Links that lead to non-TL sites Auteur du fil: Diane Piper
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I'd be very grateful to hear from fellow translators about their practice with regard to texts - especially websites - which contain links to other websites that are only in the SL (German in my case) or have a TL option (English). For example, a property company wants to be helpful to visitors to its website and installs links that provide legal and practical advice on moving house. However, these sites are not in the TL and so by clicking on them visitors are more likely to be frustrated than ... See more I'd be very grateful to hear from fellow translators about their practice with regard to texts - especially websites - which contain links to other websites that are only in the SL (German in my case) or have a TL option (English). For example, a property company wants to be helpful to visitors to its website and installs links that provide legal and practical advice on moving house. However, these sites are not in the TL and so by clicking on them visitors are more likely to be frustrated than helped!
Is it a question of simply querying it with the outsourcer/customer every time? Or should the link be translated but flagged up in the text by the translator as "German only" (as is the case in a few rare examples I have come across)? Or should I translate the link but refer it to the customer and leave it to them to decide whether any further action is necessary?
This is bugging me a bit as I am very keen on giving added value to customers as a survival strategy, have worked in jobs where you see the difference a helpful translation makes and have also been annoyed myself to find that a website provides a link without warning the visitor that it might not get you any further forward because it's in a completely different language!
Thanks for any advice you can provide. Much appreciated. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Allison Wright (X) 
Portugal
Local time: 15:15
Most websites I have seen simply have "(in German)" after a link, or after the title of any PDF downloads.
The "only" is omitted. I presume this is to minimise any perceived shortcoming in having some monolingual content on the website concerned.
| | | | Kay Denney
France
Local time: 16:15
français vers anglais
| Good question! | Feb 5, 2013 |
I recently came across this problem translating a website for tourists visiting France. Practically all the festivals, restaurants, water parks etc. had their own website, which was given at the end of each corresponding bit of blurb. A few of these websites had been translated fully into English, some partially translated into English, some only featured videos or pictures and thus required no translation, a couple were so badly translated as to be useless.
I decided to be kind to... See more I recently came across this problem translating a website for tourists visiting France. Practically all the festivals, restaurants, water parks etc. had their own website, which was given at the end of each corresponding bit of blurb. A few of these websites had been translated fully into English, some partially translated into English, some only featured videos or pictures and thus required no translation, a couple were so badly translated as to be useless.
I decided to be kind to the tourists.
Whenever I found a button for English versions, I put the link to the English home page and specified "(in English)", but left the French link too, specifying "in French" for those who might prefer to try to understand the French should the English prove frustrating (lots of translated websites provided much less information than the French original, or links didn't work etc.).
When there were parts in English but not enough to be helpful, I left the French link and specified "website not yet in English" (giving them a chance to improve!)
For the useless ones, I left out the word "yet". Well honestly!
Those that didn't require translation were labelled "no translation necessary".
I also flagged everything to the client so they knew why the links had been changed, fearing some zealous, monolingual webmaster might change it all back.
It meant a lot of work but they came back with more, and said I would be their first choice for all future projects. Other translators had not bothered to think things through like that and the client realised why I was rather more expensive. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Diane Piper
Local time: 15:15
allemand vers anglais
AUTEUR DU FIL | Thanks for your replies... | Feb 5, 2013 |
... Allison and Texte Style. I think Texte Style's last para underlines that it is in everyone's interests to think these things through. I'll adopt a similar strategy. Happy translating, folks!
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Diane Piper
Local time: 15:15
allemand vers anglais
AUTEUR DU FIL | Follow-up from customer | Feb 6, 2013 |
Hiya, all
The customer says that they will check out the links once the translation is back with them and add the language availability later. No reason is given for this sequence.
I decided to leave my additions (in English/in German) as I had to check out the links anyway to find out (a) the name of the organisation/project rendered in EN or (b) if not rendered in EN what it was all about in order to add a qualifier in EN for the benefit of the reader. The only advant... See more Hiya, all
The customer says that they will check out the links once the translation is back with them and add the language availability later. No reason is given for this sequence.
I decided to leave my additions (in English/in German) as I had to check out the links anyway to find out (a) the name of the organisation/project rendered in EN or (b) if not rendered in EN what it was all about in order to add a qualifier in EN for the benefit of the reader. The only advantage I can see in leaving the task to the customer is that the links will then be as up-to-date as the customer's site rather than at the time of translation.
So in terms of economy of effort (i.e. added value) my conclusion is that the task may as well lie with the translator. Whether the customer would attach financial value to that (what am I thinking?!) is unlikely at this point in time but I reckon it's worth doing and making the point for professional reasons.
Thanks again. ▲ Collapse
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