| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4 5 6 7] > | Are general translators capable of translating highly specialized medical texts Thread poster: LilianNekipelov
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Phil Hand 
China
Local time: 13:43
Chinese to English
| Christine, I agree with 90% of what you said | Jul 14, 2012 |
Christine Andersen wrote:
In the real world, minor grammatical errors are not a disaster, while conveying the message accurately is crucial in medical texts.
If a grammatical error is serious enough to change the meaning, it is not what I call minor.
Just to respond to this one point: the issue is that someone who doesn't have perfect language skills (i.e. a non-native speaker) cannot reliably tell the difference between a minor error and a serious error. And that means that when you proofread a text translated by a non-native, you have to check everything.
| | | | Phil Hand
China
Local time: 13:43
Chinese to English
| Ah, the Russians are special, are they? | Jul 14, 2012 |
LilianBoland wrote:
Many Russian translators I know, mostly technical or financial translators, can provide great translations into English.
Or so they believe. I've just been hammering this point in my own pair: most non-natives in my pair overestimate the quality of their English. I don't know anything about Russian, but I wouldn't take statements like this at face value, either.
I actually think very few people could translate complex financial texts, especially, from Russian into other languages, if they don't have most of their education in Russian. The same is true about technical translations...
No. Your language is not special. It is no different from any other language in the world. Deep, complex, with lots of knotty cultural issues. Whaddya know, English is too!
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Phil Hand wrote: LilianBoland wrote:
Many Russian translators I know, mostly technical or financial translators, can provide great translations into English. Or so they believe. I've just been hammering this point in my own pair: most non-natives in my pair overestimate the quality of their English. I don't know anything about Russian, but I wouldn't take statements like this at face value, either.
I actually think very few people could translate complex financial texts, especially, from Russian into other languages, if they don't have most of their education in Russian. The same is true about technical translations...
No. Your language is not special. It is no different from any other language in the world. Deep, complex, with lots of knotty cultural issues. Whaddya know, English is too!
And we're back to the same old issue. I agree with Lilian that there are fields where near-native knowledge of the source language is essential. Heck, I think near-native source language knowledge should be checked just as native proficiency in the target language should. I don't want to tell on anyone, but if you checked the kudoz questions of a native EN translator in one of my pair (who keeps boasting with this native thingy), you'd be astonished to see that this proficient native asker has NO clue about simple phrases in one of my (let's say rare) source languages that even a kindergarten-aged child would know how to convey to their playmates...
Back to the topic, I too avoid/refuse to do medical translations. I may get this impression because it is a territory unknown to me, but I think this field has such an immense "volume" of knowledge that only a specialized/qualified/educated/experienced/actively-working-in-the-field person could understand all the details.
It's interesting that there are clients who think a translator can translate everything and are surprised to hear a translator turn down a work because it's "not within their speciality".
| | | | COSMEtrad
Local time: 06:43
English to Italian
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| They aren't, in my opinion | Jul 14, 2012 |
I am a translator and I specialize in the medical field. I am not alone though. I work in partnership with a doctor. He's a Cardiologist, he has studied in the U.S.A., and he's been working in the U.K. for several years now.
He provides proofreading and checking of all medical translations I perform. That's the only way I feel comfortable in translating highly specialized medical texts, and it seems to work pretty well.
If I were alone, I would not accept to translate medical documen... See more I am a translator and I specialize in the medical field. I am not alone though. I work in partnership with a doctor. He's a Cardiologist, he has studied in the U.S.A., and he's been working in the U.K. for several years now.
He provides proofreading and checking of all medical translations I perform. That's the only way I feel comfortable in translating highly specialized medical texts, and it seems to work pretty well.
If I were alone, I would not accept to translate medical documents. ▲ Collapse
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Lingua 5B
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 07:43
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
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| Let's be realistic | Jul 14, 2012 |
First off, no doctor knows ALL details about ALL medicine areas. Doctors I happen to know are the first to admit this (and they are not translators or the ones competing for translation projects, they just have daily medical jobs).
Second, somebody here has seriously underestimated the fact that grammatical and syntactic aspects affect the meaning (tense, prepositions, sentence structure etc). This would be like saying that knowing body anatomy and physiological processes is not imp... See more First off, no doctor knows ALL details about ALL medicine areas. Doctors I happen to know are the first to admit this (and they are not translators or the ones competing for translation projects, they just have daily medical jobs).
Second, somebody here has seriously underestimated the fact that grammatical and syntactic aspects affect the meaning (tense, prepositions, sentence structure etc). This would be like saying that knowing body anatomy and physiological processes is not important in medicine for accurate diagnosis and successful treatment.
And third, yes, I've seen badly written and inaccurate translations done by field specialists. Most of the time the errors and oddities are a result of literal translation. Knowing technical terms will not help an overall bad flow or odd tone of voice.
[Edited at 2012-07-14 12:27 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | LilianNekipelov
United States
Local time: 01:43
Russian to English
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TOPIC STARTER | You just don't understand humor, what is wrong? | Jul 14, 2012 |
Did you think, Ty, that $0.02 for such a specialist was meant seriously? I purposely chose a very low rate so it would be self-evident that it was sarcastic. If such a person existed they would have to be paid about $2/w, and this is meant seriously here.
With regards to legal education -- yes, I have higher legal education, although I am not a lawyer -- many paralegal undergraduate courses, taken as electives, education related to court interpreting, and over ten years of experien... See more Did you think, Ty, that $0.02 for such a specialist was meant seriously? I purposely chose a very low rate so it would be self-evident that it was sarcastic. If such a person existed they would have to be paid about $2/w, and this is meant seriously here.
