Articles and Stories

May 31, 2013

The Scorpion and the Frog

A scorpion and a frog meet on the bank of a stream and the scorpion asks the frog to carry him across on its back. The frog asks, “How do I know you won’t sting me?” The scorpion says, “Because if I do, I will die too.”

The frog is satisfied, and they set out, but in midstream, the scorpion stings the frog. The frog feels the onset of paralysis and starts to sink, knowing they both will drown, but has just enough time to gasp:
“Why?”
Replies the scorpion: “It’s in my nature…”

Is it in the ‘nature’ of a reviewer to make changes even if not needed?

When a translation is sent to a second translator for review, suggestions are made to improve the text, suggestions for terms giving different word choices, and typos are corrected. These changes are then sent back to the translator to finalize the document.

When the finalized translation is then sent to the client’s reviewer, changes are ALWAYS made. Many times changes are rejected by the translator as they do not convey the proper meaning of the original text. Sometimes reviewers introduce errors. Often reviewers change the original text to make the translated version comport with their feeling as to how it should be presented for their country.

In order to ensure our clients that the work we submitted was accurate, an itemized comparison of the original translation versus the revised one, including back translation in the language of the client is created, or comments are added to the actual document with an explanation.

Since changes are always made, does this mean that a reviewer has to justify his or her time when reviewing a document by making changes, or is it simply in a reviewer’s ‘nature’?