The "Houdinis" Thread poster: Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
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Posters who ask questions (specially beginner translators looking for advise) and then disappear from their own thread, never to be heard from again is becoming something of a pet peeve of mine. Shouldn’t they stick around for the answer and at least say "thanks"?
| | | | Dan Lucas 
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:14
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
| Kuki yomenai | Apr 15, 2023 |
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida wrote:
Shouldn’t they stick around for the answer and at least say "thanks"?
I think this often happens when the response they actually get to their post is drastically different to that which they expected. They may feel that they've been dog-piled, and I'm not entirely without sympathy, but on internet forums I think it's incumbent on the poster to read the room.
Dan
| | | | expressisverbis
Portugal
Local time: 09:14
Member (2015)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
| A takeaway delivery service | Apr 15, 2023 |
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida wrote:
Posters who ask questions (specially beginner translators looking for advise) and then disappear from their own thread, never to be heard from again is becoming something of a pet peeve of mine. Shouldn’t they stick around for the answer and at least say "thanks"?
We've all been there, we've all been beginner translators, but we're not all the same.
Some try hard and look for basic or difficult answers on their own, others want everything handed to them on a silver platter.
Proz.com is not a takeaway delivery service where one can place an order and food "magically" appears in front of you, just like Houdini's surprising tricks!
[Edited at 2023-04-15 11:32 GMT]
[Edited at 2023-04-15 12:38 GMT]
| | | | Kay Denney
France
Local time: 10:14
French to English
yeah, well a guy who vaguely thinks he could make a fortune translation because hey, he worked at a pub in London one summer and picked up a lot of Hindi and even learned the alphabet while training to be a yoga teacher in Rishikesh and comes here for guidance is going to be told that no, you can't translate into English unless it's your native language, and you need to spruce up your profile because right now it's riddled with mistakes, and anyway there's no future in translation unless you hav... See more yeah, well a guy who vaguely thinks he could make a fortune translation because hey, he worked at a pub in London one summer and picked up a lot of Hindi and even learned the alphabet while training to be a yoga teacher in Rishikesh and comes here for guidance is going to be told that no, you can't translate into English unless it's your native language, and you need to spruce up your profile because right now it's riddled with mistakes, and anyway there's no future in translation unless you have a masters in translation and another in your speciality subject and even then MT is making so much headway there's no point investing ten years in education to start working as a translator... probably won't feel like he's all that welcome.
Let's face it, that's how it goes on at least 90% of newbie threads. ▲ Collapse
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| That's the way our world goes. Desperately... | Apr 15, 2023 |
expressisverbis wrote:
Proz.com is not a takeaway delivery service where one can place an order and food "magically" appears in front of you, just like Houdini's surprising tricks!
I couldn't have put it better, especially when it comes for KudoZ askers - some displaying or pretending to have a long-time experience - to open up questions and vanish into thin air without giving any sign of life afterwards, not even a single "Thank" to all contributors, and most of the time never closing their own posts. Such intrusive visitors tend to take ProZ as a self-service counter - and all of us as suckers by the same token.
That's the way our desperate world goes now. I'm not sure this kind of reckless behaviour is proper to our humble profession. Unfortunately...
| | | | | It's up to you... | Apr 15, 2023 |
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida wrote:
Posters who ask questions (specially beginner translators looking for advise) and then disappear from their own thread, never to be heard from again is becoming something of a pet peeve of mine. Shouldn’t they stick around for the answer and at least say "thanks"?
...the so-called "peers", fed up with tons of solidarity, when whining here on proz: Answerers of KudoZ questions mostly don't answer just because of charity, but to gain points, and therefore getting a higher range in the proz list of more or less qualified translators, to attract outsourcers of PEMT jobs and the likes. Nothing to say against competition, but when it is obvious, that the asker appears to be one of the numerous dayflies, why don't the other followers of a correctly answered question then grant at least two "agrees", so that the answerer automatically gets her or his well deserved points by rule? And I would suggest that only paying members are allowed to ask KudoZ questions.
[Bearbeitet am 2023-04-16 07:51 GMT]
| | | | Barbara Carrara
Italy
Local time: 10:14
Member (2008)
English to Italian
+ ...
| Fully agree with everything that has been posted so far | Apr 16, 2023 |
I'd like to add that not only can these monoposters be long-standing users or paying members of this platform, but also how some of them may even decide to start their own threads in more than one language, as if to reiterate - and reverberate - their need for answers.
I think Dan has hit the proverbial nail on the head: when those answers don't match the OP's desired feedback, in either/any of the thread languages, they disregard any unfavourable response by simply ignoring any co... See more I'd like to add that not only can these monoposters be long-standing users or paying members of this platform, but also how some of them may even decide to start their own threads in more than one language, as if to reiterate - and reverberate - their need for answers.
I think Dan has hit the proverbial nail on the head: when those answers don't match the OP's desired feedback, in either/any of the thread languages, they disregard any unfavourable response by simply ignoring any comments, no matter how sensible or thorough they may be.
Some sort of (minor) confirmation bias, would you say? ▲ Collapse
| | | | Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 10:14
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
+ ...
| No need to ask questions | Apr 16, 2023 |
I understand it can be tempting to ask for all sorts of advice if you are starting as a freelancer, but there is actually no need whatsoever to do that. For the paperwork and to set up your business you can hire an accountant who will gladly assist you. Yes, you have to pay for that but there is no such thing as a free lunch. Otherwise you can always take some training to do it all by yourself.
Having a decent cv, knowhing how to present yourself, contacting agencies and direct clie... See more I understand it can be tempting to ask for all sorts of advice if you are starting as a freelancer, but there is actually no need whatsoever to do that. For the paperwork and to set up your business you can hire an accountant who will gladly assist you. Yes, you have to pay for that but there is no such thing as a free lunch. Otherwise you can always take some training to do it all by yourself.
Having a decent cv, knowhing how to present yourself, contacting agencies and direct clients in a decent way ... I'm very sorry, but if you need advice for those things my advice would be to forget the idea of becoming a freelancer and try to find an inhouse job (by the way, you get some training in these things if you follow a translation education, and otherwise the internet is stuffed with tips and trics). You will need a minimum of spirit of enterprise if you want to succeed in this job and that's something nobody will be able to teach you.
And as far as 'translation technology' (CAT tools, machine translation ...) is concerned, if you know nothing about it you will get to know it soon enough if you get yourself some agency clients. These things are by the way also actually pretty easy to learn all by yourself. If you are not able to find a free tool, download it and figure out how to use it, again, why would you bother to become a freelancer ?
Literally everybody can become a freelance translator, but that doesn't mean they should. In my opinion people who need all that advice are already half lost. ▲ Collapse
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