Poll: Are you worried about the future of translators? Initiator des Themas: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Are you worried about the future of translators?".
This poll was originally submitted by Steve Melling. View the poll results »
| | | | | of some translators | Mar 18, 2010 |
poetry will be translated
novels will be translated
manuals will be translated
tourism related documents
and so on.
Other things maybe will not, like offical UE documents, so some of us will have to find another field.
The problem I see (not in the near future) is that if/when some things do not need to be translated anymore, the remaining fields will be "a bit too crowded", and this will lead to a "war on rates"
| | | | antonsebov 
Ukraine
Local time: 00:06
Mitglied (2009)
Englisch > Russisch
+ ...
| Any reasons? | Mar 18, 2010 |
Are there any reasons to be worried?
| | | | | Some reasons | Mar 18, 2010 |
Anton Sebov wrote:
Are there any reasons to be worried?
Anton Sebov wrote:
Are there any reasons to be worried?
Some reasons :
-Crowd translation (free "community" translations, often perceived as an intellectual game)
- Machine translation (that more and more potential clients consider as sufficient, namely for technical instructions or commercial relationships) which certainly improve in the future.
- Slashing of the rates, mainly by the agencies and, for some part, by the translators themselves when they accept low rates.
I think these are reasons to be worried.
Catherine
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| If we're talking about the threat from machine translation | Mar 18, 2010 |
then, without wishing to appear complacent, I would have thought it was really only a threat to bottom feeders and cheap-and-nasty merchants, so I'm not worried .
| | | | | dying profession | Mar 18, 2010 |
Doomed. Getting less and less respect and prestige, meager pay, close to janitor...
| | | | neilmac
Spanien
Local time: 23:06
Spanisch > Englisch
+ ...
I'm miffed about the huge numbers of apparently unqualified or poorly qualified translators offering their services at market-busting rates.
I'm worried about the agencies, mostly based in Asian countries, using what appear to be legions of word-processing monkeys, offering risible rates and undercutting professionals like me in the western hemisphere.
I'm concerned about clients who think that they can quite justifiably "translate" a text using Google translate or other MT SW like t... See more I'm miffed about the huge numbers of apparently unqualified or poorly qualified translators offering their services at market-busting rates.
I'm worried about the agencies, mostly based in Asian countries, using what appear to be legions of word-processing monkeys, offering risible rates and undercutting professionals like me in the western hemisphere.
I'm concerned about clients who think that they can quite justifiably "translate" a text using Google translate or other MT SW like the supremely naff Babylon then blithely send it for "revision" and save on costs (i. e. the translator's normal fees) , even though in many cases the "revision" may take as long or longer than a direct translation from scratch (I have one like that on my plate right now...).
I'm not happy about the increasing numbers of non-natives translating into my target (English) either, however great they may be at it...
etc etc etc ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Amen to that | Mar 18, 2010 |
neilmac wrote:
I'm not happy about the increasing numbers of non-natives translating into my target (English) either, however great they may be at it...
great or otherwise..
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R. Alex Jenkins
Brasilien
Local time: 18:06
Mitglied (2006)
Portugiesisch > Englisch
+ ...
| TM is not going away | Mar 18, 2010 |
neilmac wrote:
I'm concerned about clients who think that they can quite justifiably "translate" a text using Google translate or other MT SW like the supremely naff Babylon then blithely send it for "revision" and save on costs (i. e. the translator's normal fees) , even though in many cases the "revision" may take as long or longer than a direct translation from scratch (I have one like that on my plate right now...).
It happened to me a while back and it's extremely concerning. I wasted more than half a day before making the 'executive' decision to abandon the translation and inform the client about my refusal to revise Google Translated text. Generally, it takes more time to revise MT than translate the original PROPERLY from scratch. In this particular case it turned out well, but I had to stand up for myself.
Please trust ME when I say that MT technology does not improve a PROFESSIONAL translator's word count or the amount of money he/she can make in one day. It's a guideline, a tool, a helping hand. Put it this way, and be honest; if you're getting more work done and making more money through using MT technology then you're not really putting in the hours are you? MT technology should improve the QUALITY of your output, not reduce the amount of hours you work.
Richard.
| | | | Sheila Wilson
Spanien
Local time: 22:06
Mitglied (2007)
Englisch
+ ...
| Depends on your time frame | Mar 18, 2010 |
Oliver Lawrence wrote: then, without wishing to appear complacent, I would have thought it was really only a threat to bottom feeders and cheap-and-nasty merchants, so I'm not worried .
I'm not worried personally, as things won't change dramatically during my professional lifetime,:-) and as you say, Oliver, at the moment these machine translations don't do more than annoy me.
However, for the next generation of translators (including - possibly - my son), I think it might be different. With the increased use of crowd-sourced TMs, some of the machine+memory translations will get better until they are at least recognisable. I think companies who care about their image will still need editors, but maybe not so many translators.
For the present, I'm certainly not reducing my rates - if anything, I'll put them up to widen the gap between my quality woman-made translations and the awful rubbish machines+amateurs produce. But I do worry a bit about the long-term future of the industry.
| | | | | Challenge may be stimulating | Mar 18, 2010 |
Mankind has evolved because of challenge, and so must we.
Other industries have developed from craftsmanship to machine-based processes and have survived, why shouldn’t we? There will always be clients who need hand-made products and others who prefer cheap standardized ones. (I think something in-between is also possible).
If this is the future, we must choose, maybe even adapt, but we can grow individually, and as a global industry.
| | | | | Did I miss something? | Mar 18, 2010 |
Gianluca Marras wrote:
poetry will be translated
novels will be translated
manuals will be translated
tourism related documents
and so on.
Other things maybe will not, like offical UE documents, so some of us will have to find another field.
When were/will the relevant EU treaty be changed as to allow this? Currently all translations into official EU languages are considered to be original and all documents also legally have to be translated into these.
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Muriel Vasconcellos
Vereinigte Staaten
Local time: 14:06
Mitglied (2003)
Spanisch > Englisch
+ ...
| Neil says it perfectly | Mar 19, 2010 |
neilmac wrote:
I'm miffed about the huge numbers of apparently unqualified or poorly qualified translators offering their services at market-busting rates.
I'm worried about the agencies, mostly based in Asian countries, using what appear to be legions of word-processing monkeys, offering risible rates and undercutting professionals like me in the western hemisphere.
I'm concerned about clients who think that they can quite justifiably "translate" a text using Google translate or other MT SW like the supremely naff Babylon then blithely send it for "revision" and save on costs (i. e. the translator's normal fees) , even though in many cases the "revision" may take as long or longer than a direct translation from scratch (I have one like that on my plate right now...).
I'm not happy about the increasing numbers of non-natives translating into my target (English) either, however great they may be at it...
etc etc etc
| | | | Paula Tome (X)
Vereinigtes Königreich
Local time: 22:06
Englisch > Portugiesisch
| Indeed, there are some very good reasons to be worried! | Mar 23, 2010 |
I am worried as a lot of other posters seem to be, for the many reasons stated, from crowd sourcing to rates war, quality being less and less important, low qualified and inexperienced translators becoming the norm, agencies popping up here and going bust there, etc. So times are changing, lets see... :-|
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