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6,250 translators at 11.25 an hour / cheating translators
论题张贴者: Jeff Whittaker
Jeff Whittaker
Jeff Whittaker  Identity Verified
美国
Local time: 13:36
Spanish西班牙语译成English英语
+ ...
Nov 21, 2011

There seem to be several dozen sites that machine translate documents, divide them up into smaller pieces (one - two sentences) put them on the "cloud" and then have monolingual editors pick out those sentences that do not make sense and then pay "translators" to translate only the "hard" parts at 10-12 per hour.

After 18 years in the business, it makes me very sad and depressed to see where the industry is headed.


... See more
There seem to be several dozen sites that machine translate documents, divide them up into smaller pieces (one - two sentences) put them on the "cloud" and then have monolingual editors pick out those sentences that do not make sense and then pay "translators" to translate only the "hard" parts at 10-12 per hour.

After 18 years in the business, it makes me very sad and depressed to see where the industry is headed.


http://translationcloud.net/#welcome

http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=158802914151405
"Over 180 completed projects! Average hourly rate went up to $10/hour!
That's some serious wage for someone working from home."

http://www.cheatingtranslators.com/

http://www.ibabbleon.com/copywriter-translator/2011/11/whats-wrong-with-a-factory-translation-cloud-translation/

[Topic moved to SCAMS forum by moderator, not by me. If only this were a scam.]

[Edited at 2011-11-21 23:14 GMT]
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Jean Lachaud
Jean Lachaud  Identity Verified
美国
Local time: 13:36
English英语译成French法语
+ ...
serious wages?? Nov 21, 2011

Serious wages, indeed!

These so-called translations, unfortunately, serve only to supply clueless answerers in the Kudoz forums with infinite numbers of "that is how it is translated, here are URLs" bad references.


 
Thayenga
Thayenga  Identity Verified
德国
Local time: 19:36
正式会员 (自2009)
English英语译成German德语
+ ...
Serious wage! Nov 21, 2011

"Over 180 completed projects! Average hourly rate went up to $10/hour!
That's some serious wage for someone working from home."

This can only be stated by someone who doesn't know what all is involved when working at home. A sad development indeed.


 
Jeff Whittaker
Jeff Whittaker  Identity Verified
美国
Local time: 13:36
Spanish西班牙语译成English英语
+ ...
主题发起人
How do clients decide? Nov 22, 2011

Obviously, we know that these kinds of automated amateur cloud translation hodge-podge roulette wheel companies (you never know what you are going to get) are not a reliable source of translation, but in the absence of a translation agency rating site, how can a potential client of translation make an informed decision about which company to use?

[Edited at 2011-11-22 00:14 GMT]


 
Phil Hand
Phil Hand  Identity Verified
中国大陆
Local time: 01:36
Chinese汉语译成English英语
Only afraid that clients will start to see this as the norm Nov 22, 2011

If I can get a client in a room and sit down with them, then I can make the quality problems clear to them. But there's only one of me, and there's a lot of clients that don't get it...

 
Jeff Whittaker
Jeff Whittaker  Identity Verified
美国
Local time: 13:36
Spanish西班牙语译成English英语
+ ...
主题发起人
Opportunity Nov 22, 2011

There is most definitely a need (and perhaps an opportunity) for a translator-centered (and translator-sponsored) professional organization acting in the interests of translators (rather than translators and agencies to avoid conflicts of interest) in order to actively educate current and future translation customers about the industry through internet, social media, youtube videos, print and other campaigns to counterbalance the MT hype and inform clients that just because it sounds good does n... See more
There is most definitely a need (and perhaps an opportunity) for a translator-centered (and translator-sponsored) professional organization acting in the interests of translators (rather than translators and agencies to avoid conflicts of interest) in order to actively educate current and future translation customers about the industry through internet, social media, youtube videos, print and other campaigns to counterbalance the MT hype and inform clients that just because it sounds good does not mean that the translation is correct or that elements are not missing (something a "monolingual editor" will not catch) and the corresponding hazards of assuming that because the MT output makes sense that it is a translation. There is an erroneous assumption that Google translate provides either a workable translation or obvious garbage. The organization could also sponsor information sites that translators can link to in order to provide clients with reliable information and warnings about "alternate" sources of translation services, the pros and cons of translation technology, cloud-based document translation systems, etc.

Phil Hand wrote:

If I can get a client in a room and sit down with them, then I can make the quality problems clear to them. But there's only one of me, and there's a lot of clients that don't get it...


