Ryan Ginstrom <ginstrom@hotmail.com> wrote:

> "Louise Bremner" <dame_zumari@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:1gsdji1.1rq0v7h1v8fqN%dame_zumari@yahoo.com...
> > Ryan Ginstrom <ginstrom@hotmail.com> wrote:
> > > You could get a job butt-wiping^H^H proofreading translations into
> English
> > > by native Japanese speakers with a questionable grasp of the English
> > > language.
> >
> > The trouble with that sort of job is, I found, that there's always going
> > to be some translator or later-stage editor who will pick up on the fact
> > that the rewriter is not from the USA and so could not possibly
> > understand the subtle nuances of the English required for the preferred
> > market. Never mind that such translators and editors couldn't either, by
> > the same logic....
> 
> I recently did a translation, and had it come back with all instances of
> "-ize" changed to "-ise." I called up the client and asked what was up, and
> they told me that since the poster was for a conference in France, they
> wanted it in British English, so could I please change it to British
> English? I said sure, why not? So as an added bonus I changed all instances
> of "color" to "colour."

Hehehehe.... Did you also check that long numbers had "and" in them?
> 
> > A much more interesting version of that job involves rewriting technical
> > papers written in English by Japanese researchers, for publication
> > abroad. But that requires specialist knowledge of the subject.
> 
> I have a couple jobs like this. It can be a good gig, especially when the
> writer has a decent grasp of English.
> 
> The recipe for bitterness is when the native Japanese translator + native
> English-speaking checker combination is being used as a cost-cutting
> measure. The manure that comes out of 99% of those translators is simply
> beyond repair.

For a while, I had a very lucrative job re-re-writing the results of
such translations--basically doing the translation that should have been
done in the first place, at not much below the rates I would have
charged for such work. The final result was far more expensive and also
took far longer to complete because the only jobs that got subjected to
this treatment were the ones that had been passed around from one
department to another within the company, collecting Reject stamps.
 
> A close second is the kind of client that says "we want it translated by a
> Japanese to make sure the translator understands it, then we'll have you
> 'check' it."

No, no... that's "just polish the English without changing the content".

________________________________________________________________________
                   Louise Bremner (log at gol dot com)
   If you want a reply by e-mail, don't write to my Yahoo address!