Source text is partially translated
Autor vlákna: Diana Kokoszka
Diana Kokoszka
Diana Kokoszka
Spojené státy americké
Local time: 02:57
polština -> angličtina
+ ...
Sep 19, 2015

Dear colleagues,


I am translating an official letter in which some of the source text is written in the target language. I do now know why the person wrote part of the letter in the source and the other part in the target language. It starts in Polish (source language), then there is a part in English, suddenly back to Polish, and finally English. I would like to know if you follow any procedurę in such case to indicate that the target text is 'not your work' but it was incl
... See more
Dear colleagues,


I am translating an official letter in which some of the source text is written in the target language. I do now know why the person wrote part of the letter in the source and the other part in the target language. It starts in Polish (source language), then there is a part in English, suddenly back to Polish, and finally English. I would like to know if you follow any procedurę in such case to indicate that the target text is 'not your work' but it was included in the original?

There are also some minor missellings in the text. Should the translator correct them?

Thank you for your help.

[Edited at 2015-09-19 18:03 GMT]
Collapse


 
DLyons
DLyons  Identity Verified
Irsko
Local time: 07:57
španělština -> angličtina
+ ...
Suggestion Sep 19, 2015

Extended quotations in literary works are often handled by block indents, but that seems too formal and would interfere with the look of the text.

Individual TL terms in a source text are usually italicized, and maybe this is the best way to handle extended sections as well. You'd need to add a translator's note saying something like "All text in italics is copied verbatim from the original source text. The italics are my addition." Of course, if there are italics in the ST, that
... See more
Extended quotations in literary works are often handled by block indents, but that seems too formal and would interfere with the look of the text.

Individual TL terms in a source text are usually italicized, and maybe this is the best way to handle extended sections as well. You'd need to add a translator's note saying something like "All text in italics is copied verbatim from the original source text. The italics are my addition." Of course, if there are italics in the ST, that is at best messy and you might resort to using square brackets instead.

The whole extended quotation could be followed by [sic] (or [sic]) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sic but again that seems like overkill. Minor misspellings might individually take [sic] but I'd be inclined to leave them and use a blanket phrase such as e.g. "Copied verbatim from the original source text including all minor misspellings, errors and idiosyncrasies".
Collapse


 
Susana E. Cano Méndez
Susana E. Cano Méndez  Identity Verified
Španělsko
Local time: 08:57
francouzština -> španělština
+ ...
Suggestion 2 Sep 20, 2015

Hello,

As a Sworn Translator I usually have to cope with many "accidents" like this one. When there are parts in the target language in the source text, I add this:


[text in (target language) in the original]

Good translating!


 
Fiona Grace Peterson
Fiona Grace Peterson  Identity Verified
Itálie
Local time: 08:57
italština -> angličtina
Contact the client Sep 20, 2015

To avoid any misunderstanding, I would contact the client and ask how they want the text to be handled. It may even be there by mistake and they haven't realised - stranger things have happened!

It also shows diligence on your part, and prevents any risk of adopting a strategy that the client is not happy with.


 
José Henrique Lamensdorf
José Henrique Lamensdorf  Identity Verified
Brazílie
Local time: 03:57
angličtina -> portugalština
+ ...
In memoriam
The safety net Sep 20, 2015

Fiona Grace Peterson wrote:

To avoid any misunderstanding, I would contact the client and ask how they want the text to be handled. It may even be there by mistake and they haven't realised - stranger things have happened!

It also shows diligence on your part, and prevents any risk of adopting a strategy that the client is not happy with.


It happened yesterday. I was working EN > PT for an American client (via an American agency). I happen to know that someone else is working on that same material EN > ES.

Though I never studied Spanish formally, I learned to speak it quite fluently, by osmosis, during several events in my life.

So I translated these sections. My reviewer (a long-standing friend of mine, however directly hired by the agency in this case) marked them with the note "This was not requested to be translated."

As a translator, I'll always recall one detail from one French-made Citroën car I had in Brazil. Its owner's manual had been translated into European Portuguese. As it's legally one and the same language, that would suffice for compliance to Brazilian laws on imports, though our PT-BR "freios" (= brakes) were called "travões" in PT-PT, plus countless other variant quirks all over it. Nevertheless, two half-pages there had been left in French!

Then, for instance, I can't reliably and quickly tell apart any Nordic language from another. Likewise, it would be acceptable that an EN-only speaker could fail to readily identify ES within a PT text. Though the presence of Ç-cedillas and ~tildes is a reliable indicator of PT-and-not-ES, their absence is not a fail-proof sign that it's ES.

So, for safety, I did it, and added a note to my reviewer's comment, saying that these unwanted translations were done (for a good, constant client like this), but not reviewed. In case of a slip, they will be in PT anyway.

[Edited at 2015-09-20 13:24 GMT]


 


To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator:

Moderátor/moderátoři tohoto fóra
Maria Castro[Call to this topic]
Nawal Kramer[Call to this topic]

You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request »

Source text is partially translated







Protemos translation business management system
Create your account in minutes, and start working! 3-month trial for agencies, and free for freelancers!

The system lets you keep client/vendor database, with contacts and rates, manage projects and assign jobs to vendors, issue invoices, track payments, store and manage project files, generate business reports on turnover profit per client/manager etc.

More info »
Trados Studio 2022 Freelance
The leading translation software used by over 270,000 translators.

Designed with your feedback in mind, Trados Studio 2022 delivers an unrivalled, powerful desktop and cloud solution, empowering you to work in the most efficient and cost-effective way.

More info »