At the bottom end of the market
Kevin
of the market" means in following paragraph. With great thanks.
Kevin
Do translators living outside their home country lose touch with their
native tongue? At the bottom end of the market, perhaps. But expert
linguists make a point of keeping their language skills up to scratch
wherever they are.
Leslie Danks
"My husband is English and we do translations."
--
Les (BrE)
tony cooper
wrote:
The author is referring to translators who are not good at their job.
--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida
Leslie Danks
By implication, yes, but the "bottom end of the market" means the "cheap
end" and in the translation industry price does not always correlate with
the quality of the work done. Someone just starting, especially as a
free-lance translator, will have to set prices low enough to attract
customers--no matter how good he or she is. Translation agencies have to
pay for their flashy front ends (web sites, offices, etc.) and frequently
subcontract work to free-lance translators, who are paid some fraction of
what the translation agency charges the customer. In many cases, the
customer is unable to judge the quality of the translation and lack of
quality control by the translation agency goes unpunished.
The bottom line is that you do not always "get what you paid for". I
always advise people wishing to have something translated to insist that
the job be done by a native speaker of the target language and, before
awarding the contract, to have a test page translated first and checked
by a native speaker with the necessary knowledge.
--
Les (BrE)
mm
wrote:
>Hello - could anyone please tell me what the phrase "At the bottom end
Something is wrong with this whole paragraph. Bad translators are
more likely to have problems with their second and third languages,
unless they've been using the language in daily life for decades.
ONe doesn't have to be an expert translator to keep up with one's
native language. Most people do, translator or not, unless they never
go home and don't intend to.
And I don't think I've ever heard "up to scratch" used like this.
Scratch is at the bottom. People make cakes from scratch, they scratch
out a living, or they were born in Hard Scratch, Arkansas. They keep
their skills up to par or up to snuff.
--
Posters should say where they live, and for which
area they are asking questions. I have lived in
Western Pa. 10 years
Indianapolis 10 years
Chicago 6 years
Brooklyn, NY 12 years
Baltimore 26 years
Leslie Danks
> On Mon, 1 Jun 2009 05:24:51 -0700 (PDT), Kevin <aeu....@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>>Hello - could anyone please tell me what the phrase "At the bottom end
>>of the market" means in following paragraph. With great thanks.
>>Kevin
>>
>>Do translators living outside their home country lose touch with their
>>native tongue? At the bottom end of the market, perhaps. But expert
>>linguists make a point of keeping their language skills up to scratch
>>wherever they are.
[...]
> And I don't think I've ever heard "up to scratch" used like this.
> Scratch is at the bottom. People make cakes from scratch, they scratch
> out a living, or they were born in Hard Scratch, Arkansas. They keep
> their skills up to par or up to snuff.
This use of the expression is perfectly normal to me (and to
dictionary.com):
<http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/up+to+scratch>
(see meaning 23). I suspect you have been living abroad for 160 years or
longer and have not been keeping up to scratch.
--
Les (BrE)
Leslie Danks
[...]
> <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/up+to+scratch>
>
> (see meaning 23).
Sorry! Meaning 33.
--
Les (BrE)
tony cooper
wrote:
>On Mon, 1 Jun 2009 05:24:51 -0700 (PDT), Kevin <aeu....@gmail.com>
>wrote:
>
>>Hello - could anyone please tell me what the phrase "At the bottom end
>>of the market" means in following paragraph. With great thanks.
>>Kevin
>>
>>Do translators living outside their home country lose touch with their
>>native tongue? At the bottom end of the market, perhaps. But expert
>>linguists make a point of keeping their language skills up to scratch
>>wherever they are.
>
>Something is wrong with this whole paragraph. Bad translators are
>more likely to have problems with their second and third languages,
>unless they've been using the language in daily life for decades.
>
>ONe doesn't have to be an expert translator to keep up with one's
>native language. Most people do, translator or not, unless they never
>go home and don't intend to.
>
>And I don't think I've ever heard "up to scratch" used like this.
>Scratch is at the bottom. People make cakes from scratch, they scratch
>out a living, or they were born in Hard Scratch, Arkansas. They keep
>their skills up to par or up to snuff.
"Up to scratch" is commonly used to mean "perfectly acceptable".
"Scratch" and "par" mean the same thing to a golfer. A "scratch
golfer" is one who doesn't have a handicap and is capable of shooting
par or better in any round.
I have never heard "scratch" used to mean "the bottom", but I have
heard "scratch-built" and similar. That meaning is not "the bottom",
though.
tony cooper
wrote:
I agree, and "mm" and I have lived in the same cities for 16 years.
Not necessarily at the same time, though.
Kevin
I agree with what mm said regarding "One doesn't have to be an expert
translator to keep up with one's native language", it's more
ridiculous to read that "a degree is essential for being a
translator". I think it really depends on the quality of the degree
attained. If you are interested in reading the stuff I mentioned,
could go to http://www.iti.org.uk/indexMain.html, under "getting
started" section where a pdf file of "getting into translation" tells.
Kevin (Hong Kong)
Marshall Price
--
Marshall Price of Miami
marsha...@att.net
http://marshallprice.wordpress.com
Marshall Price
> On Mon, 1 Jun 2009 05:24:51 -0700 (PDT), Kevin <aeu....@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Hello - could anyone please tell me what the phrase "At the bottom end
>> of the market" means in following paragraph. With great thanks.
>> Kevin
>>
>> Do translators living outside their home country lose touch with their
>> native tongue? At the bottom end of the market, perhaps. But expert
>> linguists make a point of keeping their language skills up to scratch
>> wherever they are.
>
> Something is wrong with this whole paragraph. Bad translators are
> more likely to have problems with their second and third languages,
> unless they've been using the language in daily life for decades.
>
> ONe doesn't have to be an expert translator to keep up with one's
> native language. Most people do, translator or not, unless they never
> go home and don't intend to.
>
> And I don't think I've ever heard "up to scratch" used like this.
> Scratch is at the bottom. People make cakes from scratch, they scratch
> out a living, or they were born in Hard Scratch, Arkansas. They keep
> their skills up to par or up to snuff.
Then you haven't been around. Your familiarity with English isn't up
to snuff, I guess.