RE: [Fwd: Re: Revisiting Frame vs. Word in light of new capabilities]

["Cassandra Greer" <cassandra -at- greer -dot- de>]

> Along the lines of what Gene mentioned, it's also interesting to note
> whether the translators are not only *ready* but also *interested* in
> getting on-board with a move to FM. You see, if they need to undergo
> training in FM in order to get working, you are going to need a certain
> level of buy-in on their part if there is to be any success.
>
> What might make them not be interested/invested in making this switch?
> If they are in fact translators by profession (and not TWs), they may
> not give a hoot about tools. Instead, their personal focus may be more
> on the importance of proper translation and language nuances (as it
> should be). Thus, their professional interest may very well be in
> getting the words trasnlated and the docs out the door, as opposed to
> learning the finer aspects of print publishing. If that's the case, it
> may be a situation of trying to put a square peg into the proverbial
> round hole by forcing them to be more TW-like when they don't want or
> need to.
>
> And yes, it's possible to argue that s/he should find some new
> translators if they're not on-board with the program, but good
> translators are hard to come by. (I have worked as a translator, and I
> know that side of the fence.) If I had to get my work translated, I'd
> far prefer the translator who sent me ASCII text that was properly
> translated than the one who sent me gibberish that was thoughtfully and
> artfully laid out.

Here I am again with my translator hat on. Oh and let me put my technical
translation feather in it - an ostrich feather compared to the other eagle
or sparrow feathers.

Just like TWs, translators are service providers. Most customers I know
prefer that their service providers deliver services that do not require the
customer to fiddle any further after the fact. Actually most of the time,
the person ordering the translation has nothing to do with the creation of
the original doc nor does he understand the translation process or even the
difference between a good translation and a bad one. And the creator of the
doc doesn't have time to reformat ASCII (or Word) back into his 500 page FM
book (single sourcing is a mere wish for most). And in this globalized
world, it is not _that_ hard to find another good translator who has the
tool knowledge necessary (if you need any, let me know and I can direct you
there) or an agency that can be the go-between - but even there, someone has
to know the tool.

If I am translating a press release, I do not need FM. But this is not where
the money is (nor am I even interested in it). However, as a technical
translator, it behooves me to have at least a cursory knowledge of the tools
my customers use to create/format their docs. And it behooves me to be
interested in techy things and to learn quickly since I should have at least
a 'vague' understanding of what I am translating (techy things) - the same
characteristics I need to be a tech writer. If I do not like techy things, I
highly doubt I would do justice to techy translations and shouldn't be doing
them.

If I screw something up in a doc while I am translating whether I am using
CAT tools or not, I can't go back to the customer and require him to fix my
mess, well, not unless I don't want him as a customer anymore. I also cannot
guarantee things got in the right places or I haven't messed up a code or a
style somewhere if I don't have the original tool. Having said that, I don't
need to know the final details of the publishing process. But if I know the
tools at least well enough to not break anything and to produce a doc that
does everything it is supposed to in the different language, I am flexible
and the customers come to me, whether they be agencies or direct customers.
And I can charge more for the extra services that go above and beyond those
required for the translation itself :) This gives me more money to buy toys
:), i.e., even more tools to play with which then let me be even more
competitive.

I am on several translator's lists and in addition to term questions and
chats about whatever, I would say almost as many of the posts have something
to do with specific software questions as they do on any of the TW lists I
am on (not necessarily the same software but nevertheless). So I would not
say that learning how to use specific tools is truly optional for the
translator. It depends on what they are translating and how competitive they
want to be.

ok this time it was 4 euro cents (making up for all the time I lurk)

Cass :)




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