Limiting the number of ProZ enquiries Thread poster: Robin Brown
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Robin Brown
United Kingdom
Local time: 07:51
Member (2003)
Danish to English
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Does anyone else get as irritated as I do when someone who is clearly not translating into their mother tongue puts an absolute flood of terminology enquiries on to ProZ?
I recently got 65 within the space of an hour from someone who was way over his head. I was going absolutely crazy!
I dread to think what the client got back, not least because some of the replies he subsequently got were so wide of the mark they made my toes curl.
... See more Does anyone else get as irritated as I do when someone who is clearly not translating into their mother tongue puts an absolute flood of terminology enquiries on to ProZ?
I recently got 65 within the space of an hour from someone who was way over his head. I was going absolutely crazy!
I dread to think what the client got back, not least because some of the replies he subsequently got were so wide of the mark they made my toes curl.
Maybe ProZ could set up some automatic barrier to limit the number of queries generated from any one individual?
Robin Brown ▲ Collapse
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I think a limit perhaps of 10 questions in a 24-hour period is quite acceptable. More than that could be seen as abusing the system.
If you received 64 emails with questions all from the same person, that is something that should have been stopped by the moderator.
I must say though that I have been noticing that this has been happening less and less, at least in my language pairs.
| | | | Dominique Cook
United Kingdom
Local time: 07:51
English to French
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| RE: limiting number of postings | Nov 28, 2001 |
I don\'t think we should limit them. If a particular person posts a flood of questions, most people won\'t bother answering them and that person won\'t make the same mistake again. The problem with limiting is : how many per day per person? Who would monitor it? The best thing is to ignore time-wasters but keep this website, which I think can be a great help to most of us, as free and easy to use as possible.
| | | | PC Services
Portugal
Local time: 07:51
Portuguese to German
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There should be a limit (which might be set up through the system with user name and login logging?). 65 requests in an hour are definitely too much!!! Even 20 or 30 per day from the same person wouldn\'t show too much professionalism, after all we have dictionaries, eperience, internet queries and -sometimes- even a glossary supplied with the job so these should be the translators first resources.
Only the most difficult \"nuts to crack\" (BTW: is there a better english expression for that... See more There should be a limit (which might be set up through the system with user name and login logging?). 65 requests in an hour are definitely too much!!! Even 20 or 30 per day from the same person wouldn\'t show too much professionalism, after all we have dictionaries, eperience, internet queries and -sometimes- even a glossary supplied with the job so these should be the translators first resources.
Only the most difficult \"nuts to crack\" (BTW: is there a better english expression for that? Maybe I should post it  ) should be posted, or are we not a portal of professional translators?
So, my suggestion for a limit: somewhere between 10 and 20 questions per day should be enough?!?
[ This Message was edited by: on 2001-11-28 10:40 ] ▲ Collapse
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Mats Wiman 
Sweden
Local time: 08:51
Member (2000)
German to Swedish
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In memoriam | No limit ! No one is forced to answer! | Nov 28, 2001 |
What if a person ackumulates his/her question on a bigger jab/chapter?
Why do get vexed? Look the other way or simply don\'t answer.
There is no obligation to answer!
Mats Wiman
| | | | | I agree with Mats | Nov 28, 2001 |
Mats is absolutely right. Yes, it can be irritating - if you don\'t want to answer, just delete it all from your mailbox, and let someone else answer, who wants to do it. Some people may accumulate questions for a large job; some people - not translators - may have just met someone and want to talk to them, and don\'t know how.
There were suggestions that people try to translate an entire job by using the KudoZ system. Personally, I think it would be extremely labour intens... See more Mats is absolutely right. Yes, it can be irritating - if you don\'t want to answer, just delete it all from your mailbox, and let someone else answer, who wants to do it. Some people may accumulate questions for a large job; some people - not translators - may have just met someone and want to talk to them, and don\'t know how.
There were suggestions that people try to translate an entire job by using the KudoZ system. Personally, I think it would be extremely labour intensive and time-consuming - even a bad translator will work faster than it would take to get here, put in the word, wait for someone to answer, pick an answer, and put it in the document being translated! If you think that person is too lazy to work, he would probably not want to do all that, because it is too much work  !
So my view is that this happens due to inexperience in using the system. Someone already noted that it is happening less than before; so maybe it will just sort itself out.
Quote:
On 2001-11-28 20:58, MatsWiman wrote:
What if a person ackumulates his/her question on a bigger jab/chapter?
Why do get vexed? Look the other way or simply don\'t answer.
There is no obligation to answer!
Mats Wiman
▲ Collapse
| | | | Xeniz
Spain
Local time: 08:51
Spanish to English
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| Why do the basic questions get replies? | Nov 29, 2001 |
I am new to Proz, and have asked and answered only a few questions (mainly for confirmation). Today (yes Laura, in your pairs Eng/Sp) someone is taking up what I would consider to be valuable space in asking for a virtual full translation of a personal letter.
