | Scariest Assignments | Jul 12, 2006 |
Yes, this qualifies as a scary assignment. Not long ago I did a thread on that. I have also been involved in such situations before, but fortunately with more civilized participants, none like those you describe. However, it can happen and many times due to equipment deficiencies, not to any deficiencies of your own.
One of my main problems in interpreting stems from my poor hearing, not terrible, but somewhat marginal. I always insist on having either a top-quality sound feed or co... See more Yes, this qualifies as a scary assignment. Not long ago I did a thread on that. I have also been involved in such situations before, but fortunately with more civilized participants, none like those you describe. However, it can happen and many times due to equipment deficiencies, not to any deficiencies of your own.
One of my main problems in interpreting stems from my poor hearing, not terrible, but somewhat marginal. I always insist on having either a top-quality sound feed or complete freedom to roam as I choose with a portable transmitter. If I can clearly hear and understand what a speaker is saying, then I can do a top-quality job. If I cannot, then I can't invent it, I'm lost.
Another point is to try to control the speaker, easier said than done, perhaps, but if you can make them aware of the need to speak slowly and clearly, so much the better. Try to get them to work with you because they need to understand that they can only communicate if you can. Start with the organizers so they can impose the appropriate discipline on the different persons speaking.
It is almost inevitable that you will find yourself in difficult situations now and then, so the best thing is to think about how some of the problems could have been avoided in the first place even though they may have been the fault of others. Use it as a learning experience. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Monika Coulson
Local time: 07:17
Member (2001)
English to Albanian
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SITE LOCALIZER | Try to forget about it (and a similar experience) | Jul 12, 2006 |
Unfortunately, things like that happen more than they should. I too am a very well trained conference interpreter and yes, training helps, but it is not the only solution.
I sympathize with you Sandra. Just as many others said, take a break, it is not the end of the world anyway. And as Edward said: This Too Shall Pass.
Let me share with you a similar experience from a couple of years ago. I was doing a consecuti... See more Unfortunately, things like that happen more than they should. I too am a very well trained conference interpreter and yes, training helps, but it is not the only solution.
I sympathize with you Sandra. Just as many others said, take a break, it is not the end of the world anyway. And as Edward said: This Too Shall Pass.
Let me share with you a similar experience from a couple of years ago. I was doing a consecutive interpretation for a group of 5 and it was the very last meeting. This guy, who was the leader of that group, was not the best public speaker person and was having a very difficult time expressing himself. At one point, I asked him to repeat a word, which I did not hear, since not only he was stumbling with his speech, but I was also located at the other side of the table. He was already frustrated for not expressing himself well, and when he heard my request for repeating a word, he said to me in Albanian: "I already said it. It's your job to hear well."
My partner, who is also a good friend of mine, took over and replaced me in a very smooth way. The English speakers did not understand one thing what happened. It was us, the Albanian speakers who knew what had happened. After being replaced, I left the conference room for a few minutes, got a drink of water and some fresh air and went back to the room, but very heartbroken this time. When the meeting was over, the rest of the group came to me and apologized for their leader's words. That was their last meeting, we said Goodbye to each-other, and we all went to our separate ways. I still remember that even a few days later, I was still heartbroken and thinking about what happened. About a week later, this guy wrote me an email, where he apologized and said that "he was extremely frustrated, since he was not very good with public speeches" etc., etc. A couple of other people from the group also wrote to me and among other things, they told me that they had talked with him on the plane and he had felt sorry about what happened.
My point is we all are human, we all make mistakes. The best thing to do is try to forget about it, even though it is not that easy.
The most important thing for you now is yourself, family and your pregnancy. Take care and take some break as well.
