| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] > | Free riders Thread poster: Lia Fail (X)
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Paul Cohen 
Greenland
Local time: 23:33
German to English
+ ...
| What has happened to KudoZ? | Mar 4, 2009 |
Lawyer-Linguist wrote:
It's a waste of time and energy, in my view. Makes far better sense to have a trusted circle of colleagues behind the scenes with whom to share terminology questions, if and when necessary.
And so it goes. As the level of questions asked (and answers provided) increasingly drops, many translators eschew KudoZ and look elsewhere for help.
| | | | Giles Watson
Italy
Local time: 02:33
Italian to English
In memoriam | KudoZ is not about terminology | Mar 4, 2009 |
Paul Cohen wrote: Lawyer-Linguist wrote:
It's a waste of time and energy, in my view. Makes far better sense to have a trusted circle of colleagues behind the scenes with whom to share terminology questions, if and when necessary. And so it goes. As the level of questions asked (and answers provided) increasingly drops, many translators eschew KudoZ and look elsewhere for help.
Why on earth would anyone rely on a KudoZ answer to resolve a translation crux?
I may have asked one or two questions in the past to see what transpired but KudoZ for me has always been a way to help colleagues with IT>EN queries in the wine sector and rack up points so that anyone referring to the ProZ directory to find an IT>EN wine translator would contact me first.
And in fact KudoZ does occasionally find me a new customer, even if my rates are too high for most enquirers.
When it comes to serious terminology problems, though, there are reference works, reliable web sites and industry contacts that provide me with all help I need.
Giles
| | | | | How disappointing | Mar 4, 2009 |
Giles Watson wrote:
Why on earth would anyone rely on a KudoZ answer to resolve a translation crux?
When it comes to serious terminology problems, though, there are reference works, reliable web sites and industry contacts that provide me with all help I need.
But it didn't have to be that way. In the beginning, thousands of enthusiastic translators signed up to ProZ.com thinking it was an exciting and promising new venue for serious professionals. Many of the best became moderators thinking they could help make this place something to be proud of.
Now, instead of building on what was started and making pro-level KudoZ a serious glossary building effort for professionals, they have given us GBK - Glossary Building KudoZ whether we like it or not.
| | | | hazmatgerman (X)
Local time: 02:33
English to German
Paul Cohen wrote:
...many translators eschew KudoZ and look elsewhere for help.
Quite so.
Regards.
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| The blind leading the incompetent | Mar 5, 2009 |
Sadly there will always be someone who is a) bored, b) short of work, c) keen to look clever, d) wants to earn points (etc. etc. etc.) who will answer questions put by people who are clearly out of their depth in the jobs they have taken on. Probably got the jobs because they are bottom-feeders to boot !
But you only need one "innocent" to give a correct reply to each of a hoard of questions and "asker" thinks all his Christmases have come at once. "Great little job this translating lark ... See more Sadly there will always be someone who is a) bored, b) short of work, c) keen to look clever, d) wants to earn points (etc. etc. etc.) who will answer questions put by people who are clearly out of their depth in the jobs they have taken on. Probably got the jobs because they are bottom-feeders to boot !
But you only need one "innocent" to give a correct reply to each of a hoard of questions and "asker" thinks all his Christmases have come at once. "Great little job this translating lark - ask the questions, wait for the answers, throw together the bits. Piece of cake! Better than signing on at the dole"
And, of course, there will always be those who breathe tolerance at us and will tell us that the world has had its share of freeloaders since time immemorial.
If this site were about professional standards and not for material gain perhaps something could be done. As it is, the blind will continue to lead the incompetent. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Eric Hahn (X)
France
Local time: 02:33
French to German
+ ...
| To ask questions ... | Mar 5, 2009 |
... when you don't know is rather professional I think. But you can't trust the answers.
In my prefered combination (FR - GE, I am bilingual) I only know a handful of peers who do more than just guessing ...
[Edited at 2009-03-05 13:34 GMT]
| | | | | Asking questions..(more) | Mar 5, 2009 |
Eric may be right about asking questions being "professional", when we're talking about technical issues and detailed knowledge possessed by the few and/or obtained largely from experience.
