Why do clients want incorrect translations?
Today was yet another of those joyous days when I translated a text based on “reference material”.
Before accepting the job, I had explained to my client (an agency) that from what I could see of the reference material, it consisted of poor or unusual English that either represented an equally poor command of the language, or was perhaps translated in a hurry for very basic comprehension purposes.
In response, I was told that if terminology was actually incorrect in the reference document, I wouldn’t have to use it. That was good news, so I accepted the job.
Of course, reality works differently. As soon as my client saw my (very correct and properly legal) translation, they contacted me to express their grave concern that this was just “too different” from the reference material and that their client would not be happy with it. The fear was that whoever was reading it further down the line would be confused by the different terms referring back to the original document (in this case, clearly visible in the section headings). Never mind the fact that the section headings are also clearly marked and easily identifiable by their numbers.
I gave my client innumerable examples of just how incorrect (= poor) the original translation was and suggested that they call their client before we do anything radical to find out the extent of their tolerance for change. The call was made, the documents were sent, and we waited.
A short time later I was contacted and told that the end client did indeed want us to use the (incorrect) terminology from the reference material, at the very least in the section headings. Fair enough, the customer is king and I had agreed to do just that if it was requested.
However, as someone who prides themselves on the quality of a translation, this whole transaction left me feeling sick and frustrated. I was, in essence, being forced to perpetuate bad translation.
This is certainly not the first time this has happened to me, but every time it does, I fervently call upon any deities that may be listening for it to be the last. I had even tried to avoid it in this situation by stating my concerns in advance, but obviously this was to no avail.
My arguments for changing “reference terminology” are always clear and logical. In this case, even my client agreed with my reasons. However, the end client is always free to choose an incorrect or inappropriate translation for whatever reason, in this case ostensibly for the purpose of consistency.
So just how proper is it to provide poor translations for the purpose of consistency (with incorrect reference material)? This is a question that taps into professional as well as ethical concerns. Whenever I am faced with a dilemma such as this one – which in truth is no dilemma since the decision is taken out of my hands and forced upon me – I always feel dirty somehow.
I am a translator. It is my job – my responsibility – to produce a correct (accurate) and appropriate translation, and yet I am forced to provide a product that is pretty much the opposite.
So is it my right to have these qualms, or is it my duty to ignore them? I have to admit, this is a question I have not found a satisfactory answer for.
Translators often talk on forums of “educating the customer”, but what effect do we really have? There are still so many customers out there who are willing to accept poor translations because they are cheap, or who simply wish to market in a language they don’t speak, and don’t hire any native-speaker reviewers to check the quality of their brand new marketing material in a language they don’t understand. So many customers think they have a more complete understanding of the target language than they do, so many insist on using literal translations “because we’ve used them before and they’ve always been ok”.
What is it that is going through a customer’s mind when, told that their previous translations are poor, they make a decision to keep these and persist in inappropriate translations regardless?
I simply cannot fathom it. I suppose the bottom line really comes down to how much we want to argue the point. Because if we want to keep getting paid, the customer is king – even the customer that is wrong.
Shower anyone?