Not long before, this simple question \"What time is Spanish class\" apperared twice. And it was answered by two or 3 people ( as well as a reprimand or two) Why do people bother answering these questions on what is basically a p... See more I am new to Proz, and have asked and answered only a few questions (mainly for confirmation). Today (yes Laura, in your pairs Eng/Sp) someone is taking up what I would consider to be valuable space in asking for a virtual full translation of a personal letter.
Not long before, this simple question \"What time is Spanish class\" apperared twice. And it was answered by two or 3 people ( as well as a reprimand or two) Why do people bother answering these questions on what is basically a pros site? And why do moderators not ban or at least eliminate them? ▲ Collapse
| | | | jccantrell
United States
Local time: 23:51
Member (2005)
German to English
| Limit the number! | Nov 29, 2001 |
The problem with NO limit is that, if you have your profile set to email you notification of questions, your email gets flooded whether you answer or not.
I would be in favor of a limit of X (what is X? I do not know, perhaps we should poll the membership.) questions per day. If you run into a BIG job with a lot of questions, post the most pressing X questions today and the next X tomorrow.
As was said, the professionals have dictionaries and access to the internet... See more The problem with NO limit is that, if you have your profile set to email you notification of questions, your email gets flooded whether you answer or not.
I would be in favor of a limit of X (what is X? I do not know, perhaps we should poll the membership.) questions per day. If you run into a BIG job with a lot of questions, post the most pressing X questions today and the next X tomorrow.
As was said, the professionals have dictionaries and access to the internet. They should start the search there, before posting the question here.
If the translator is truly professional, they should KNOW they are in over their head and take other steps with that particular job, rather than flooding the system with questons. ▲ Collapse
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athena22
United States
Local time: 23:51
Member
English
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| Mats is right. | Nov 29, 2001 |
I agree with Mats. Don\'t reply if you don\'t want to, and/or turn off the automatic email feature from your Proz page if you\'re getting too many emails. We all have that choice.
Tolerance is a pretty useful thing, and who knows, perhaps when there are 65 questions, someone has agreed to help a friend out of a jam, or a student is cramming for an exam (we won\'t talk about why they should have studied) or whatever...
I hope that we can all live and ... See more I agree with Mats. Don\'t reply if you don\'t want to, and/or turn off the automatic email feature from your Proz page if you\'re getting too many emails. We all have that choice.
Tolerance is a pretty useful thing, and who knows, perhaps when there are 65 questions, someone has agreed to help a friend out of a jam, or a student is cramming for an exam (we won\'t talk about why they should have studied) or whatever...
I hope that we can all live and let live: ignore what doesn\'t work for you if it isn\'t hurting you personally or professionally would be a good motto, I should think. (Sorry for the bit of personal philosophy there !) ▲ Collapse
| | | | Werner George Patels, M.A., C.Tran.(ATIO) (X)
Local time: 02:51
German to English
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| Mats and Athena are right | Nov 29, 2001 |
No need to limit the questions: if there is a problem, we can always call on the moderators or simply ignore the question(s).
I think the reason why some may want to limit the number of questions is a (misdirected) attempt to go up against the many, many, many \"translators\" out there who translate from a \"foreign\" source language into an equally \"foreign\" target language (instead of translating into one\'s dominant language).
Here\'s my personal ap... See more No need to limit the questions: if there is a problem, we can always call on the moderators or simply ignore the question(s).
I think the reason why some may want to limit the number of questions is a (misdirected) attempt to go up against the many, many, many \"translators\" out there who translate from a \"foreign\" source language into an equally \"foreign\" target language (instead of translating into one\'s dominant language).
Here\'s my personal approach - let\'s take an example: if a see a German-English question posted by someone who clearly should not have taken on that particular job (because neither language is the dominant/native language of the asker), I simply ignore it and hope that others will do the same. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | I "vote" for no limit | Dec 5, 2001 |
Different translators work in different ways. Imagine that you have decided to put all of your questions to one side and post them at the end of a first draft. Whilst I admit that 64 is pretty incredible - either it\'s long job or the person is way out of his depth - if a maximum of say 10 questions were to be imposed, what would happen if you really needed an 11th (but crucial) bit of help?
| | | | | It's not the number, but the quality of postings | Dec 12, 2001 |
Quote:
On 2001-11-28 20:58, MatsWiman wrote:
What if a person ackumulates his/her question on a bigger jab/chapter?
Why do get vexed? Look the other way or simply don\'t answer.
There is no obligation to answer!
Mats Wiman
I agree completely. There could be times when many expressions (e.g. in an index) may need clarification. A li... See more Quote:
On 2001-11-28 20:58, MatsWiman wrote:
What if a person ackumulates his/her question on a bigger jab/chapter?
