Poll: Which aspect of translation/interpretation do you find most challenging? Autor vlákna: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Which aspect of translation/interpretation do you find most challenging?".
View the poll results »
| | | | Kay Denney 
Francie
Local time: 17:31
francouzština -> angličtina
Managing client expectations is always the biggest challenge for me, because the client seems to expect my text to resemble theirs very closely. If they use the word "intelligent" they expect me to use it too, only I might put "smart" or "clever" depending on the context. They all think they speak English, only they don't speak well enough to write like the literate native speaker that I am.
This was clear to me right from my first week working at the agency, when a client called t... See more Managing client expectations is always the biggest challenge for me, because the client seems to expect my text to resemble theirs very closely. If they use the word "intelligent" they expect me to use it too, only I might put "smart" or "clever" depending on the context. They all think they speak English, only they don't speak well enough to write like the literate native speaker that I am.
This was clear to me right from my first week working at the agency, when a client called to ask why I put "We did" rather than "We have done" when she had written "Nous avons fait" in French.
Having recently burned out as an English teacher in despair at the fact that the French don't seem to have the necessary DNA to understand the difference between these two tenses in English, I just sighed and told her this was why only native speakers could translate properly and that i had spent fifteen years trying to explain this point to French people without any success, and it *wasn't* because I was a bad teacher.
Nowadays I just say, I'm a professional, you need to trust me that I'm right, just like you trust your lawyer and your plumber. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Lieven Malaise
Belgie
Local time: 17:31
Člen (2020)
francouzština -> nizozemština
+ ...
| Other: finding the right term in the given context. | Sep 9, 2024 |
Which is not the same as "Understanding complex terminology". In the age of the internet virtually every necessary explanation is only a few clicks away, so I don't really consider that as challenging. The same goes for the other options being proposed.
| | | | Josephine Cassar
Malta
Local time: 17:31
Člen (2012)
angličtina -> maltština
+ ...
For me, if I had to choose just one, it would be whether the way I understood the source text or part of it is really what it means. I often have to ask the agency/client about this to make sure but sometimes the client doesn't answer or answers in a way that I'm sure wasn't what the source text meant which sometimes makes it worse.
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They are all part of a freelancer’s life. If I have to name one, I’d risk saying “acquiring new technical skills”…
| | | | Lingua 5B
Bosna a Hercegovina
Local time: 17:31
angličtina -> francouzština
+ ...
Translation: too much screen time
Interpretation: too much booth time
| | | | | The other side(s) not paying attention | Sep 9, 2024 |
When you are trying to help the caller and their client but still both are not paying attention to your effort.
| | | | | limited time / complex terminology | Sep 10, 2024 |
Managing client expectations - some clients may pressure you to complete jobs perfectly.
Understanding complex terminology - need additional time to learn and find the best way to interpret the content within the time frame.
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