Have a happy summer,
Monika
Sandra Alboum wrote: Williamson wrote:
You might consider getting some interpreter training at Moneterrey before you go into interpreting. Trained interpreters are less likely to fall for those pitfalls. Hi. Thanks for the suggestion. My colleague works full time as an interpreter for the immigration courts, and I also do plenty of interpreting myself. We are both certified by the National Center for State Courts for interpreting in 31 states nationwide. We are not untrained novices. Best, Sandra ▲ Collapse
| | | | | An interesting solution for same problem | Jul 12, 2006 |
Marie-Céline GEORG wrote: Maybe you should have offered your colleague's place to that know-it-all "pain in the rear" person 
I had a very similar experience once, and the solution was as suggested by Marie-Céline!
One of my colleagues was "corrected" in a loud voice and rude manner by one of the speakers (who by the way, was bilingual), during consecutive interpreting.
My colleague, was also very tired, had been working for many hours in a row, and the mistake was not very big, really. The thing that adds to the note is that we were a group of interpreters doing our job pro-bono, for a "good cause".
Our interpreter coordinator was so upset with that person's rude behaviour, that she did not argue, but immediately and politely approached my colleague, took the mike and in front of the audience handed it to the "pain-in-the-ass" person and said: "she will translate herself from now on". The coordinator called us all to leave the room. There were still many days left for interpretation, so our coordinator talked with the client and the client talked to the speakers in general. End of the problem!
I guess it is not always easy or even advisable to do this. But in this case it was a great solution indeed!
The best,
linaza
| | | | Edward Potter
Spain
Local time: 15:17
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
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You all have me convinced that it was Ms. Pain-In-The-Rear who was pregant with hormones.
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Sandra Alboum
United States
Local time: 09:17
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
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TOPIC STARTER | Not quite... | Jul 13, 2006 |
Edward Potter wrote:
You all have me convinced that it was Ms. Pain-In-The-Rear who was pregant with hormones.
Actually, Ms. Pain-in-the-Rear might have been having a hot flash.
| | | | | sometimes you meet jerks | Jul 13, 2006 |
Hello everyone.
I usually interpret for workshops and since many people in Romania, where I live and work, speak some English (and many more imagine that they do), some people in the audience may have something to say about my work. It hasn't happened frequently, but it has happened. At the end of one of these workshops, a Romanian member of the audience asked me why I didn't translate correctly. I asked what it was that I said wrong. He couldn't tell, it was "some specialised terms". I su... See more Hello everyone.
I usually interpret for workshops and since many people in Romania, where I live and work, speak some English (and many more imagine that they do), some people in the audience may have something to say about my work. It hasn't happened frequently, but it has happened. At the end of one of these workshops, a Romanian member of the audience asked me why I didn't translate correctly. I asked what it was that I said wrong. He couldn't tell, it was "some specialised terms". I suppose I took him by surprise with my question. Maybe he expected me to turn purple or start crying (I have a bit of a babyface).
During another workshop, there was a discussion where 2 terms were mainly involved. A member of the audience said that he hadn't listened to the translation, but he thinks that the 2 terms may have been translated incorrectly. No kidding?
You can't let this get to you. I'm pretty sensitive when it comes to people's opinions about my work, but I reckon that, since the overwhelming majority of these opinions are good ones, I am good and I can't let some people who have nothing better to do ruin my day, my week or my year.
Cheer up! ▲ Collapse
| | | | teju
Local time: 07:17
English to Spanish
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| Some thoughts | Jul 13, 2006 |
I hate to hear about incidents like this one. Unfortunately, we cannot control how others behave, only how we behave. I know how hard it can be to keep your cool in stressful situations, but the idea is to make sure that the interpreter behaves in a professional manner at all times. This way, the person looks like a rude, out of control idiot in front of everyone.
I don't know how "brusquely" your colleague left when she handed you the mike. Another way to handle this situation, wou... See more I hate to hear about incidents like this one. Unfortunately, we cannot control how others behave, only how we behave. I know how hard it can be to keep your cool in stressful situations, but the idea is to make sure that the interpreter behaves in a professional manner at all times. This way, the person looks like a rude, out of control idiot in front of everyone.
