| Pages in topic: [1 2 3] > | Poll: Do you think having too many language pairs reported in your profile can put off outsourcers? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you think having too many language pairs reported in your profile can put off outsourcers?".
This poll was originally submitted by TranslatorJames. View the poll results »
| | | | Williamson 
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:49
Flemish to English
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| Being an active polyglot: Should I apologize? | Jan 11, 2012 |
ProZ.com Staff wrote: This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you think having too many language pairs reported in your profile can put off outsourcers?". This poll was originally submitted by TranslatorJames. View the poll results »
Should I apologize for having an active knowledge of English, French, German and Spanish (and a good passive knowledge of Italian)? I am not a disciple of the native-only dogma. If I were would English,French, German and Spanish into Dutch (but not the other way around) put off outsourcers.
| | | | | It is a well-known fact | Jan 11, 2012 |
that the more pairs you report, the less work you get. It just means that you are not good enough at any of them (at least, that`s what a potential customer feels).
The kind of service we render is highly intangible, which means that emotions play a very important role when one chooses a service provider. It all means that we should pay a great deal of attention to things that can literally deter potential customers.
Still, if you are an agency, you can of course repo... See more that the more pairs you report, the less work you get. It just means that you are not good enough at any of them (at least, that`s what a potential customer feels).
The kind of service we render is highly intangible, which means that emotions play a very important role when one chooses a service provider. It all means that we should pay a great deal of attention to things that can literally deter potential customers.
Still, if you are an agency, you can of course report as many pairs as you can handle. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Rajan Chopra
India
Local time: 05:19
Member (2008)
English to Hindi
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| Jack of all trades, master of none | Jan 11, 2012 |
It reminds me of the above saying.
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It depends what you mean by 'too many'. Two pairs is fairly common and I can't imagine anyone being put off by that. Three pairs is also far from excessive. I think that questions would only start to be raised when someone claims to be able to provide a high quality service in about five or six pairs. I haven't looked, but I doubt that many ProZ members actually make such a claim. Those that do could well be geniuses. As for me, I ony offer one pair!
| | | | | I don't know | Jan 11, 2012 |
It should put them off but I'm not sure that many outsourcers are smart enough to realise that.
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 01:49
Spanish to English
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langclinic wrote:
It reminds me of the above saying.
Me too! Although I often joking refer to myself as "master of none" because I work in several different subject areas, any more than 2 working pairs reported in a profile usually makes me suspicious. It makes it look as if the person is hedging their bets in a desperate attempt to get work.
I can comfortably translate in several fields from Spanish into my native English, and am sometimes willing to inversely translate into less-than-perfect Castilian Spanish, but only under the supervision of a highly qualified, erudite native Spanish speaker who oversees the final draft at all times. Apart from that, I find that my other pair (French-English) has gone to the dogs and I haven't done anything from French for almost 2 years. My impression was that the French language has changed a lot, but maybe I've just been working in Spain too long. I was going to take it off my profile, but now I usually just pass any Fr-Eng work I am offered on to French/English native-speaker colleagues. (NB: I don't consider this outsourcing, just doing a pal a favour).
Translators from countries where Slavonic languages are spoken can usually offer more variants though, and AFAIK some of the langues from the Indian sub-continent are quite similar to each other, so it will be interesting to hear some feedback from there.
[Edited at 2012-01-11 09:04 GMT]
| | | | Evans (X)
Local time: 00:49
Spanish to English
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| How many is too many? | Jan 11, 2012 |
I work in three language pairs. Always into my native language - English.
I can't count the number of times when a French client for instance has come to me for Spanish or Portuguese translations because they already know the quality of the work I produce in English.
There is the added advantage that I often spot errors in source texts when a word in another of my source languages has been wrongly transcribed because the author doesn't know that language. In the fields... See more I work in three language pairs. Always into my native language - English.
I can't count the number of times when a French client for instance has come to me for Spanish or Portuguese translations because they already know the quality of the work I produce in English.
There is the added advantage that I often spot errors in source texts when a word in another of my source languages has been wrongly transcribed because the author doesn't know that language. In the fields I work in (the arts, architecture) a wide knowledge of different European cultures and history is nothing but an advantage to me and to my clients.
I know my limitations. I have also studied Russian and Italian at university and adult education level, but I don't offer translations from these languages. ▲ Collapse
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| five pairs and working on a sixth | Jan 11, 2012 |
I think it can put off people for the reasons given above. But if languages are your passion, you may well be like me and have a perfect understanding of five languages. I'm working on a sixth (Chinese). All of those languages I have studied, spoken and read on a regular basis for over 9 years. I have also lived in countries associated with these languages and therefore immersed myself in their culture.
I am pretty positive I can deliver high-quality translations with the necessary... See more I think it can put off people for the reasons given above. But if languages are your passion, you may well be like me and have a perfect understanding of five languages. I'm working on a sixth (Chinese). All of those languages I have studied, spoken and read on a regular basis for over 9 years. I have also lived in countries associated with these languages and therefore immersed myself in their culture.
I am pretty positive I can deliver high-quality translations with the necessary research for certain terms. After all, I normally translate IT-related texts. When I'm suddenly assigned a legal text, it almost feels like another language to me. I then learn the terms, poke my nose in documents, ask questions where they need to be asked and still deliver high-quality translations.
I don't see why five or six languages would be impossible. But I may reduce the reported number of language pairs and see if that gets me any more work (not that I'm usually idle: I get regular work for each of these pairs).
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| | | | | Slavic languages:) | Jan 11, 2012 |
Translators from countries where Slavonic languages are spoken can usually offer more variants though, and AFAIK some of the langues from the Indian sub-continent are quite similar to each other, so it will be interesting to hear some feedback from there.