With regards to legal education -- yes, I have higher legal education, although I am not a lawyer -- many paralegal undergraduate courses, taken as electives, education related to court interpreting, and over ten years of experience in the legal field, some of it in-house, or for the court system.
Phil, no, this thread was not a response to the native language thread. In fact, why do I care about the language thread at all. I would like to really claim another language, or two, as my native, but I could live with two. Here, I am not joking. I don't even bid on Proz.com, almost never. I like this site, and I like the Kudos, instead of crosswords. I just respond to some things that I don't agree with.
[Edited at 2012-07-14 10:28 GMT]
[Edited at 2012-07-14 21:08 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 07:43
Spanish to English
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| Someone seems to have lost the plot | Jul 14, 2012 |
Phil Hand wrote: LilianBoland wrote:
Many Russian translators I know, mostly technical or financial translators, can provide great translations into English. Or so they believe. I've just been hammering this point in my own pair: most non-natives in my pair overestimate the quality of their English. I don't know anything about Russian, but I wouldn't take statements like this at face value, either.
I actually think very few people could translate complex financial texts, especially, from Russian into other languages, if they don't have most of their education in Russian. The same is true about technical translations...
No. Your language is not special. It is no different from any other language in the world. Deep, complex, with lots of knotty cultural issues. Whaddya know, English is too!
Obviously some highly specialised medical texts will be beyond the ken of non-specialist translators, but some of the other asertions flying about here, such as the non-importance of style and errors or native vs non-native quality translation, really do beggar belief. I have to assume someone is either flogging a still-kicking hobby horse or playing devil's advocate.
| | | | LilianNekipelov
United States
Local time: 01:43
Russian to English
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TOPIC STARTER | What errors do you have in mind. | Jul 14, 2012 |
I only said minor errors, meaning: some punctuation errors, typos, or Simple Past used were Present Perfect might have been preferred, articles, things like that. Don't turn a mouse into a Monster.
[Edited at 2012-07-14 11:44 GMT]
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Ty Kendall
United Kingdom
Local time: 06:43
Hebrew to English
| Or, as I suspect.... | Jul 14, 2012 |
neilmac wrote:
I have to assume someone is either flogging a still-kicking hobby horse or playing devil's advocate.
Just a case of trolling.
| | | | LilianNekipelov
United States
Local time: 01:43
Russian to English
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TOPIC STARTER | A case of life and death, more than anything else. | Jul 14, 2012 |
I really believe some people may die because of some translations one can get a taste of when visiting Kudos.
| | | | XXXphxxx (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 06:43
Portuguese to English
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| Very much inclined to agree | Jul 14, 2012 |
Ty Kendall wrote: neilmac wrote:
I have to assume someone is either flogging a still-kicking hobby horse or playing devil's advocate. Just a case of trolling.
It's getting ludicrous.
| | | | XXXphxxx (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 06:43
Portuguese to English
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| O/T: Can you please just clarify something for us? | Jul 14, 2012 |
LilianBoland wrote:
I would like to really claim another language, or two, as my native, but I could live with two.
[Edited at 2012-07-14 10:28 GMT]
What is your definition of "native language" since you feel you could have up to four and why do you believe English is one of them?
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Ty Kendall
United Kingdom
Local time: 06:43
Hebrew to English
| Humour in a foreign language | Jul 14, 2012 |
LilianBoland wrote:
Did you think , Ty, that $0.02 for such a specialist was meant seriously? I purposely chose a very low rate so it would be self-evident that it was sarcastic.
Humour is a very tricky thing to master in a foreign language.
It also doesn't help your case - if you were joking, which I'm still not convinced you were - to name the post "Of course I am not kidding".
Here:
[Edited at 2012-07-14 21:18 GMT]
| | | | LilianNekipelov
United States
Local time: 01:43
Russian to English
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TOPIC STARTER | For a definition of native language go to Wikipedia, Lisa | Jul 14, 2012 |
I am sorry, Lisa, but I am really tired of repeating the same thing, over and over again. Do you believe that native language is only the language your mother spoke to you for the first 10 months of your life? Maybe then we should check what the mother's native language was as well. I may really have to declare German as my native language, based on your definitions. This was my mother's L1.
To Ty, you just probably don't understand abstract type of humor. That's all. No offense.... See more I am sorry, Lisa, but I am really tired of repeating the same thing, over and over again. Do you believe that native language is only the language your mother spoke to you for the first 10 months of your life? Maybe then we should check what the mother's native language was as well. I may really have to declare German as my native language, based on your definitions. This was my mother's L1.
To Ty, you just probably don't understand abstract type of humor. That's all. No offense.You might get used to it. ▲ Collapse
| | | | MikeTrans
Germany
Local time: 07:43
Italian to German
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| I do medical translations and I don't have/don't need a PhD in medical | Jul 14, 2012 |
Hi,
should a highly qualified person in the medical fied (for example a nephrologist) care about doing translations? Should a dentist do so, or a lawyer? I think I really don't need to answer here
Who remains for the job is a qualifed TRANSLATOR with the appropriate knowledge in the specific medical subject. Without this, I have seen lots of colleagues heading into catastrophic results.
Here... See more Hi,
should a highly qualified person in the medical fied (for example a nephrologist) care about doing translations? Should a dentist do so, or a lawyer? I think I really don't need to answer here
Who remains for the job is a qualifed TRANSLATOR with the appropriate knowledge in the specific medical subject. Without this, I have seen lots of colleagues heading into catastrophic results.
Here some fundamentals before even thinking doing such translations:
Such jobs are a more than ever a precision work, like swiss chronographs, they require much more time than the usual riff-raff and I will never agree on short deadlines.
Greets,
Mike
[Edited at 2012-07-14 21:43 GMT]
[Edited at 2012-07-14 23:56 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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