I don't know how "brusquely" your colleague left when she handed you the mike. Another way to handle this situation, would have been for her to continue with her work, asserting herself, and exposing the heckler for what she really is, an insensitive thug. In my opinion, changing interpreters at that point is giving the heckler exactly what she wanted. I bet she was pretty proud of herself, she got up, screamed, and she "fixed" the problem (that's what she thought she did). She must've been pretty proud of herself!
Interpreters will be challenged in different venues. I rarely interpret during conferences, I'm a court interpreter. And in court, if you have a good judge, he'll shut up anyone who challenges the interpreter reminding them that the interpreter is certified by the federal government or by the state. On the other hand, sometimes a lawyer will object to our interpretation, and if the interpreter has made a mistake, he or she must correct the record immediately, swallow his pride, and keep going. This goes with the territory, we are not infallible. But when we make a mistake, we must correct it as soon as we become aware that there was an error or omission.
Now, we all know it's very easy to catch a mistake when you've been listening to someone else interpret. The first thing that comes to mind is "I'd like to see how you would've interpreted it if you had been working for six hours straight like I have". The fact is that interpreter fatigue, poor sound quality, incoherent or slurred speech, are all factors that affect our work.
This should be a learning experience. All you can do at this point is say to yourself "how could we have handled this situation better?" Maybe, if we would've told someone during a break that we were having trouble with the sound. Or maybe, if the interpreter had asked to address the non-English speakers before they spoke to give them a few instructions about how to work with an interpreter. Maybe your colleague could've gone on interpreting, correcting the record as soon as she realized that she'd made a mistake. Maybe if you would've hired another interpreter, the interpreters would've been less fatigued. Some interpreters work in pairs, so that the one who is not on the mike, is still listening to the other one's work, helping if needed, passing a note, or suggesting a break, when it's apparent that one is needed. It's important to separate the factors that are within our control, from those that are not.
There's always going to be obstacles that challenge us, all we can do is prepare ourselves so that when they happen, no one can impeach our conduct. Of course, handsight is twenty twenty. That's why it's good to vent in the forum. Chin up, cheer up, and better luck next time, ánimo colega.
[Edited at 2006-07-13 16:11] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Sandra Alboum
United States
Local time: 09:17
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
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TOPIC STARTER
teju wrote:
There's always going to be obstacles that challenge us, all we can do is prepare ourselves so that when they happen, no one can impeach our conduct. Of course, handsight is twenty twenty. That's why it's good to vent in the forum. Chin up, cheer up, and better luck next time, ánimo colega.
[/quote]
This was EXACTLY what I needed to hear. Thank you so very much for your perfect posting.
Best,
Sandra
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Courtney McConnel (X)
France
Local time: 15:17
French to English
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| Interpreting is NEVER 100% of what's spoken | Jul 13, 2006 |
Hi everyone!
My darling Sandra, I would have had nightmares too after your experience...though I might have mouthed off to the person 'denouncing' me and thereby felt slightly less annoyed. I find it very brave of you to talk about it with us here, especially when a certain answerer seems to show so little respect. I have had 'passionate', holier than thou reactions from interpreters about all the special techniques you learn in an interpreting school such as Monterey or ESIT, where... See more Hi everyone!
My darling Sandra, I would have had nightmares too after your experience...though I might have mouthed off to the person 'denouncing' me and thereby felt slightly less annoyed. I find it very brave of you to talk about it with us here, especially when a certain answerer seems to show so little respect. I have had 'passionate', holier than thou reactions from interpreters about all the special techniques you learn in an interpreting school such as Monterey or ESIT, where, in my graduating class as a translation student, 43 out of 50 people did not receive their degree. Here I am with 13 years of interpreting experience, and I've managed just fine with no special training (other than my translation degree, which was hard enough work-ugh!). Next, as you know, if we can interpret 75-80%, we're already in a decent range.
I am so happy you posted on this topic because I've spent years & years mentally 'blaming' the speaker or author in my head, looking for any weapons I could readily point to, in case of a situation like this where I would have to defend myself. Only recently have I let go of that, realizing that the vast majority of clients and spectators are actually more interested in admiring my work than criticizing it.
