Tuesday we received the Spanish translation of the new and improved Associate Handbook (which by the way took months and months of editing to create the English version)
We were asked on Tuesday morning to have the proof-reading of the Spanish translation done by Thursday morning.
It became immediately obvious that Thursday was NEVER going to happen.
I speak Spanish as a second language -- I'm good -- but I'm no native speaker. I found about 50 or 60 errors in the handbook -- including some where the bad translation actually changed the meaning of the section!
Today I called a meeting with the other proof-readers -- all native speakers.
2 hours in -- we had proofread about 15 pages -- with close to 200 corrections. We have about 20 more pages to go.
The mistakes we found from this "professional" translation were shocking. Spanish 101 errors, inconsistencies (translating the word "crafts" 3 different ways in different parts of the book)
Shocking
I can't believe that I decided I wasn't good enough to be a translator.
Apparently I could have gone into this business and raked it in.
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