RE: Questionnaire and Help document - thoughts and suggestions for the Translation category
I'm going to analyze my thoughts on the second question, about the mistakes:
- is a typo a mistake?
If it is altering the meaning, yes! For example, in Greek language "ταιριάζετε" and "ταιριάζεται" completely change the meaning, even though it is just a mistake two letters. "Ταιριάζετε" is active voice (you match), while "ταιριάζεται" is passive voice (he/she/it is matched).
However, if it is an honest mistake (for example, missing a letter) and depending on the context I might not count it as a mistake
- is a repeated mistake counted once or every time?
Well, most of the times no. But if the translator gets it right once, and 3 times wrong, then I would count it every time, as it means that they didn't pay attention.
- is a possible better word cause to count a mistake?
Generally, not all times, but it depends on the project and the target language. If we are talking about (for example) The Curious Expedition, where we are allowed to freely translate it the way we want (and add our own parts on the strings that are randomly chosen by the Game Engine), I won't count it as a mistake. If the context changes by changing to the "Better word", then it should be a mistake
As for the post format question, if the translator fails to include one (or more) of the following, I will notify them the first time (we all have bad days when we forget to do something). If it happens again, it means they are not paying enough attention, so it is an immediate "bad" and then "unacceptable" (as the Utopian bot AND our review both depend on that info):
- Project's github (IF available)
- Project's crowdin
- Wordcount of the session
Thanks for the post, it was an awesome read! 🙂
I agree with your point on the typo's, meaning altering should be counted as a mistake unless obviously accidental. If there's suddenly a comma in the middle of a word or a repeated letter, I generally don't count that as a mistake, unless it keeps happening in which case it's a sign of the translator not being careful.
The second point is a hard agree as well, at that point you start to wonder whether the right one was perhaps an accident haha!
As for the third point, generally I would hope that the context wouldn't change because of a better word. The way I imagine it is that for instance someone decides to use "compilations" but the LM thinks that "abstracts" might fit the context better. The meaning of the sentence shouldn't change, but one word might fit the tone of the project better than the other.
I agree with you on the last point as well! Everyone has bad days, but consistent failure to include something should indeed get a lower score. I like moving from "bad" to "unacceptable" instead of going to "unacceptable" immediately, I hope I won't have to use it but if so I feel like that's a fair step to take!
Thanks for your reply!