As for the fears my biz will suddenly dry up (as has happened to my best friend and my mother in other fields, leading to new adventures), in your situation, I would try my best not to wait for reassurance from your client. I don't even know you, and yet it's so obvious to me how consciencious (sp?), well-spoken and business-like you are. I'm sure I'm not alone in this perception, and I'm certain those qualities do not get watered down by one or two 'mistakes' from a colleague (who CAN catch proper names and numbers every time?).
Lastly, you didn't mention if you ever get the chance to train your speakers. Here in France the clients are pretty cool, and the organizers are often open to telling the audience, "Our lovely or wonderful interpreters cannot hear you properly, need a break, ask that you round-off figures, enunciate proper nouns..." Actually, they're even sweeter than that, come to think of it, offering all kinds of compliments and gifts. People can plainly see how hard we work and one possibly jealous person cannot blind anyone else to that.
Oh, and as for the pregnancy & working with children, all people have said has applied to me too, but I firmly believe there's a way to get around everything and follow your own desire.
: )
Courtney aka Ecstasy
[Edited at 2006-07-14 09:56] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Olga Dubeshka (X)
United States
Local time: 09:17
Russian to English
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| some words of support | Jul 13, 2006 |
Hi Sandra,
And congratulations on the baby!
Your posting stuck a nerve with me.
First off , do not let yourself be persuaded that the reason for your stressing out is pregnancy alone. For everyone`s information, some women (me included) feel great throughout pregnancy, and their energy levels can be through the roof.
I felt like an energiser bunny for 7 months (untill I got too big to hop ... See more Hi Sandra,
And congratulations on the baby!
Your posting stuck a nerve with me.
First off , do not let yourself be persuaded that the reason for your stressing out is pregnancy alone. For everyone`s information, some women (me included) feel great throughout pregnancy, and their energy levels can be through the roof.
I felt like an energiser bunny for 7 months (untill I got too big to hop However, it is people around us that have some ideas about how we are feeling. Let it be.
I remember when I was still at my dayjob , I had to change
something for a client 4-5 times and my co-workers were getting upset. Then one said : well, she`s pregnant, she doesn`t know what she is doing ! (obviosly joking) It almost brought me to tears , considering it was not mine, but client`s fault...Constant referencing to my pregnancy hormones surges by my hubby, friends and co-workers actually drove me crazy more then strangers touching my stomack or asking "So...when are you due ?" all the time.
(Do you hear that a lot ?)
ABout your situation - I can hear your pain. You seem like a perfectionist , especially in all business-related. Well,
no point in pretending we are not humans and do not make mistakes. It is how we handle them/learn from them what makes us better.
I truly admire the way you handled it .
I hope you will take a break soon... And believe me, have a good relaxing break !! You will not be able to do it once the baby comes, and the first few months will be a total blurr...
I still cherish the memory of breastfeeding my offspring while typing some urgent translations... Or talking to a client whith
the baby crying on the background. Once I got so tired after typing / feeding the baby all night I woke up on a couch in horror - the baby was nowhere to be seen! Turned out I snuggled him in a chair and forgot about it...
BTW, a glasss of red wine once in a while is OK for you - just ask your OBGYN ! If it helps you relax.
MOst of all, look at your pregnancy as an opportunity to
ENJOY the freedom to eat, sleep, relax, work and concentrate on work, because things will change drastically soon!!!
I hope you will continue running your business after the baby is born. BTW, I always thought having a "Working mothers /translators Association " would be so helpful
to so many women on proz.
Best of luck !
And if you feel like talking to another mom (not about business, but motherhood:) or just want to vent , I am always eager to help !!
Olga ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Blunders galore ... | Jul 13, 2006 |
Hello Sandra, ... it sounds as if you had a bit of a rough ride that day. Apart from the mishap, I hope you're well. You may recall we spoke briefly last year about a possible IT>EN job. I seem to recall you were amused by my funny English accent.
