Correcting Software Translations©Judy Vorfeld
Some time after I started a new profit center, polishing foreign software
translations, I began encouraging others in my industry to follow
my lead. If you love working with words, here's part of what you need to begin a
similar venture: good grammar and communication skills, focus, flexibility,
and wisdom.
Before you consider this type of venture, make sure that you have no
moral or ethical conflicts with the site content. The same thing is true if
you are asked to type, for example, a manuscript. As professionals, we must
screen our potential clients and their product. In order to give
enthusiastic support to any project, we need to believe in what we are doing.
When I learned that a fellow professional needed help with a number of pages, I went to his site
and studied it carefully. Some of the software-translated text was
understandable, but most was not. After studying the site, it was clear
that I could make most of the needed changes (including punctuation and
formatting). Since it was a site with scientific terminology, I knew I
would spend extra time consulting with the non-English-speaking owner, who
would translate electronically each of my messages, then write and
electronically translate his responses. He is French, and his site is in
four languages.
Here is his first (electronically translated) message to me, in which he
explains how he works with his German text editor:
". . . for translations in German, I send the page web joined
to an email. The translator opens the page in edition and translates the
text directly. It is can be possible to make similar. Here is a joined
page, if you can open him in edition, it is possible to correct the grammar
directly. It is as possible to correct some details of the presentation.
After, it is sufficient to send back the corrected page web. To receipt I
finish details. It is a simple and fast formula. What thinks you of
it?"
I opened the page and decided to plunge in. Doing this type of work
allows me to focus on what the originator is trying to say and keep it
consistent with everything else he's written.
How will you be paid? If the job appears to be substantial, you may
choose to ask for a large deposit. Some potential clients will ask you to
quote based on the job, while others will accept an hourly rate. Make
sure to factor in the time spent communicating the corrections to the
owner, if that is necessary. If you don't know HTML, you'll have to
devise the most efficient way to convey the results of your editing. I
encourage you to begin most jobs only after you have received a deposit.
There are exceptions.
My clients usually send me their pages as files attached to e-mail, and
after I have made the corrections in my Web editor, I return them by
e-mail. While I know HTML, occasionally the owner of a site is not the
Webmaster, and we must work out whatever method is best for the immediate
situation. When this occurs, and the job is brief, I sometimes copy the
text from the site and paste it into my e-mail program or word processing
program. I make corrections and notations, then e-mail the marked-up copy.
The complexities of Web design continue to increase. Some programs
use layers, while others have their own internal coding and methods
for uploading. To be on the safe side, edit the text in your word processing
program, and leave the coding to the site owner.
Often, in foreign text, one finds spaces between text and punctuation
marks. One may also discover that writers from many other countries
routinely do not indent the first line of each paragraph and do not use a
two-line paragraph break. None of the above is wrong, however,
you are editing for American-speaking people, and your job is to
make sure the site text reads easily for them.
So, if you find foreign clients with a good product, who will pay
you, and with whom you can communicate effectively, go for it! If you
have further questions, contact me.
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