[Interestingly, one translator refused to accept the project "for religious reasons".]
Dear Buyer,
Thank you for reaching out.
I would be happy to translate your book and would not mind including my name.
Before we move forward, may I kindly ask for a bit of clarification regarding the average rating (3) given to the previous freelancers you worked with on the platform?
As I try to be cautious with new projects, this would help me better understand expectations and avoid any potential misunderstandings.
Looking forward to your reply.
Best regards,
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"As I try to be cautious with new projects, this would help me better understand expectations and avoid any potential misunderstandings." I am expecting a translation at a high enough quality to be published as a book: this is intellectually sophisticated material, for an intellectually sophisticated audience. I am not expecting Google Translate (or DeepL) with minor corrections: I am looking for someone who will engage in manual translation with some serious attention paid to substance, style and insinuation.
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Kindly note that as a Fiverr Pro Top-Rated seller with a PhD in Linguistics, my quality of translation is not questionable at all. My question was related to your previous experiences with 2 Fiverr sellers (although it was long ago), since your average buyer rating is 3.
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(1) I answered your question as you stated it: you told me that you wanted to "better understand expectations". That was the question I replied to.
(2) There are terrible, totally incompetent people on Fiverr: one British man who spoke English as his first language was paid for a voice recording, but he could not pronounce the common word "sphere". He pronounced it "sa-peer". This was a British man who advertised his services as a professional voice actor (etc.). In English, we learn the word "sphere" as young children. This was not the only bizarre example of his incompetence. Within the first five minutes of the recording:
The word sphere = mispronounced
The word credo = mispronounced
The word conceit = mispronounced
The word prerogative = mispronounced
So, yes, some people on Fiverr have zero competence, and they receive zero star reviews.
I have also met many people with PhDs who have zero competence in the languages they claim to be experts in (i.e., not on Fiverr).
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Ok. I don't think we'd be a good fit. Best, _____
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If I pay a voice actor to record a script in English (and his first language is English) I expect him to be able to pronounce words like "sphere". Apparently this means my expectations are too high for you?
I have studied many, many languages myself, including Chinese, Cambodian, Lao, Pali, and Cree (Algonquian).
Yes, there are people with PhDs who present themselves as competent in these languages who cannot, in fact, read them: Pali (related to Sanskrit) is an extreme example of one kind, whereas Cree is another.
You asked the question: I answered it.
No, I do not trust that someone is a competent translator just because they have a PhD: I am speaking from real experience.
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I totally understand. Was there any chance to ask him to revise it?
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Yes, I spent several hours listening to the recording and listing every example of an error in it. He clicked to give me a refund. I am not saying this as an insult: I genuinely think this person was mentally disabled. "Sphere" is a word we learn as children in English schools: the names of the geometric shames are required as part of our education. He did not know how to pronounce very simple words like this (that are not orthographically obvious) and he also did not know how to use a dictionary to check the pronunciation. As you have a PhD in linguistics, you can imagine this process very clearly. "Sphere" is not a difficult example (if English is your first language).
Again, I was not being insulting when I said that I have met people with PhDs (especially PhDs in linguistics) who have zero competence in the "target language" they built their career and reputation on. This is quite common. Many people just learn technical aspects of linguistics and could never translate a work of literature (or political philosophy) into another language.
I have experience with languages that are extremely hard to learn. Although some people with PhDs are frauds, some are sincere but are left heartbroken by an education system that prevented them from gaining competence in the language they were supposed to study.
I have met famous people with PhDs in Pali and Sanskrit who can read neither one. One very famous professor [DETAILS OMITTED] could not "see" the difference between Burmese, Cambodian and Sinhalese (as orthographic systems used for Pali). These are much more obviously different than Cyrillic and Latin.
I have also met one career translator for the U.S. military who could not (at retirement) even say simple sentences in Chinese such as "you are smart" and "you are beautiful", and these were examples I witnessed myself: he was still a level 1 student after retiring from the air force. His official job title in the U.S. military was "linguist" (translating Chinese in Okinawa, Japan).
So, yes... here on Fiverr... you try to work with people... you find out afterward who is really able to do the job.
I'm a real intellectual: I am looking for translators who can handle a manuscript about political philosophy. Translating advertisements for toothpaste and subtitles for soap operas is a very different thing.
[I ended up employing a translator who charged a significantly higher price and also wanted to take significantly more time to get the job done —the latter being (in my opinion) a positive sign that she takes the task seriously (whereas many translators promised to complete it all within five days).]