I've read most of the comments on this thread and I would like to briefly say that I would tend to agree with Henry Hinds when he says "Another point is to try to control the speaker, easier said than done, perhaps, but if you can make t... See more Hello Sandra, ... it sounds as if you had a bit of a rough ride that day. Apart from the mishap, I hope you're well. You may recall we spoke briefly last year about a possible IT>EN job. I seem to recall you were amused by my funny English accent.
I've read most of the comments on this thread and I would like to briefly say that I would tend to agree with Henry Hinds when he says "Another point is to try to control the speaker, easier said than done, perhaps, but if you can make them aware of the need to speak slowly and clearly, so much the better. Try to get them to work with you because they need to understand that they can only communicate if you can. Start with the organizers so they can impose the appropriate discipline on the different persons speaking. It is almost inevitable that you will find yourself in difficult situations now and then, so the best thing is to think about how some of the problems could have been avoided in the first place even though they may have been the fault of others."
I think that's spot on.
I am occasionally asked to do consecutive work in seminars and "workshops" for clinical psychologists and psychotherapists and I normally accept because I have worked as an assistant psychologist in the past and I know what they're talking about. I rarely accept any other interpreting work (I'm a translator) unless I think I can cope with it 100%.
In any case there are a few things I have learnt the hard way and it basically corresponds with what Hinds says. An interpreter should always ideally be a "neutral" presence and simply perform his or her task without intervening in any way in the flow of discussion. However, there are times when one should make it clearly understood that it is not possible to interpret properly unless one can understand what's being said. Moreover, one should always stop the flow of a debate or a speech if one doesn't understand something: it's simply a question of being honest and in the end the lesser of two evils.
I remember once I was caught out during a full-day job in Tuscany. I was interpreting for an English university professor who was explaining to a group of Italian psychologists how he felt it would be best to tackle the difficulties involved in the treatment of a certain disorder and at a certain point after hours and hours of differential diagnosis, cognitive-behavioural therapy, the body/mass index in patients suffering from anorexia nervosa and so on, for some odd reason he started talking about parsnips. And I simply couldn't think of how to translate the damned word. Italians aren't great parsnip eaters and I couldn't think of the word in Italian Ok, fair enough, I'd earned the respect of the audience after 4-5 hours of getting everything right and I had a lot of leeway to wriggle through the dilemma. At that point I simply stopped being "neutral" and turned to the guy and asked him whether he might choose another kind of vegetable. He was amused and so were the audience. Another funny moment was when I referred back to the audience that a certain individual was "depraved" instead of "deprived" (I didn't catch the vowel sound) of something. Again, I noticed my mistake in the context, stopped the flow of the speech and got a few laughs.
Perhaps the best one was when another professor asked his audience whether they might get into pairs to role-play a certain therapeutic technique. Nothing was lost in translation and I most certainly asked the people present to get into pairs ... however my Italian rendering of the request came across as, "Well, alright, folks, we've discussed the theory behind all this and I would now like you to have sexual intercourse so that we can see how it works in practice."
On that occasion I just wanted to fade into nothingness and later felt like shooting myself. I somehow managed to ride through the parsnip thing quite well but the "accoppiatevi" blunder was just a bit too much for my nervous system.
Though I did laugh later.
I'm sorry, I'm being too longwinded. Basically, I think one has to take over and control difficult situations when it becomes necessary as Mr Hinds suggests.
One other small point, someone on this thread has suggested that if one gets it right to about 75-80%, then all is well. I find that a little curious. Admittedly, I'm not a "trained" interpreter and I only do what I know how to do. My interpreting work is limited to one field only. However, if I didn't get right to at least 99.8% for the people I work for, I'd be "de-windowed" and not paid a centesimo. Might that pass as a translation of "defenestrato"?
Laughter is the best medicine, Sandra.
Take a holiday, look to the future and enjoy your new baby. And don't pass up just a little of some decent brew as another colleague suggested to you.
