| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] | KudoZ questions posted with insufficient context Thread poster: liz askew
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| Takes your breath away | Apr 16, 2008 |
Just yesterday in my language pair - German to English - colleagues were treated to a show of defiance by an asker with a long history of using KudoZ to ask questions with almost zero context. In one question she wrote: "For those who keep insisting on context - what context should there be?" In another question she told everybody up front that she was annoyed by the constant requests for context that she had been receiving. She wanted to know if we expected her to write an essay.
... See more Just yesterday in my language pair - German to English - colleagues were treated to a show of defiance by an asker with a long history of using KudoZ to ask questions with almost zero context. In one question she wrote: "For those who keep insisting on context - what context should there be?" In another question she told everybody up front that she was annoyed by the constant requests for context that she had been receiving. She wanted to know if we expected her to write an essay.
We all know that there are occasions when context is minimal - in a PowerPoint presentation for example, or a list of products and that there are occasions when privacy concerns place limits on what can be revealed.
We also know that on these rare occasions the asker is rolling the dice - the likelihood of receiving a good translation is low, and the asker will probably have to ask the client for clarification. But Liz's thread is not about these rare occasions. This thread is about people who are translating but have not yet understood the meaning and concept of context for a translator. In other words, they don't know what translating is about.
What saddens me most, however, is that KudoZ is actually nurturing these people and it seems to be attracting more and more of them.
[Edited at 2008-04-16 17:34]
[Edited at 2008-04-16 17:47] ▲ Collapse
| | | | gianfranco 
Brazil
Local time: 10:25
Member (2001)
English to Italian
+ ...
| KudoZ is often helpful and educational | Apr 16, 2008 |
Kim Metzger wrote:
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What saddens me most, however, is that KudoZ is actually nurturing these people and it seems to be attracting more and more of them.
Yes, but in many cases ProZ.com, or KudoZ is trying to educate them, that is, if they are clever enough to get message. They may also be some hopeless cases... no doubt.
bye
Gianfranco
[Edited at 2008-04-16 17:49]
| | | | liz askew
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:25
Member (2007)
French to English
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TOPIC STARTER | Filter these "translators" out.., those who don't even know what context is. | Apr 16, 2008 |
This is what I am going to be doing, when I get a moment!
Liz
| | | | ivanamdb
Local time: 14:25
Croatian to English
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| The moral dilemma is “to filter or not to filter” | Apr 16, 2008 |
(wow my first post on the forum!)
I have recently come back to Proz, after a long absence, and have noticed that the amount of questions without context has increased. not only that, when you ask these users for more context either they don’t provide it (i.e. ignore your request) or add something laconic and absurd, leaving you to stumble in the darkness and guess.
Of course, I can ignore these questions, as I often do, and I always leave a message requesting context. Ok, I ignore ... See more (wow my first post on the forum!)
I have recently come back to Proz, after a long absence, and have noticed that the amount of questions without context has increased. not only that, when you ask these users for more context either they don’t provide it (i.e. ignore your request) or add something laconic and absurd, leaving you to stumble in the darkness and guess.
Of course, I can ignore these questions, as I often do, and I always leave a message requesting context. Ok, I ignore these questions, but others don’t, and you can identify these questions quite often when scrolling down Kudoz, they are the ones that have 3,4,5 or even 9 answers. Because, everyone takes a guess, writing in the explanation box “hope it helps” “just an option” “a guess”. Oh please! These people seem desperate for kudoz points! Like when you’re sitting your SATs and don’t have a clue, and just start picking answers at random.
The reason for answering questions is not kudoz or brownies, but giving a good, professional translation of a term, with a thorough explanation, so that whoever searches the glossaries in the future will find a proper translation.
And this is the reason of my dilemma – if I filter the “abusers”, others, who are not pedantic and passionate about translating won’t, and this will lead to ridiculous translations and absurd glossary entries.
I hope I don’t find “Warnings of contest and bands” instead of “Notice of bids and tenders” (translation of a website I have recently come across). ▲ Collapse
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| Ignore the losers/help the newcomers | Apr 16, 2008 |
ivanamdb wrote:
The reason for answering questions is not kudoz or brownies, but giving a good, professional translation of a term, with a thorough explanation, so that whoever searches the glossaries in the future will find a proper translation.
And this is the reason of my dilemma – if I filter the “abusers”, others, who are not pedantic and passionate about translating won’t, and this will lead to ridiculous translations and absurd glossary entries.
Bravo Ivan, for coming back and trying to make a difference. But I think you're fighting a losing battle. How can you possibly avoid absurd glossary entries by submitting an answer to a question that is hopeless from the start? If askers have refused to respond to requests for context, your best bet (for the sake of your reputation and for the community) is to ignore it. The more pros who do so the better for KudoZ.
Askers who refuse to respond to requests for context are more than likely hopelessly out of their depth. Either they don't understand why context is so important (after all, you just look up words in dictionaries and voila you plug it in!) or they don't understand the source or target language they're translating into or the subject matter well enough to explain their problem intelligently. They are in way over their heads.
Yesterday, when an asker berated members for always asking her to provide context, I responded by telling her that the German word Hund (dog) without context could mean "to have kittens" - ist zum Hunde kriegen.
You will probably have no success trying to educate these people. They simply aren't translators and don't want to learn. They just want a word to plug into their mess.
But as I and others have said before, we have new visitors every day who are just learning all the bells and whistles for KudoZ and make mistakes. Pros love to help them and they quickly become one of us.
Kim
[Edited at 2008-04-17 00:01]
| | | | moken
Local time: 14:25
English to Spanish
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| Sometimes I feel context is infinite | Apr 25, 2008 |
Only a couple of days ago I posted a couple of questions seeking idiomatic solutions for some material that needed to be dubbed.
I specified all I could: setting, broad and immediate context, target audience and a long et cetera.
Fortunately, the answers piled in, with nobody barking up the wrong tree or providing overly long suggestions for the shot.
There were quite a few very good suggestions and when I finally got to testing them against the film, I r... See more Only a couple of days ago I posted a couple of questions seeking idiomatic solutions for some material that needed to be dubbed.
I specified all I could: setting, broad and immediate context, target audience and a long et cetera.
Fortunately, the answers piled in, with nobody barking up the wrong tree or providing overly long suggestions for the shot.
There were quite a few very good suggestions and when I finally got to testing them against the film, I realised that a number of them were no good.
They just didn't work with the actor's gestures and body language.
I ask very few KudoZ questions, precisely because I feel it's my duty, out of respect to others, to provide all the necessary details but even so, each time I do post one I end up realising that more context would have been better!
Perplexedly,
Alvaro
[Edited at 2008-04-25 11:41] ▲ Collapse
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