| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] > | 664 questions asked, no question answered Thread poster: Dipl.-Kfm. Bernhard Aicher MBA
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Dipl.-Kfm. Bernhard Aicher MBA wrote:
There are some translators who excessively abuse the helpfulness of their fellow translators.
Today an asker using an alias name asked Kudoz-question no. 660 – 664 (French into German) and this person has not answered any question since his registration on Proz.
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660 to 0 is not that bad. Sometimes I come across ca. 3000 Asked to 20 Answered
Ewa
| | | | Allison Wright (X) 
Portugal
Local time: 02:52
| All clear now! | Apr 22, 2011 |
Gudrun Wolfrath wrote:
I think you got me wrong. I was referring to people who might be afraid of disapproval. They might be in the wrong profession.
How can you do a job if you are afraid of disapproval? There is always someone who might find fault with your work (rightfully or not), whether on the KudoZ forum or in 'real life'.
Have a nice day,
Gudrun
Fair enough!
As writeaway says, one has nothing to lose, and everything to gain, by learning from one's mistakes. And of course, there is the chance that the answer one provides *might* be exactly what the asker is looking for...
Best,
Allison
| | | | | What exactly is the problem? | Apr 22, 2011 |
I prefer to earn my Kudoz points by answering questions from fair colleagues who are also willing to help their fellow translators. So don't answer in case you consider someone to be abusing the system. It's a matter of your personal choice. Answering Kudoz questions is voluntary, and no one is obliged to do it, neither you nor the member whom we're talking about.
| | | | Russell Jones
United Kingdom
Local time: 02:52
Italian to English
I have absolutely no problem with any number of questions asked by people who don't have the time, confidence, ability or inclination to answer others.
Their questions contribute to the glossary and those of us who do answer stand to gain kudoZ points which make us more visible to potential clients in the directory.
There are some rules on the maximum number of questions ... See more I have absolutely no problem with any number of questions asked by people who don't have the time, confidence, ability or inclination to answer others.
Their questions contribute to the glossary and those of us who do answer stand to gain kudoZ points which make us more visible to potential clients in the directory.
There are some rules on the maximum number of questions that can be asked: http://www.proz.com/faq/2812#2812 ▲ Collapse
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wonita (X)
China
Local time: 21:52
Samuel Murray wrote: Dipl.-Kfm. Bernhard Aicher MBA wrote:
I believe that Proz should establish a mechanism to prevent such abuse resp. to exclude the abusers from Proz. Abuse? Do you think it is abuse if some people are better askers than answerers? Remember, people who ask questions also contribute -- they make it possible for you to earn KudoZ points, and they give you the opportunity to think about translations issues that you would not have been exposed to otherwise. Both these aspects are good for you.
Answering questions is a hobby, whereas asking questions can be a duty, a tedious duty.
| | | | | Askers also contribute to Proz | Apr 22, 2011 |
Asking questions is not an abuse - at least not as long as someone asks them according to ProZ.com rules. If someone does not feel like answering questions that's his/her right.
Some people mainly benefit by having their questions answered, others by answering them, gaining points and improving position in directory (and learning good deal on the way).
Also we should not forget that while answering questions we contribute to creating possibly largest in the world glossa... See more Asking questions is not an abuse - at least not as long as someone asks them according to ProZ.com rules. If someone does not feel like answering questions that's his/her right.
Some people mainly benefit by having their questions answered, others by answering them, gaining points and improving position in directory (and learning good deal on the way).
Also we should not forget that while answering questions we contribute to creating possibly largest in the world glossary and each question (providing that there is an answer) benefits many more people than just the asker.
If someone does not like people who ask more questions than they answer - it's enough to filter them. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | And looking terms up on one's own can be even more tedious | Apr 22, 2011 |
Bin Tiede wrote: Samuel Murray wrote: Dipl.-Kfm. Bernhard Aicher MBA wrote:
I believe that Proz should establish a mechanism to prevent such abuse resp. to exclude the abusers from Proz. Abuse? Do you think it is abuse if some people are better askers than answerers? Remember, people who ask questions also contribute -- they make it possible for you to earn KudoZ points, and they give you the opportunity to think about translations issues that you would not have been exposed to otherwise. Both these aspects are good for you. Answering questions is a hobby, whereas asking questions can be a duty, a tedious duty.
