Westernwords — the Web log of an English-to-Chinese translator — makes a very good point in not so very good English. But the point gets through.
The translation industry guideline has not been imposed to be executed by all translation service body and some illegal behaviors such as deceiving and big quote difference are making wormy sores in this industry structure, which makes the industry standardization rushing. Some ratfinks assign the projects they get and have no mind to pay for their contemporarily employed translators’ work. Some translation companies quote the lowest one can’t imagine in order to grab large amount of deals.
My friend and colleague The Enigmatic Mermaid, in unguarded moments, refers to this as the “crack whoredom of the industry.”
After getting. They either employ unqualified translators or dissect the whole manuscript into small paragraphs of hundreds of word and get the free translation from hundreds of different translators in the guise for a trial. At last the customer becomes the biggest victim.
I actually fell for that one myself, many years ago.
Westernwords believes the industry needs to push for ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 certifications now. I am planning a section on standards on my professional vanity Web site, when I can get around to it. But it looks like I am going to be fairly busy for a while.
