| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Poll: Are you completely satisfied with your work when you deliver a job? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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There is no job done that couldn't be done better. Therefore, being FULLY satisfied is self-deception or lack of modesty
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 06:36
Spanish to English
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| You can't polish a... | Jul 3, 2012 |
Usually, however, as the saying goes, "you can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear".
If the deadline is squeezed, which is often the case, end quality can be affected too. So sometimes I'm more satisfied than others. And sometimes I do make a greater effort to turn out a polished final draft if I feel it's worth going the extra mile. Maybe some people can turn out top quality text every time, but I don't see myself as one of them - there is almost always for improvement.
... See more Usually, however, as the saying goes, "you can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear".
If the deadline is squeezed, which is often the case, end quality can be affected too. So sometimes I'm more satisfied than others. And sometimes I do make a greater effort to turn out a polished final draft if I feel it's worth going the extra mile. Maybe some people can turn out top quality text every time, but I don't see myself as one of them - there is almost always for improvement.
Proof of the pudding: I wrote "soem" instead of "some" cos I was in a hurry...
[Edited at 2012-07-03 08:54 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | diamondo
Romania
Local time: 07:36
English to Romanian
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| Satisfied enough to deliver it | Jul 3, 2012 |
...most of the time. I couldn't answer "never", but if I have time to polish the final text I ALWAYS make amendments. Even when I feel completely satisfied.
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Alexander Kondorsky wrote:
There is no job done that couldn't be done better. Therefore, being FULLY satisfied is self-deception or lack of modesty
| | | | Allison Wright (X) 
Portugal
Local time: 05:36
| Perfectionists abound | Jul 3, 2012 |
Judging by the fact that over 70% so far have answered "yes, most of the time", it would seem that we are a perfectionist lot.
There has to be a cut-off point where we say, "That's as good as it gets". Even great translations can never quite grasp 100% of every nuance in the source text. Close, but not quite. It is the nature of the beast.
I am generally satisfied with the work I do. To say that I am completely satisfied every single time would be an overstatement. Occa... See more Judging by the fact that over 70% so far have answered "yes, most of the time", it would seem that we are a perfectionist lot.
There has to be a cut-off point where we say, "That's as good as it gets". Even great translations can never quite grasp 100% of every nuance in the source text. Close, but not quite. It is the nature of the beast.
I am generally satisfied with the work I do. To say that I am completely satisfied every single time would be an overstatement. Occasionally, I will emerge from my study and delcare to my partner that I have outdone myself on a translation job - but it is only occasionally. It is normally the very next translation job which gives me a sharp reminder of how humbling our work can be.
[Edited at 2012-07-03 09:42 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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I feel that I could always improve it, but I try to deliver a product that I could live with myself if I had to.
| | | | Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 00:36
English to Spanish
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| Never satisfied | Jul 3, 2012 |
...but I get over it quickly
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John Cutler
Spain
Local time: 06:36
Spanish to English
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Completely satisfied that I've done the job to the best of my ability, but as others have said, there's always room for improvement.
| | | | Robert Forstag
United States
Local time: 00:36
Spanish to English
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| Agree with Alexander, Cristina, and (most of all) Mario | Jul 3, 2012 |
There are many variables that can result in "less than perfect" translations: time pressures, poorly written originals, some percentage of the text dealing with material well outside one's comfort zone, the sometimes unavoidable need to sacrifice rigid accuracy to produce readable text, and the very nature of translation work itself.
This doesn't mean that a translation can't be "good enough." I usually feel that my own work is "good enough"--and then some (but certainly not "perfe... See more There are many variables that can result in "less than perfect" translations: time pressures, poorly written originals, some percentage of the text dealing with material well outside one's comfort zone, the sometimes unavoidable need to sacrifice rigid accuracy to produce readable text, and the very nature of translation work itself.
This doesn't mean that a translation can't be "good enough." I usually feel that my own work is "good enough"--and then some (but certainly not "perfect"--whatever that might mean).... ▲ Collapse
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does not exist. It is something to strive for.
A realistic Gudrun
| | | | Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 00:36
English to Spanish
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| Perfection is like beauty... | Jul 3, 2012 |
Gudrun Wolfrath wrote:
does not exist. It is something to strive for.
A realistic Gudrun
Perfection is in the eye of the beerholder
Seriously, I confess myself a perfectionist: translations have to be well written or else. But I had a long learning curve to accept the imperfections of fellow translators whenever I edited their work and remember that, in the end, the goal is the end reader of the text, not me.
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"is in the eye of the beerholder"
That is a good one.
Gudrun
| | | | Julian Holmes
Japan
Local time: 13:36
Member (2011)
Japanese to English
| Agree with John, too | Jul 3, 2012 |
John Cutler wrote:
Completely satisfied that I've done the job to the best of my ability, but as others have said, there's always room for improvement.
I'm always satisfied in varying degrees with the work I deliver. Or, rephrased differently, I would never deliver a job I wasn't satisfied with. If it meets my own set of standards and I am satisfied with the quality of the work I've done under those particular circumstances, I can deliver it. No shame at all in saying this.
As others have said, the parameters -- deadlines, format of the data, content, difficulty, quality of source document, biorhythm, motivation, etc., etc., the list is endless -- of each job/project are always different. That's the nature of our profession.
The "good enough" argument (or, "more than good enough" even) works just fine if the end result of your hard work is "good enough" for you and, more importantly, "good enough" for the customer. Everyone's happy.
As far as "perfectionism" or "perfectness" with respect to translation is concerned, this is an unobtainable, amorphous concept. But this doesn't mean that we can't work towards this ideal.
So, I would like to avoid big, sweeping qualifiers such as completely and fully with respect to satisfaction, which is a subjective thing anyway.
I've had clients tell me that they're expecting a "perfect translation." I just laugh and tell them that there ain't no such animal, as Robert just inferred.
If there were such a thing as "absolute perfect translation quality," I'd love to see it, as would all of you.
| | | | | Most of the time I am satisfied | Jul 3, 2012 |
Of course, as you all said, there is always a better choice of words, expression, etc. Specially after a rush job, I am happy I delivered, but I have that feeling that it could be better. However, I always advise the client that a rush job may have quality issues and they usually understand.
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