[Edited at 2012-01-11 09:04 GMT] [/quote]
uh, I can translate from Czech (even if I read and understand Czech almost as my native language), but I would never dare to translate into Czech without the proofreading by a Czech ... See more Translators from countries where Slavonic languages are spoken can usually offer more variants though, and AFAIK some of the langues from the Indian sub-continent are quite similar to each other, so it will be interesting to hear some feedback from there.
[Edited at 2012-01-11 09:04 GMT] [/quote]
uh, I can translate from Czech (even if I read and understand Czech almost as my native language), but I would never dare to translate into Czech without the proofreading by a Czech native (I fear that results would be near catastrophic). ▲ Collapse
| | | | John Cutler
Spain
Local time: 01:49
Spanish to English
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| Maybe, maybe not | Jan 11, 2012 |
I've often thought that someone who reports many different language pairs is actually the front man/woman for a team of translators.
I suppose though that someone who's grown up in a multilingual home or country could do a good job in several pairs.
| | | | | Amazing things... | Jan 11, 2012 |
Many translation outsourcers' online application forms limit severely the quantity of specialized subjects a translator can cover, yet they'll allow the translator to offer their services in any number of language pairs they want. In other words, they think it's normal for a translator to offer service in, say, two dozen language pairs, however they won't let anyone state there are more than 3-5 areas of specialized knowledge they are able to translate, including "general".
From thi... See more Many translation outsourcers' online application forms limit severely the quantity of specialized subjects a translator can cover, yet they'll allow the translator to offer their services in any number of language pairs they want. In other words, they think it's normal for a translator to offer service in, say, two dozen language pairs, however they won't let anyone state there are more than 3-5 areas of specialized knowledge they are able to translate, including "general".
From this standpoint, I'd like to cover "We don't know what we don't know" by adding two possibilities for learning, viz. assuming that "I don't know squat about X", I may learn:
a) something about X, and eventually become a specialist in X; or
b) learn that I really don't know squat about X.
Indeed, after 38 years translating, I learned that I didn't know enough about four clearly defined areas of human knowledge to understand - ergo translate - anything intended for professional practitioners in these areas, in any language. I recently added a fifth area to the list.
The amazing thing is that though many prospects ask me how long is experience in translation, they don't seem at all interested in what I learned in all these years. So there isn't usually an area where I can specify subjects that I don't and won't translate, and therefore I keep getting requests for these.
If I were an outsourcer, I'd be put off by an invdividual reporting a native level command in more than two languages. There isn't time enough to develop that over a lifetime. ▲ Collapse
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DianeGM
Local time: 02:49
Member (2006)
Dutch to English
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| No idea ... How many is too many? | Jan 11, 2012 |
I am not an outsourcer but if I ever recruit anyone for any reason (proofreading, back translation, handling a lanugage combination that I don't do on request of a client, etc). I pick by colleague to work with me on basis of their skills and experience in THAT language combination and their general attitude. Having said that though, I guess if they listed twenty pairs I'd check their credentials carefully.
The comments above have got me worried though, I know there are perfectly le... See more I am not an outsourcer but if I ever recruit anyone for any reason (proofreading, back translation, handling a lanugage combination that I don't do on request of a client, etc). I pick by colleague to work with me on basis of their skills and experience in THAT language combination and their general attitude. Having said that though, I guess if they listed twenty pairs I'd check their credentials carefully.
The comments above have got me worried though, I know there are perfectly legitimate reasons for having more than 2 language pairs which have nothing to do with 'bet-hedging desperation':
speaking personally, like many other translators here I have two native languages (Greek and English) and I also work in a third language Dutch, so I have four language combinations.
I have always considered that a market and a linguistic advantage (considering what being a native speaker of Greek brings to my English generally, not only in specific fields like medical translation, and also what having a third language as reference brings to my linguistic knowledge and experience generally and so to my translations).
Am I wrong?
Am I in danger of not being taken seriously in one language pair by listing another in which I am equally experienced and competent? ▲ Collapse
| | | | keelin feeney
Ireland
Local time: 00:49
Member (2007)
Spanish to English
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| Depends on number of target languages | Jan 11, 2012 |
I think a large range of target languages is definitely off-putting for a client, assuming they are all very different languages. However, up to 5 or 6 source languages is feasible (and quite amazing!) to 1 or maybe 2 target languages.
| | | | | Good news for an interpreter, not so good for a translator | Jan 11, 2012 |
First, I don't think we're all talking about the same thing. Certainly three combinations is understandable, even four. I think it's when the lists get longer than four that people begin to raise an eyebrow. It also depends on how related the languages are to one another. A translator working from Scandinavian or Slavic languages, for example, might easily offer even more than four and be good at them.
But most clients don't understand what's really involved in translation, so this ... See more First, I don't think we're all talking about the same thing. Certainly three combinations is understandable, even four. I think it's when the lists get longer than four that people begin to raise an eyebrow. It also depends on how related the languages are to one another. A translator working from Scandinavian or Slavic languages, for example, might easily offer even more than four and be good at them.
But most clients don't understand what's really involved in translation, so this is about the impressions they gain, not so much about the reality. I can well believe that the "Jack of all trades" metaphor comes to mind.
In my case, I haveabout an equal volume in the Spanish and Portuguese source languages. I have always been stronger in Portuguese, for family reasons, but the work has always been from Spanish, which I studied for many years, because the market opportunities are infinitely greater. So I have earned my stripes in Spanish, and now, after many, many years, I am finally getting work in my strongest 2nd language. I have to say that I understand the text in Portuguese at a much deeper level, despite my long experience translating from Spanish. ▲ Collapse
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