tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20155610.post3680368855252231427..comments2024-03-06T02:46:19.929+00:00Comments on Translation Tribulations: Stumbling toward pro databasesKevin Lossnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14727800526216764023noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20155610.post-22448974882857636032013-02-24T13:24:55.720+00:002013-02-24T13:24:55.720+00:00@Katalin: as Robin Bonthrone pointed out, this lis...@Katalin: as Robin Bonthrone pointed out, this list has a very specific purpose. The German list I mention here is not about quality or where you live, it's whetherr you are essentially able to function as an officer of the court in a limited capacity by certifying the correctness and completeness of your work or work you have reviewed most carefully.<br /><br />Most translators' directories that i found and listed are rather useless. That's the point of this new international initiative that got started by accident more or less the way I told the lead-in tale. As for who will be the right translator for a given purpose, I refuse to take any general positions; your language (HU) is subject to very different influences from mine (EN-US, DE-DE), and so many factors play a role as you know that I think it's pointless to generalize. I had to translate a newsletter once from Sinhalese to English. The newsletter contained scandalous claims about a Theravadan monk, so most translators refused to touch it (and I had a limited pool to start with). So I was grateful to get anyone to deal with it at all and quality be damned. Kevin Lossnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14727800526216764023noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20155610.post-84448132318083572512013-02-24T11:40:18.419+00:002013-02-24T11:40:18.419+00:00Interesting article. :) I checked my main language...Interesting article. :) I checked my main language pair (English to Hungarian) and I do not know anybody from the list. A more important question came to my mind. This is a German domestic list, meanwhile it does matter whether the person lives in the country of the target language. If I lived on the Seychelles for example let's say for 15 years and I would still work as an English to Hungarian translator, I know I would need to come back to Hungary at least for 4-6 months/year to keep up with the linguistic, cultural and scientific terminology changes. <br />As I see translators' directories (international): most of them are useless. In my language pairs I know more quality professional translators among those who do not have certifications than those who have. A directory that contains a lot of names may involve more professionals. But you have to be an excellent "treasure hunter" to find the professional you need. I do not name any lists but according to my experience mostly translators can tell about their own colleagues (in their own language pairs) whether someone is a professional translator or not. The question is whether somebody is professional enough to admit that although he/she is my competition but he/she is a good translator in his/her specialization(s). Of course there are qualified project managers who also have a list of good translators. But as we all know many agencies list their translators based on their rates (lowest comes first) and not based on their professionalism. Fortunately there are exceptions. :) Katalinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20155610.post-55424886719252244102013-02-17T12:07:11.526+00:002013-02-17T12:07:11.526+00:00One problem here is what is essentially the "...One problem here is what is essentially the "misuse" of the sworn translator status, or at least a misunderstanding of the purpose it is designed to serve (at least here in Germany): to maintain a register of translators who are authorized to translate documents to be used in court cases. This doesn't mean that those translators actually *can* translate, as admission to the register is a merely formal procedure that is based on paper qualifications. Unfortunately, quite a lot of clients think that a "sworn" translator is necessarily a competent translator, and that the status has been conferred after going through a course of professional training similar to that for lawyers. So we're faced with situations where a client asks for a "certified" translation of their financial statements on the assumption that a "sworn" translator is the best person to do it. In almost all cases, this is rather like asking a divorce lawyer to audit a set of IFRS consolidated financial statements. As a rule, we We manage to persuade the client that "certification" is a waste of time and has nothing to do with the quality of the translation, but it still costs time and effort. I think it would be really useful if databases like this - as well as T&I associations - explained exactly what the status of the "sworn" translator is (and is not).RobinBhttp://www.fb-partners.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20155610.post-89530895751073490772013-02-16T20:36:43.743+00:002013-02-16T20:36:43.743+00:00Hi Loek,
Yes that database does exist but as a sea...Hi Loek,<br />Yes that database does exist but as a search tool it leaves a lot to be desired. My name is on that list. If I enter my own postcode I still come up as third and if I use a general postcode for The Hague (2500 XX), it comes up with 31 results, not one of which is in The Hague region. The list, which is topped by Amsterdam, Nieuw Vennep, Hilversum, Amersfoort, Arnhem, Zieriksee and Eindhoven, actually includes Belgium but not towns within 1 km of The Hague. Need I go on?Christina Guyhttp://www.cjtranslations.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20155610.post-30647109418566432172013-02-14T22:08:33.340+00:002013-02-14T22:08:33.340+00:00Here's the Dutch equivalent of that database f...Here's the Dutch equivalent of that database for translators under oath: http://www.bureaubtv.nl/register/index.cfm?registeraction=showsearch&section=afnemerLoek van Kootenhttp://www.loekalization.comnoreply@blogger.com