[Edited at 2011-11-22 03:08 GMT]
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Robert Forstag
Robert Forstag  Identity Verified
美国
Local time: 13:36
Spanish西班牙语译成English英语
+ ...
Agree with Jeff... Nov 22, 2011

...re both his sadness as to where the industry is heading and his call for a site with a prominent internet presence that consistently and effectively represents freelance translators' interests....

 
Thayenga
Thayenga  Identity Verified
德国
Local time: 19:36
正式会员 (自2009)
English英语译成German德语
+ ...
An urgent requirement Nov 22, 2011

Jeff Whittaker wrote:

Obviously, we know that these kinds of automated amateur cloud translation hodge-podge roulette wheel companies (you never know what you are going to get) are not a reliable source of translation, but in the absence of a translation agency rating site, how can a potential client of translation make an informed decision about which company to use?

[Edited at 2011-11-22 00:14 GMT]


I agree with Jeff. One or more rating agency(ies) are an urgent requirement to not only correctly inform and/or assist the client in choosing the best translation agency for his/her project, but to also protect the service providers, the translators.


 
Richard Foulkes (X)
Richard Foulkes (X)  Identity Verified
英国
Local time: 18:36
German德语译成English英语
+ ...
Seconding Phil, Jeff and Robert... Nov 22, 2011

It's hard to fight the likes of Google in shaping people's perception that translation is now an automated process with minimal human intervention and that can only have a downward influence on rates.

What an opportunity for an established translation community website to nail its colours to the mast and distance itself from the lower end of the market...


 
Hiromi HORIYA
Hiromi HORIYA
Local time: 19:36
French法语译成Japanese日语
We are not the machine… Nov 22, 2011

Many people think that translators are like a "machine"…

 
Jaroslaw Michalak
Jaroslaw Michalak  Identity Verified
波兰
Local time: 19:36
正式会员 (自2004)
English英语译成Polish波兰语
SITE LOCALIZER
Same old, same old... Nov 22, 2011

The translation maket is not "heading" anywhere. I've seen the screams "oh, no, there's someone offering $ 0.02 per word translations, we're all going to die!" ever since I got connected to the Internet, that is almost fifteen years ago. If the market crashes, it takes its sweet time, doesn't it?

And again, I do not buy the argument that most clients are idiots... I mean, that most clients are misinformed. I believe they have a pretty good idea what they are paying for and wh
... See more
The translation maket is not "heading" anywhere. I've seen the screams "oh, no, there's someone offering $ 0.02 per word translations, we're all going to die!" ever since I got connected to the Internet, that is almost fifteen years ago. If the market crashes, it takes its sweet time, doesn't it?

And again, I do not buy the argument that most clients are idiots... I mean, that most clients are misinformed. I believe they have a pretty good idea what they are paying for and what they get...
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Daniel Grau
Daniel Grau  Identity Verified
阿根廷
正式会员 (自2008)
English英语译成Spanish西班牙语
I particulary liked these bits Nov 22, 2011

• You initially have two minutes to complete each proofreading task.

• However, you won't ever see the whole project. For security reasons, Translation Cloud gives you only one line of the project at a time.

[Edited at 2011-11-22 20:33 GMT]


 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
荷兰
Local time: 19:36
正式会员 (自2006)
English英语译成Afrikaans南非语
+ ...
How much realistically Nov 22, 2011

Jeff Whittaker wrote:
http://translationcloud.net/


They pay for editing machine translations. I wonder how much a translator with scruples would be able to make using their system.

I can't try it out, unfortunately, beacuse they require me to agree to allow them to post on my behalf on Facebook, and I don't see why that is necessary for the app to work.

[Topic moved to SCAMS forum by moderator, not by me. If only this were a scam.]


I agree, this is not a scam.


 
Jenn Mercer
Jenn Mercer  Identity Verified
美国
Local time: 13:36
正式会员 (自2009)
French法语译成English英语
Facebook is a clue Nov 22, 2011

The fact that this service requires being signed on to Facebook should be a good clue that they are not professional.

 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
荷兰
Local time: 19:36
正式会员 (自2006)
English英语译成Afrikaans南非语
+ ...
The value of Facebook Nov 22, 2011

Jenn Mercer wrote:
The fact that this service requires being signed on to Facebook should be a good clue that they are not professional.


Actually, the value of Facebook is that it is often easier to check if someone (i.e. a translator) is a real human with a real past. Not always, but often.


 
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