Proofreaders - a necessary evil?

Dina Abdo wrote:

I know that problem. It's what happened to me. I had checked the crucial issues with a specialist doctor, I absolutely had to and the proofreader changed the correct expressions. The rest was synonym for synonym and style for style. As I had done a lot of copy/paste there two blank spaces in some places. My lovely proofreader counted each of these as a mistake. Does that do any harm to a translation?
Kindest regards
Gabriella
yes ... they're a necessary evil!

I take both translation and proofreading jobs. And trust me, some translations need proofreading ... A LOT of proofreading actually.

On the other hand, and as a translator, I accept editions made by the agency's or client's proofreader ONLY if dealing with typos or fixing ABSOLUTE errors in translation, but not style.

The last project I handled was for a new client who submitted my translated document to a proofreader who changed the CORRECT grammars into FAULTY ones. I was supposed to handle DTP for the document after that, but I sent the agency a detailed report of their proofreader mistakes and told them that if that translation is to be published under my name, then they'll have either to accept MY editions or to submit it to another proofreader or I'll just quit the project.

They accepted my terms and kept my translation as it is except for (exactly) 3 typos their proofreader fixed and I accepted. And now I'm handling the second project for them

As a proofreader, I worked on so many documents that some of them were machine-translated (I guess). Other were absolutely written by anyone but native speaker of the target language, and some had more typos than correct text. Similar texts absolutely need a proofreader.

To be honest, I like having my work proofread. Despite my trust in my output, I consider a good proofreader a good chance for me to learn more; especially when more experienced translator is correcting my work. I don't really think of it as an evil as long as I'm keeping my right in rejecting the editions submitted to my work, AND as long as I'm convinced with the editions made.

Gabriella Ambs-Wettstein wrote:

You sure know the problem. You fully dedicated yourself to a translation. You did a lot of research work and you carefully checked your work. And then it comes back from the proofreader. You are hardly able to recognize your translation anymore. Then you find out there were no substantial errors it's mostly about style, and corrections just consist in replacing your solution by a synonym.
To my opinion proofreaders should limit themselves to specialist matters and leave people's style as it is.

Rita Heller wrote:

Using proofreaders is a good idea but using a non-native proofreader to correct a native translator is ridiculous. Moreover, highly-specialized texts require proofreaders who are specialized in the field (many agencies simply do not have these available or they do not want to pay for them).

Worse is a corrector of the proofreader who is neither a native nor a specialist - I have been subjected to that. It is humiliating.

I actually have several hi-tech specialists of my own to consult; one is bilingual with a Ph.D....we all know that agencies are not paying specialized Ph.D.s to proof translations. They could never afford that. Yet, they put my work into question. In the end, the agency is losing. They have paid for a specialized native translation and then they change it according to their less-qualified in-house staff.

Where is the logic?

Jo Macdonald wrote:

Translating and proofreading


Hi Gabriella,
Sometimes a client can dispute a translation as a way to try and pay less. It can also be someone in-house trying to get noticed. If you are 100% sure of the quality of your translation, stick to your guns.

As a translator, I’ll eagerly listen to suggestions. However, if someone tries to slaughter a well-translated text, I will defend it in everyone’s interest.

As a proofreader, if the translation is obviously done by a professional mother tongue I probably won’t change a word. This is because; once you start you just can’t stop.

Sometimes there are a few obvious changes, but you should always try to avoid changing the translator’s style. If you change the style in parts of the text, you’ve now got two voices in there.

If a “translation” is dire, I’ll tell the client it will cost them, and suggest they get the original translated properly.



[Edited at 2006-01-27 18:27]