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Subject:RE: Preparing a translator test From:Tom Johnson <johnsont -at- starcutter -dot- com> To:TECHWR-L <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 2 Mar 2000 07:54:40 -0500
I am not a translator, but I have worked with translators on several
occasions and have found many of them are willing to translate a 1 to 2
page passage as a sample. I think I would tell them they will be required
to provide a sample of their work using text you provide. They might
receive this better than calling it a test.
On the other hand, there may be issues you want to investigate that are
more along the lines of project management or procedural types of
questions. "What would you do if you found a grammatical problem in the
text to be translated?" Or, "You discover contradicting statements in two
adjacent paragraphs, do you translate verbatim or do you make a phone call
to point out the discrepancy?" Those probably aren't very good questions
and may not really be applicable in this situation. I'm just trying to
point out there may be certain things you expect a translator to know or do
(other than pure translation). My guess is you just want people who will
crank out good translations and your documents are error free and don't
need a proofreader or validator.
Tom Johnson
Technical Writer
Elk Rapids Engineering Div., Star Cutter Company
johnsont -at- starcutter -dot- com - work
thomasj -at- freeway -dot- net - personal