Why do get vexed? Look the other way or simply don\'t answer.
There is no obligation to answer!
Mats Wiman
I agree completely. There could be times when many expressions (e.g. in an index) may need clarification. A limit would only invite cheating.
It is quite obvious when somebody wants the work intensive part of his/her job done by others: Nobody is forced to respond.
I am \'vexed\', however, by people who want a translation for \'How Are You?\' and post it in the \'Technology\' section, not to mention all that poetry in the \'Science\' category. ▲ Collapse
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Jon Zuber (X)
Spanish to English
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| It is the number, as well as the quality. | Jan 27, 2002 |
As we see from the notice on the main page about technical difficulties due to increased traffic. The system can handle only so much before it\'s overwhelmed. Adding capacity will relieve the problem temporarily, but if ProZ continues to register everybody who comes down the pike it\'ll only be a matter of time before it happens again.
| | | | | A "professional translator" should be ashamed of some questions... | Feb 12, 2002 |
Hi, this is my first message here. I think the quality of some questions is absolutely outrageous. A \"professional translator\" should be ashamed to send some of those questions to a professional forum. Don\'t take me wrong, I have questions all the time. But I use my own resources - dictionaries, glossaries, internet etc. The professional lists are my last resource.
I never answer easy questions and if a person has sent a lot of questions, I don\'t answer them either.
... See more Hi, this is my first message here. I think the quality of some questions is absolutely outrageous. A \"professional translator\" should be ashamed to send some of those questions to a professional forum. Don\'t take me wrong, I have questions all the time. But I use my own resources - dictionaries, glossaries, internet etc. The professional lists are my last resource.
I never answer easy questions and if a person has sent a lot of questions, I don\'t answer them either.
I\'m not sure if having a limit would be the answer. I think that, at the end of the day, this \'method of work\' hurts the asker more than anyone else.
I just think that the questions shouldn\'t get the points (KudoZ, I guess), as people tend to aswer them, even when the answer is obvious or when the person shows lack of ability for that particular area.
Best,
Adriana - Brazil ▲ Collapse
| | | | Werner George Patels, M.A., C.Tran.(ATIO) (X)
Local time: 02:51
German to English
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| Yes, there is a "shame factor" | Feb 12, 2002 |
Quote:
On 2002-02-12 01:36, adriana wrote:
Hi, this is my first message here. I think the quality of some questions is absolutely outrageous. A \"professional translator\" should be ashamed to send some of those questions to a professional forum. Don\'t take me wrong, I have questions all the time. But I use my own resources - dictionaries, glossaries, internet etc. The professional lists are my last resource.
... See more Quote:
On 2002-02-12 01:36, adriana wrote:
Hi, this is my first message here. I think the quality of some questions is absolutely outrageous. A \"professional translator\" should be ashamed to send some of those questions to a professional forum. Don\'t take me wrong, I have questions all the time. But I use my own resources - dictionaries, glossaries, internet etc. The professional lists are my last resource.
I never answer easy questions and if a person has sent a lot of questions, I don\'t answer them either.
I\'m not sure if having a limit would be the answer. I think that, at the end of the day, this \'method of work\' hurts the asker more than anyone else.
I just think that the questions shouldn\'t get the points (KudoZ, I guess), as people tend to aswer them, even when the answer is obvious or when the person shows lack of ability for that particular area.
Best,
Adriana - Brazil
Adriana,
While I believe that the number of questions should not be limited (it would simply be too much of an effort for this site), I fully agree with you on this point: professionals should be ashamed to ask certain questions: i.e., terms that can be found in any decent general or specialized dictionary or other reliable sources that are available to professionals (or, to be more specific, terms that you OUGHT to know if you claim to be specialized in that area and language pair).
Just the other day, a \"professional\" who claims to be an expert in legal and contract translations, for example, posted a series of \"everyday\" legal terms (really \"easy\" terms, the ones you could even find in a general dictionary). My immediate impression was this: if xx specializes in legal translations, why doesn\'t he have the necessary dictionaries that would tell him in an instant what yyy means? Since this was clearly not the case, why does he accept jobs he is not qualified for? Why does he work with that particular language if he does not even know standard terms and basic vocabulary? Most of his questions reveal a fundamental lack of understanding of the source language (German). It makes you wonder. It also makes you wonder about the quality of the translations going out to clients.
Each time you see a new question, it becomes a \"judgment call\": do I answer or not? So, take a look at the poster\'s profile and decide if he/she merits an answer
However, the bottom-line is this: everybody is free to do whatever they want, and that includes taking jobs that they are not qualified for  . It is not me or you who will pay the price for that, but only those \"misfits\"  . By the same token, it is up to you to decide whether to post an answer or not.
[ This Message was edited by: on 2002-02-12 05:09 ] ▲ Collapse
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