Why you should get a native speaker to proofread your sales pitch

[pne]

I came across the Pronunciation Patterns web site through a sponsored ad while reading Gmail.

I'm glad it promises only to reduce your accent, not teach you correct grammar... because if the program taught you the kind of grammar found in the site's FAQ page, even the most perfect accent wouldn't convince listeners that you were American. (Sure, even native speakers make errors when speaking or writing, but the kind of errors a native speaker makes are different from the ones learners make, and these are the latter kind.)

Constructions such as "I have trouble with the TH sounds. How can I solve it?", "Does Pronunciation Patterns provides step-by-step lessons to help me learn English Pronunciation?", "Can Pronunciation Patterns help me reduce accent to be more like American accent?", or "When does the letter T is pronounced as the D sound?" (that last one sounds the worst to me); or the (to me) stilted use of "shall" in "How shall I use Pronunciation Patterns and how often shall I use it?" or "Why shall I buy Pronunciation Patterns today?"—it all seems very "eek" and foreigner-speak.

I think it makes the site seem unprofessional; they're selling a product but they clearly couldn't afford to hire someone to proofread their website. Even if what they're selling is not advice on grammar, that page (for me) reflects poorly on the product.

(And I just noticed that the little flags at the top of the FAQ page link to… machine translations of the page via Google. Er. …and the one for German doesn't even work since they put a ? where a & belonged!)

Comments

[fledchen.livejournal.com]

That reads like a lot of the spam I get.

[sparkofcreation.livejournal.com]

I was watching a show on new technology the other night, and they were showing off an interpreting gadget that worked entirely orally (err, can it be oral if it's a machine speaking?). And they decided to show it off.

The man said "We are at the consumer electronics show, demonstrating the language translation software."
The machine said: "Estamos en el consumo de exposición electrónica. Demuestre el idioma para software de traducción."
Translation: We are [in the process of] consuming [an] electronic show. Demonstrate [imperative] the language used in translation software.

And that was a pretty straightforward sentence!

No, I don't feel my job is in danger ...

jobs in danger

[pne.livejournal.com]

No, I don't feel my job is in danger ...

No, interpreter probably not.

But I wonder whether translator will receive competition from people who think that any native speaker can translate, so they ask company employees to do translation stuff on the side rather than handing the work to a professional. (I've been asked to do translation work several times, for example, as well as the odd proof-reading/correcting.)

Re: jobs in danger

[clarkcox3.livejournal.com]

Oh, believe me; it already happens. I'm a software engineer, working for a company that makes cancer treatment devices (i.e. lives are potentially on the line). Many times in the past, I have been asked to translate e-mails, faxes and other correspondence from German into English. Mostly, it was just a minor annoyance—That is, until they wanted me to translate a legally binding contract.

When I refused, you wouldn't believe the number of, "well, why not?" questions I got. Some people still didn't understand after I explained:

• I am not a translator


• There legal terms that I don't know in my first language, let alone in my second.


• There medical terms that I don't know in German.

*sigh* At least I haven't gotten any translation requests in the past year or so.