atw: Re: Looks good, but ....

  • From: "Robert Kloiber" <robert@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Wed, 28 Apr 2004 14:04:47 +1000

This is a typical case of not choosing a native speaker of the target
language,
(i.e., English in this case).
Often these jobs are passed on to someone in the company's office who has 
'some' knowledge of the target language, just to save some money. They
don't
realise, however, what damage a bad translation does to their commercial
image.

A responsible translation company will choose a translator who is:
1. a native speaker of the target language, and
2. has the appropriate technical background knowledge to understand the
context.

Whilst one can blame the translator for taking on a job he/she isn't
capable of
carrying out correctly, the final responsibility lies with whoever has
chosen that
particular translator.

Robert Kloiber
Academy Translations

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 28/04/2004 at 11:38 AM Michael Lewis wrote:

> Cathy Morison:
> 
> > Just came across this rather attractive brochure which isn't quite up
to
> > scratch in the English language department.
> > 
> > http://www.inet.co.th/inet-istyle/2/pdf_files/tipeng.pdf
> 
> Yebbut -- and this is a point we should remember about our own work --
> the 
> English problems were almost certainly put there by a translator. The
> original, in 
> Finnish or Urdu or whatever, was probaly fine.
> 
> But I've also seen versions of material I've written, with subsequent
> updates by 
> other people, that have made my hair curl. I'm glad my name isn't
> actually on the 
> cover . . .
> 
> 
> Michael Lewis


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