However, asking questions about trivia only serves to make the askers look foolish. One often wonders whether some of them possess dictionaries or would know how to use them if they did. As to using Internet for research, all I can say is that if an oldie like me can find their way around, the yo... See more Eric may be right about asking questions being "professional", when we're talking about technical issues and detailed knowledge possessed by the few and/or obtained largely from experience.
However, asking questions about trivia only serves to make the askers look foolish. One often wonders whether some of them possess dictionaries or would know how to use them if they did. As to using Internet for research, all I can say is that if an oldie like me can find their way around, the younger generation has no excuses whatsoever.
In the end, it probably all boils down to laziness, intellectual or other..... ▲ Collapse
| | | | Aniello Scognamiglio (X)
Germany
Local time: 02:33
English to German
+ ...
polyglot45 wrote:
If this site were about professional standards and not for material gain perhaps something could be done. As it is, the blind will continue to lead the incompetent.
Don't you think you are going a bit too far?
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Aniello Scognamiglio wrote: polyglot45 wrote:
If this site were about professional standards and not for material gain perhaps something could be done. As it is, the blind will continue to lead the incompetent. Don't you think you are going a bit too far?
I thought I was particularly restrained.....
If I said what I really thought.....
| | | | Sara M
Local time: 02:33
Spanish to French
+ ...
| Unbelievable but... | Mar 9, 2009 |
...in one of my pairs (sp-fr), a member has asked....1368 questions and has not responded to a single one!!!
Moreover, she usually asks more than one term per question....
I don't even have a look at her questions anymore, it drives me mad.
| | | | | The Squash button | Mar 9, 2009 |
helps a lot with those
quote
Moreover, she usually asks more than one term per question....
unquote
| | | | | the squash button is reserved to just a select few... | Mar 9, 2009 |
Mikhail Kropotov wrote:
helps a lot with those
quote
Moreover, she usually asks more than one term per question....
unquote
and most of them now hesitate to use it for fear of incurring the wrath of others. Nowadays even giving people neutrals is met with accusations of 'nastiness' and if you refer to the fact that people are posting too many terms in a single question, that too is often met with critical comments and words to the effect "we are here to help". And people rush in to answer, whether there is one term or there are 10. "Good citizenship" oblige....
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Anne-Marie Grant (X)
Local time: 01:33
French to English
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is an international microcosm of the working world. Givers, takers, diplomats, firebrands, the friendly, the surly, the modest, the arrogant, the capable and the desperate.
How could it be otherwise?
| | | | | People who don't answer are not the problem | Apr 9, 2009 |
Sara M wrote:
...in one of my pairs (sp-fr), a member has asked....1368 questions and has not responded to a single one!!!
Moreover, she usually asks more than one term per question....
I don't even have a look at her questions anymore, it drives me mad.
I'm actually glad that such people don't answer questions - what kind of quality would you expect from the answers given by people who, at least judging by the number of questions posed, are not, themselves, competent translators?
The problem with KudoZ is not people who don't answer questions, nor people who ask too many questions (though it may be annoying, from time to time) , and not even people asking silly questions they should have checked on a good dictionary.
The big, fundamental, problems with KudoZ are:
1) all the people who answer questions when they should not
2) the fact that what eventually ends up in the KudoZ glossary is not the best answer, but the "most helpful" answer, as judged by the person who didn't know it in the first place (the asker)
3) the fact that this silly point system in fact encourages people to answer for the wrong reason (racking up points) rather than only to help colleagues - this means that many people answer questions they should have left alone (see item 1 above)
4) the fact that, even if you want to have a point system, this is really the wrong way to do it: much better would be a ratio system where, instead of a point total, the number that counts is the ratio between answered questions and correct answers. Many of us have suggested just such a system many times,but, as far as I know, ProZ has never deigned to answer why such a ratio system could not be put in place.
[Edited at 2009-04-10 15:11 GMT]
| | | | Gianni Pastore
Italy
Local time: 02:33
Member (2007)
English to Italian
seems to me that those who have asked thousands of questions keep receiving a fair amount of constant work, doesn't it?
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