Should I tell my client her translators can't write for shit?

In My Humble Opinion
1

As I’ve mentioned, this week I’m proofreading a 100,000-word document for a client from a political think tank, a client I would very much like to keep.

This document has been translated from the Spanish. Very, very badly. So badly it makes me angry, because I have worked as a translator for three years and have been working on a translation certificate for four months, and this copy would have never made it past any of my professors. It wouldn’t have gotten 30% from my Writing Techniques professor, and it’s driving me nuts.

The quality is highly variable, which makes me think that several translators have been used. In some chapters, though, the excessively literal translations are heavy on the ground, like the person either didn’t or couldn’t think about how what they were writing even sounded in English. Excessive coordination, non-parallel structure, dangling modifiers, false friends, poor word choice, unclear structure, unclear antecedents, things that they forgot to translate, and outright failure to use anything like correct punctuation. Let’s not even talk about the bibliographies.

I’d gotten all the way through the whole rat’s nest, but the straw that broke the camel’s back was in the final chapter, the professional profiles of the contributors, of whom several were from “The University of Queen’s” and “The University of Harvard”!

I know - this is why they have a proofreader - but even if I had a proofreader, I would never let out copy like this, as a translator. I feel translators to English are paid to write good English prose, and I feel really insulted by whoever this is.

Do you think my client would appreciate being informed that she is not getting her money’s worth from whoever this is (after a tactful question to ensure that she herself is not the translator, which I doubt)? She is not a first-language speaker of English herself, and she may not detect these problems when reading the document.

2

P.S. She either did not detect the sensity of errors or did not read the document before giving it to me, as she suggested they might be few enough that I could report them over the phone.

3

As you’ve proposed, it seems prudent to first sound her out as to her part in the translation.

If, as it appears, it’s the result of a combined effort by several translators and it’s as badly written as you’ve described, then it’s liable to a.) not effectively communicate whatever ideas she hopes to express and b.) become an embarrassment to your client. And you may well be perceived as part of the “team” responsible for such.

If the above is the case, I’d guess you might have a better chance of maintaining a future relationship with this client if you point out the poor translation. Perhaps you might rewrite a few sample paragraphs to make your point.

Just my thoughts. Good luck with it matt.

4

The amount of red ink on the translation ought to make the specifics clear; I’ve rather exceeded my bailiwick (which was originally just to check the typography and such) and have marked the most clumsy/least English passages. I’m just musing about whether I should make an additional point of talking to her about it, or if it would be perceived as overstepping my bounds. It’s confusing; I’m not used to this sort of politics.

5

I would definitely tell her.

6

Tell her diplomatically and carefully go through all the reasons why its crap.

BTW - “False Friends” ??? - Is this a problem with the translation or just some complaint about the inconstancy of human relationships ?:confused: :slight_smile:

7

Cankerist: “false friends” (I’ve never heard this in English, but in every French textbook I’ve ever seen, I’ve been warned about “faux amis”) are words that appear to be cognates but aren’t - the French word “actuellement” looks like it should mean ‘actually’, but in reality it means ‘currently’. Loan words that are butchered (think of the way the Japanese treat words they take from English) as well as words with the same root that have diverged over time become faux amis.

Basically, they’re a common trip-up for intermediate-level language students.

8

False friends are words that mean one thing in language A but something completely different in language B.

Here’s a Wikipedia article on it, with a list of examples.

9

And translators, who are not immune at any level. You know how it is… you’re translating along at three o’clock in the morning, tired, not thinking about it too hard, and whoops, “éventuelle” becomes “eventual.” (It means “possible” or “potential,” as in “il traitera des éventuelles objections” = “He will deal with objections should they arise.”)

10

Okay, I told her. She seemed interested by my comments and receptive to some of my suggestions (I suggested creating a lexicon database and style guide). I guess the other suggestion (GET SOME COMPETENT TRANSLATORS) came through rather clearly as well. In any case, she said that she and the editor had very much appreciated my corrections in the first section she had received.

Some sins:
-Translating the bibliographical entries. WRONG. Even if there’s an English translation, that’s not the one the author is citing.

11

I haven’t read any of your other threads about this (you say you’ve mentioned it before), so I don’t know anything about your client. So, is your client fluent enough to recognize the terrible translation? If not, you’re doing her a huge favor by pointing it out. She’s paid someone (or likely an agency of some sort) money for a product that she is not receiving, and may not even be aware that she’s not receiving what she’s paid for.

Everything about the document, including the translation, should demonstrate her professionalism. I’m sure she knows this, but it will help you when you tell her. Say, “I know how important this is to you, and I am concerned that the quality of the Spanish translation might not make the best impression.”

12

Ha ha! See what happens when I start a response but don’t finish it until much later? Sheesh.

– Beadalin, a day late and a dollar short.

13

Absolutely you should have told her, and as a wannabe translator (and member in a translators’ and interpreters’ union) I’m damn glad you did. It does make me wonder, however, how the firm handled getting the document translated in the first place.

14

Just a thought but my father always used to say that you should ever translate into your native language. A Frenchie translating into English is therefore not good.

15

I really can’t tell what the native language is of the person who did the translation. Much of the text seems too fluent to be from a non-first language speaker; it could either be a quite good non-l1er or a l1er who has terrible writing style.

16

If I were your client I would want to know that my translators were doing a lousy job. Even if I had translated my own work, I would want to know if I should be hiring someone more competent than I am in the target language. If your client is a reasonable human being, she’ll see what a favor you’ve done her by telling her that someone is doing a very substandard job at something vital for her business.