Take care,
Steve ▲ Collapse
| | | | Courtney McConnel (X)
France
Local time: 15:17
French to English
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| To clarify on accuracy and percentage interpreted | Jul 14, 2006 |
Stephen Bermingham Pastorello wrote:
One other small point, someone on this thread has suggested that if one gets it right to about 75-80%, then all is well. I find that a little curious. Admittedly, I'm not a "trained" interpreter and I only do what I know how to do. My interpreting work is limited to one field only. However, if I didn't get right to at least 99.8% for the people I work for, I'd be "de-windowed" and not paid a centesimo. Might that pass as a translation of "defenestrato"?
Hi Stephen!
Yes, I agree that we'd all have very cranky clients if we bungled up 25% of what they're saying! : )
Just to clarify, though I've gone and edited my thread, I meant to say that I remembering hearing at ESIT that- for technical reasons of time, comprehension, equipment- interpreters can rarely get across 100% of what's being said. In my case, for example, people often repeat themselves 2-3 times. I've recently made it my 'policy' to take advantage of gaps such as that to get in information from a few minutes back where the speaker had been going too fast to squeeze it all in at the time. Or to clarify a point I might have found better words for.
As for accuracy itself, I feel that your specific example, Sandra, of numbers and proper nouns or names, is a mega pain. Every year I interpret for a venture capital meeting where 20 different speakers discuss their biotech or IT ventures with all the different product names, figures (important to investors!), and funky start-up names, which are a little harder to catch than, say, IBM or 20th Century Fox. Then the VCs themselves go into detail about the financial end. Well, I can assure you, nobody in the room expects me to catch 100% of it, and anyway, it's all written down on the slides (in English!) and the docs people take home.
And Stephen, what you said about parsnips is sooo funny! If I were interpreting serious psychology stuff and I suddenly heard parsnips, I would think I was really losing my touch!
Oh, one final thought. To increase my speed (and get more across), I sometimes speak in a 'mid-atlantic' style, especially if the Anglophone audience is of mixed backgrounds. For example, it's much faster to say, "At this Congress" than "At this Convention" or "transformation" rather than "change"; in other words, I stick closer to our Latin-based words in English than Germanic-based, etc.
Happy Bastille Day, yall!!!!
[Edited at 2006-07-14 10:28]
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Sandra Alboum
United States
Local time: 09:17
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Hi all.
An update on the situation:
1. I heard back from my client on Thursday very late in the day. They indicated that they were thrilled with *my* performance, as always (I *so* loved them for that comment), but again expressed their desire for my colleague to have behaved better under the circumstances.
2. I billed them on Thursday after receiving this email. I was happy to finally have a gauge of their pleasure or displeasure with the services. I wo... See more Hi all.
An update on the situation:
1. I heard back from my client on Thursday very late in the day. They indicated that they were thrilled with *my* performance, as always (I *so* loved them for that comment), but again expressed their desire for my colleague to have behaved better under the circumstances.
2. I billed them on Thursday after receiving this email. I was happy to finally have a gauge of their pleasure or displeasure with the services. I wound up comping them $50, which was the shipping fees on part of the rented equipment. (We rented 35 initially, then another 60... I comped the shipping for the 35.) It worked out to around 10% of the total bill.
3. Today I have received the invoice from my colleague. She has billed me $5/hour more than I had expected to pay her (which is the standard rate I have paid her since day 1). She bases her increase in charges on the fact that a local state court system sent out notifications that they had increased their hourly pay to this amount as of July 1, and therefore that was what she was charging because she certified by this state. She believes that her new rate was made apparent to me in a phone call a few weeks ago, when we were discussing this new state court rate. I never understood her to mean that she was now going to be charging ME this rate, too. I'm not the courts! Her proposed new rate, plus the $50 I comped my client, would mean I'd lose an unexpected $87.50. Grrrrrrr.
So ... any further comments, especially on item #3?
