| Pages in topic: [1 2 3] > | Poll: Can the translation say it better than the source? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Can the translation say it better than the source?".
This poll was originally submitted by Mariam Osmane. View the poll results »
| | | | Evans (X)
Local time: 16:19
Spanish to English
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| I'm afraid so | Aug 15, 2011 |
If the source text is badly written, as is all too often the case. I am often in receipt of badly written original texts which really should have passed through the hands of a good editor before being sent for translation. So I find myself almost doing the job of editor as part of my translation process. And I am truly delighted when given a well-written text to translate.
| | | | Manticore (X) 
Local time: 17:19
English to German
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| @Gilla Evans | Aug 15, 2011 |
You are absolutely right. - Therefore, I am not accepting badly written documents anymore. Unless the customer is happy with "garbage in, garbage out".
| | | | Interlangue (X)
Angola
Local time: 17:19
English to French
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Sometimes, but not necessarily.
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Some of the texts we get are written by people who should NEVER write anything!
Full of mistakes, repetitions ... they don't read over what they write,.
At the moment I'm struggling with a piece of "art criticism" that is perhaps the worst I've encountered in over 30 years in this business.
Why is it "arty" to be incomprehensible?
If I manage to penetrate the enigmatic meaning of this piece, hopefully my result will be easier to read and understand.
| | | | | Yes, depending on source text | Aug 15, 2011 |
If the source text is badly written, I think a well-written translation could potentially "say it better". If the source is of good quality, I'd be more inclined to say that something will always be lost in translation.
| | | | | totally agree with Catherine | Aug 15, 2011 |
Catherine Knight wrote:
If the source text is badly written, I think a well-written translation could potentially "say it better". If the source is of good quality, I'd be more inclined to say that something will always be lost in translation.
It is also the case of texts written by non natives. I had more such situations and one of the texts contained a lot of "highly specialized" terms that don't even exist as words in English. The author simply used the term in his own language and added English endings to it
[Edited at 2011-08-15 13:13 GMT]
| | | | | Translators are egoists | Aug 15, 2011 |
The results of the poll, without reading the forum comments, confirmed what I had always suspected that translators are egoists.
After reading the forum posts so far, I understand why we translators have developed such huge egos. Often we are confronted with source texts that cry "trash"! At such times we feel superior.
Sometimes we get source texts that invite us to tincker with them a bit. At such times we feel superior.
At occassions we get source texts ... See more The results of the poll, without reading the forum comments, confirmed what I had always suspected that translators are egoists.
After reading the forum posts so far, I understand why we translators have developed such huge egos. Often we are confronted with source texts that cry "trash"! At such times we feel superior.
Sometimes we get source texts that invite us to tincker with them a bit. At such times we feel superior.
At occassions we get source texts that are awkwardly written (what I call "legalese") and we succeed in turning the awkward into a lucid phrase. On such occassions we feel superior.
Is there a wonder how translators have become egoisits?
Repeated feelings of supriority have not turned us into superior beings. We are still our frailselves. Our egos, however, have grown to the point of thinking of ourselves as roaring lions when we are, in fact, mere kittens. ▲ Collapse
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Thayenga
Germany
Local time: 17:19
Member (2009)
English to German
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| It depends on the source text | Aug 15, 2011 |
With some of the texts we receive, it would require the "worst, unexperienced" translator to turn the translation into something that's even more poorly written, reduncance, unnecessary repetitions and, yes, poor knowledge of the source text language are some of the criteria for this assessment.
On the other hand, I've come across some source texts that were so superbly written, that the translation, regardless of how well it was done, could only take "second place". ... See more With some of the texts we receive, it would require the "worst, unexperienced" translator to turn the translation into something that's even more poorly written, reduncance, unnecessary repetitions and, yes, poor knowledge of the source text language are some of the criteria for this assessment.
On the other hand, I've come across some source texts that were so superbly written, that the translation, regardless of how well it was done, could only take "second place". ▲ Collapse
| | | | Karin Usher
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:19
Member (2006)
English to Portuguese
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I think that if a text is badly written or difficult to understand, as a translator I am oblidged to transfer that into the translated text... not that I would make grammatical mistakes in the translation, but if something is written in a confused way, then it will be a bit confused in the translated text. (.. and I definitely point this out to the customer!).
However, sometimes there are some terms, expressions or phrases that just sound much better in one language then in the othe... See more I think that if a text is badly written or difficult to understand, as a translator I am oblidged to transfer that into the translated text... not that I would make grammatical mistakes in the translation, but if something is written in a confused way, then it will be a bit confused in the translated text. (.. and I definitely point this out to the customer!).
However, sometimes there are some terms, expressions or phrases that just sound much better in one language then in the other. So in these instances, I would say that the text may "say it better" when translated.
[Edited at 2011-08-15 13:55 GMT]
[Edited at 2011-08-15 13:56 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Robert Forstag
United States
Local time: 11:19
Spanish to English
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Fully agree with Gilla, and I wish I were in a position to do what Manticore suggests but--alas--if I imposed such a policy, I would quickly find myself on the street with hat in hand.
An excellent translator can pretty much improve a text in the same way as an excellent editor of the source language. In the end, however, the quality of a translation will always be limited by the quality of the original document. This means that if a text falls below a certain threshold of coherence... See more Fully agree with Gilla, and I wish I were in a position to do what Manticore suggests but--alas--if I imposed such a policy, I would quickly find myself on the street with hat in hand.
An excellent translator can pretty much improve a text in the same way as an excellent editor of the source language. In the end, however, the quality of a translation will always be limited by the quality of the original document. This means that if a text falls below a certain threshold of coherence, then it is simply impossible to produce a good translation.
[Edited at 2011-08-15 13:57 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Allison Wright (X)
Portugal
Local time: 16:19
| This poll appearing in my Facebook page now | Aug 15, 2011 |
I added a category of response: depends on the source text and language pair.
We always talk of something potentially being "lost in translation". But are clear cases where something is "gained in translation". Both may be because of the translator in question (:) ), or simply depend on the text being translated and the language pair.
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Manticore (X)
Local time: 17:19
English to German
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| @Mohsin Alabdali | Aug 15, 2011 |
I wasn't aware that translators are egoists. But after I read your contribution I fully agree with your statement.
| | | | | Yes, but for another reason | Aug 15, 2011 |
Aside from the obvious observation that a badly written source document can be improved in translation, there is also the difference in the structure of the languages to bear in mind. Some ideas are more pithily expressed in one language than another, so if the source text has to use a phrase to refer to something that has a dedicated noun of its own in the target language, then improvement can result in this way too.
| | | | Jenn Mercer
United States
Local time: 11:19
Member (2009)
French to English
| One more pass through the sieve | Aug 15, 2011 |
My first impression was that - no, of course the translation could not, or should not be better because we should match the level of the source text. But then I remembered a translation which I had recently done in which I corrected a misspelling of an English word (that had been in the French document) and added a few periods that had been omitted. Assuming that my translation was faithfully equal to the original, the resulting text was slightly better. In this case, the improvement was no more... See more My first impression was that - no, of course the translation could not, or should not be better because we should match the level of the source text. But then I remembered a translation which I had recently done in which I corrected a misspelling of an English word (that had been in the French document) and added a few periods that had been omitted. Assuming that my translation was faithfully equal to the original, the resulting text was slightly better. In this case, the improvement was no more than any proofreader would have done on a final pass, but I think I can feel that my contribution was worthwhile. ▲ Collapse
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