|
tranfree issue 22 - 4th December 2000
It's An Easy Textby Michaela Fisnar-Keggler A couple of days ago, a potential client called me up to ask if I could translate his text. I told him that it depended on the text and that I would have to know more about it. The potential client said...
I spontaneously gave a laugh - I couldn't help it. I said...
At that point we were disrupted because I was on my mobile phone and the connection was bad. The potential client never called back. I felt a little uneasy about the whole thing because I realized that I had laughed at the caller. As I was telling my husband about it I decided that my laughing - though very impolite - was quite justified. Would anyone call up a lawyer and say...
Or who would go to a builder and say...
It sounds ridiculous, doesn't it?
Every now and then someone says something like...
...and it irritates me. Still, as a rule I control my emotions and try to explain to the client that...
Once - and only once! - did I make the mistake of taking a client's word for it. I had worked with her before and she called me up because her boss needed a letter translated 'right away'. She said...
...although I was very pressed for time that day, I said I would do it. It turned out that the letter was a marketing letter that...
...and thus took quite a lot of...
A colleague of mine once said that they (the clients) will not understand what translation is unless they are forced to try it themselves. Most people never are. And most people will never understand that there is more to translation than meets the eye. Furthermore, many authors (meaning anyone who has ever written anything) believe that their texts are clear and to the point and they wonder why the translator asks them all these questions about the content; after all, it's all written right there. So what can we do? We can't force our clients to translate their own texts. We can't make them study the basics of composition and translation. But I think that we can subtly educate them about the complexity and importance of our work and convince them of our competence - all in a diplomatic and positive manner. For instance, if a client tries to explain the kind of text they want me to translate I ask them - before I embark on any kind of discussion about the work - if the text is available electronically. If it is, I ask them to e-mail it to me and promise to call them back as soon as I've looked at it. If they can't send it by email I ask them to fax it. This puts an end to any further explanations and saves the client time and effort. And I can take my time to...
When I talk to the client again ten minutes later I am the one to tell them about the text; I tell them how long it will take, how much it will cost, and what the potential difficulties may be. If the client needs the translation at a close deadline we can discuss it based on my judgement of realistic possibilities. Thus, the client never even gets a chance to tell me how long it should take or how easy the text is. This procedure allows a smooth and efficient start for any translation job - and prevents me from wasting valuable energy on anger and irritation. Michaela Fisnar-Keggler translates from English, French and Czech into German
|
...time.