Crowdsourcing and translation ~ English to French translations

Description

Crowdsourcing and translation

October 12, 2009

Crowdsourcing is the act of using the general public to take on, generally for free, work that would normally be assigned to contractors.

Some companies have decided to use crowdsourcing to translate their website, relying on thousands of volunteers to work for them for free (step 6 of the crowdsourcing process above doesn't always happen) and produce a result that will help them increase their revenue. The results have been of varying quality, with Spanish users of Facebook, in particular, reporting grammatical errrors and confusing terminology .

I can understand why a not-for-profit website might choose to ask its users to translate it in several languages: when budgets are tight, it is tempting to use the skills and good will of others. Besides, members of an online community might have an emotional investment in it and might be only too happy to give up their time for it. The result might not be as good as it might be, had it been done by professionals, but if it’s good enough to attract other users, then the aim has been achieved.

There is a perception out there that, in order to be a translator, all you need is to know two languages. Our profession struggles with recognition and that is why when LinkedIn , a for-profit organisation, sent me an email asking me whether I’d be happy to translate their website for free, to have fun or to get a badge, I was very annoyed, along with a lot of other translators . Not because LinkedIn was choosing to use crowdsourcing, but because, in asking me to give away my services, it seemed to contradict its main aim, which is to help professionals further their career. No professional is going to further her career ...

Original URL

http://www.nakedtranslations.com/en/2009/crowdsourcing-and-translation

http://www.nakedtranslations.com/en/2009/crowdsourcing-and-translation