It's all relative. Some people are happy to do their own research and only ask colleagues if nothing at all turns up and some people use Kudoz as a replacement to doing their own research or in the worst cases, to even opening a dictionary.
| | | | Marina Aleyeva
Israel
Local time: 04:52
Member (2006)
English to Russian
+ ...
I completely agree with you, Bernhard. There is a clear difference between abusing the system and asking for help. Posting several hundreds or even thousands of questions definitely is abuse. Most of these questions are either basic or demonstrating the lack of skills to do a research or to come up with a nice wording on one's own. I do not see why the professional community should help such translators to stay afloat.
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| Which is of course a very good thing... | Apr 22, 2011 |
Gianni Pastore wrote: In my pair there's people who's asked as much as 3000 questions and no answer whatsoever. A balance of 664/0 falls pretty much in the amateurish area, imho  G
If I relied on KudoZ for terminological research, I would much rather that people who have to ask so many question do not answer any, as any answer from such "translators" would likely be wrong.
In fact it should be a rule:
KudoZ rule # 17342b: If you ask more than XXX questions, you are clearly clueless. Any further answers by you will be automatically erased.
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Riccardo Schiaffino wrote:
KudoZ rule # 17342b: If you ask more than XXX questions, you are clearly clueless. Any further answers by you will be automatically erased.
| | | | veratek
Brazil
Local time: 22:52
French to English
+ ...
| a couple of points | Apr 22, 2011 |
It seems the system works alright in most cases. I don't know what I would consider a problem in terms of asking questions.
There are people who don't work with very tight deadlines and there are those who do. If you have a very tight deadline, spending 2 hours reading a variety of materials because of a little term is not an option. There are people who work with a great variety of topics and those who don't.
Dictionaries, glossaries, and other translation resources a... See more It seems the system works alright in most cases. I don't know what I would consider a problem in terms of asking questions.
There are people who don't work with very tight deadlines and there are those who do. If you have a very tight deadline, spending 2 hours reading a variety of materials because of a little term is not an option. There are people who work with a great variety of topics and those who don't.
Dictionaries, glossaries, and other translation resources are all useless if you are not sure of the original meaning of the term or the sentence (it would be nice if a certain moderator realized this most obvious fact). The same goes for terms which need interpretation and can't be translated literally.
I find it weird that some people, having the option to filter proz members they don't particularly like, still gripe about this or that. That's having a lot of time on your hands and not having any clue what to do with it.
I also found it surprising that no one mentioned what I think is the most obvious reason for not suggesting an answer to a question: the very best possible answer has been posted. 7 people have agreed with it. Yes, if you have nothing else to do (not particularly my case), you can add another agreement, which isn't really needed at that point. Aside from a really good answer, there are other 3 good options and one not so good one. What exactly are you going to add?
As someone mentioned, every time someone asks a question and there is a reasonable answer, it helps building the kudoz resource. People can choose to participate and how they want to participate. Snotty or unintelligent contributors and moderators are told to reflect on their behavior. All in all, it seems like it's working.
[Edited at 2011-04-22 18:42 GMT]
[Edited at 2011-04-22 18:43 GMT]
[Edited at 2011-04-22 18:44 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | wonita (X)
China
Local time: 21:52
| Hobby KudoZ answerers lurking at Proz.com | Apr 22, 2011 |
are glad to see each and every question asked…
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| Time and chance | Apr 23, 2011 |
I agree that you must be quite devoted to answer questions, and not everyone has the time and specialty it takes to answer.
I haven't answered more than 2-3 questions in the last 2 years because I simply lack the time, or when I do want to answer some, someone beat me to it. Some language pairs have people answering pretty fast, and I'm very glad for it since I ask more questions than I answer.
| | | | | PointZ PointZ PointZ | Apr 23, 2011 |
Bin Tiede wrote:
Hobby KudoZ answerers lurking at Proz.com
are glad to see each and every question asked…
A clever, witty response to the Kudoz polemic. The recording appeared in 2008 and this isn't the first time it's posted on the site, but for those who have never heard it and those who would like to hear it again, here it is:
http://danglingparticiples.podomatic.com/
| | | | Gianni Pastore
Italy
Local time: 03:52
Member (2007)
English to Italian
Riccardo Schiaffino wrote: Gianni Pastore wrote: In my pair there's people who's asked as much as 3000 questions and no answer whatsoever. A balance of 664/0 falls pretty much in the amateurish area, imho G ...you are clearly clueless...
...they might be clueless, but they keep getting jobs, apparently... talk about agencies being "cluelesser" than clueless translators
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