I don't like to air my dirty laundry, but I figured I owed everyone an update. ▲ Collapse
| | | | teju
Local time: 07:17
English to Spanish
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| I would be growling too (grrrr) | Jul 15, 2006 |
Sandra Alboum wrote:
3. Today I have received the invoice from my colleague. She has billed me $5/hour more than I had expected to pay her (which is the standard rate I have paid her since day 1). She bases her increase in charges on the fact that a local state court system sent out notifications that they had increased their hourly pay to this amount as of July 1, and therefore that was what she was charging because she certified by this state. She believes that her new rate was made apparent to me in a phone call a few weeks ago, when we were discussing this new state court rate. I never understood her to mean that she was now going to be charging ME this rate, too. I'm not the courts! Her proposed new rate, plus the $50 I comped my client, would mean I'd lose an unexpected $87.50. Grrrrrrr.
Geez, where do I begin? Is this person aware of the fact that your client was not pleased with her performance or behavior? Does she know that you have had to offer your client a discount to compensate for her shortcoming and obvious errors?
And now I go on to the obvious comments. Does this person know that you are not the courts? Why would she think that because the courts increase their hourly pay that meant that you would change her pay rate to match the courts is beyond logic. You better pray that she doesn't pass the federal exam, or you may not be able to afford her!
Dear friend, it seems to me that if you don't have a written agreement with the people you hire for assignments, this would be a good time to have one. This way you cannot get surprises like this one. And if you do have one already, make sure that it is specific enough. Include all the basics, rate of pay, place and time of the assignment, etc. Also include a clause that mentions anything that you think would be fair to cover yourself when problems arise and someone that you've hired ends up costing you money. Imagine the worst scenario: your colleague makes a huge blunder, and walks out in the middle of an assignment. Are you still supposed to pay her fully if she leaves you high and dry, with an irate client, an embarrasing situation, and you all alone to finish the job?
And of course, all this goes beyond the loss of income. Let's talk about loss of credibility. You've carefully built up a relationship between you and your clients over the years, and all it takes is one bad incident for the client to cross you off their list and go to someone else next time. You know that anyone you hire will make you look good or bad when they work with you, after all, you are the one responsible.
I suggest that you have everything in writing beforehand. Be real careful with who you hire. And when things go wrong, make sure you do everything within your power to appease a good client. It seems that you've accomplished that, and I congratulate you for it. Now, as far as your colleague, it may be time for her to find work with someone else. Saludos.
teju
| | | | Rosa Maria Duenas Rios (X)
Local time: 09:17
| It is Monterey, not Monterrey | Jul 15, 2006 |
Williamson wrote:
Monterrey
You might consider getting some interpreter training at Moneterrey before you go into interpreting. Trained interpreters are less likely to fall for those pitfalls.
I believe the school you are referring to, Williamson, is in Monterey, California. Monterrey is in the state of Nuevo Leon, in Mexico.
Sandra,
First of all, congratulations on your pregnancy! Second, take it easy, for the sake of the baby. Stress might be as bad as caffeine. Third, you've done as much as you could have done, so try and shake the guilty feeling away. I am not an interpreter myself, but I have seen interpreters make mistakes (especially when they are tired), and have seen a couple of people make fools of themselves (not of the interpreters) by publicly pointing out the mistakes interpreters make. They are nothing but bullies. It would have been nice if someone had also publicly pointed out that you had been working for several hours, over the time originally requested, and that conditions were far from ideal. Hopefully, your client will understand the above; and if he/she does not, I wonder if it would be wise to keep him/her as a client.
Oops, I forgot: After reading your last post (on the billing of your colleague), I would probably start looking for another colleague.
[Edited at 2006-07-15 19:15]
[Edited at 2006-07-15 19:16]
| | | | | Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] > | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Audience 'misconduct' during interpretation | Trados Business Manager Lite | Create customer quotes and invoices from within Trados Studio
Trados Business Manager Lite helps to simplify and speed up some of the daily tasks, such as invoicing and reporting, associated with running your freelance translation business.
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| | Anycount & Translation Office 3000 | Translation Office 3000
Translation Office 3000 is an advanced accounting tool for freelance translators and small agencies. TO3000 easily and seamlessly integrates with the business life of professional freelance translators.
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