| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Automatically Making Number of KudoZ Points the Criteria for Finding a Translator Thread poster: Jeffrey Slenker
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I don't think it is a great idea to auto-sort possible translators for a project with the translator having the highest number of KudoZ points at the top of the list. That translator could have a lot of time on their hands because nobody is hiring them, so they answer a lot of KudoZ questions. If a customer/agency asks for potential translators to be sorted by years of translation, certification, etc., you should use that as the basis for the sort. Don't force the agency to select a sorting crit... See more I don't think it is a great idea to auto-sort possible translators for a project with the translator having the highest number of KudoZ points at the top of the list. That translator could have a lot of time on their hands because nobody is hiring them, so they answer a lot of KudoZ questions. If a customer/agency asks for potential translators to be sorted by years of translation, certification, etc., you should use that as the basis for the sort. Don't force the agency to select a sorting criterion once they see the initial list of translators auto-sorted by number of KudoZ points, in addition to picking the criteria for the translator they are interested in on the prior pages.
[Edited at 2022-11-19 17:50 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Jeffrey Slenker wrote:
I don't think it is a great idea to auto-sort possible translators for a project with the translator having the highest number of KudoZ points at the top of the list. That translator could have a lot of time on their hands because nobody is hiring them, so they answer a lot of KudoZ questions. If a customer/agency asks for potential translators to be sorted by years of translation, certification, etc., you should use that as the basis for the sort. Don't force the agency to select a sorting criterium once they see the initial list of translators auto-sorted by number of KudoZ points, in addition to picking the criteria for the translator they are interested in on the prior pages.
There are just too many generalisations and assumptions in this for my brain to cope with…
KudoZ is flawed but as good a place to start as any.
Although spelling can also be a good criterion.
[Edited at 2022-11-19 17:33 GMT]
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:29
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Jeffrey Slenker wrote:
I don't think it is a great idea to auto-sort possible translators for a project with the translator having the highest number of KudoZ points at the top of the list. That translator could have a lot of time on their hands because nobody is hiring them, so they answer a lot of KudoZ questions. If a customer/agency asks for potential translators to be sorted by years of translation, certification, etc., you should use that as the basis for the sort. Don't force the agency to select a sorting criterium once they see the initial list of translators auto-sorted by number of KudoZ points, in addition to picking the criteria for the translator they are interested in on the prior pages.
Criteria is the plural of criterion
| | | | Jeffrey Slenker 
United States
Member (2005)
Japanese to English
TOPIC STARTER | Good catch... | Nov 19, 2022 |
Getting too used to autocorrect....
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| And "criterium" | Nov 20, 2022 |
seems to be a cycling term.
Autocorrect again, damn it.
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:29
Member (2008)
Italian to English
| and "prior pages" | Nov 20, 2022 |
Cilian O'Tuama wrote: seems to be a cycling term. Autocorrect again, damn it.
"preceding pages" surely?
| | | | Jeffrey Slenker
United States
Member (2005)
Japanese to English
TOPIC STARTER | @Tom "Prior" vs. "Preceding" | Nov 20, 2022 |
It is my understanding that "Prior" doesn't mean "immediately before" while "preceding" does. To be honest, I am not sure if the page where you select attributes for the translator you want to use is immediately before the page where you have to select an attribute again to change the sorting order from "KudoZ points" to another attribute, but I don't think so. Anyway, thanks for your terminology suggestions. They make me think more deeply before typing something...
| | | | Jeffrey Slenker
United States
Member (2005)
Japanese to English
TOPIC STARTER
Why start with a criterion not selected by the searcher. I looked for my profile and selected the criterion of years of experience. Why didn't the results get sorted by years of experience? I think the number of KudoZ points is a bad criterion because the customer would never choose it. Of what benefit is it to the translation agency to find a translator with a lot of KudoZ points?
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David GAY
Local time: 16:29
English to French
+ ...
Cilian O'Tuama wrote: seems to be a cycling term. Autocorrect again, damn it.
Criterium is originally a latin word
https://www.wordsense.eu/criterium/
Noun
criterium (pl. criteriums)
(cycling) A mass-start road-cycle race consisting of several laps around a closed circuit, the length of each lap or circuit ranging from about 1 km to 2 km (1/2 mile to just over 1 mile).
Alternative form of criterion
1867 George H. Lewes, A Biographical History of Philosophy 1.181:
There is no criterium of truth.
Funny that English translators shouldn t know this.
My mistake, Irish, not English
Anyway, thanks, you ve made my day. One good laugh in a gloomy day
[Edited at 2022-11-20 17:57 GMT]
| | | | Baran Keki
Türkiye
Local time: 17:29
Member
English to Turkish
| 'Years of experience' | Nov 20, 2022 |
Jeffrey Slenker wrote:
Why start with a criterion not selected by the searcher. I looked for my profile and selected the criterion of years of experience. Why didn't the results get sorted by years of experience? I think the number of KudoZ points is a bad criterion because the customer would never choose it. Of what benefit is it to the translation agency to find a translator with a lot of KudoZ points?
People lie about their 'experience' all the time. You'll find a countless number of 'bilingual' native (American) English speaker translators (displaying that dodgy gray N sign on their profiles) with 20+ years of experience (but who appear to be in their early 30s) and shit loads of WWAs (all mysteriously/incredibly amassed within a month or two) that way. Does that make sense?
| | | | | Slightly less arbitrary, is why | Nov 20, 2022 |
Jeffrey Slenker wrote:
Why start with a criterion not selected by the searcher. I looked for my profile and selected the criterion of years of experience. Why didn't the results get sorted by years of experience? I think the number of KudoZ points is a bad criterion because the customer would never choose it. Of what benefit is it to the translation agency to find a translator with a lot of KudoZ points?
Proven peer-reviewed knowledge vs years of potentially poor translations…
If you look around the forums, you’ll find this has been argued over since dinosaurs roamed the Earth, and that ProZ aren’t keen on change, so it won’t be changing any time soon.
| | | | Jeffrey Slenker
United States
Member (2005)
Japanese to English
TOPIC STARTER
The years of experience is pretty easy to assess by looking at university graduation year and work history on the resume, but my point is not to specify that particular parameter. There are a lot of parameters that clients can specify on the first pages when they are seeking a particular translator. The only thing I am saying is to use the first parameter or combination of parameters that a client clicks on as the way to list the translators.
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Jeffrey Slenker
United States
Member (2005)
Japanese to English
TOPIC STARTER | @Ice Scream Re: Your comment related to "proven" peer-reviewed knowledge vs. years of bad results | Nov 20, 2022 |
Years of bad results - While it is not 100% guaranteed, a long history doing translation and still surviving indicates a certain level of quality. That is why a lot of jobs have a minimum number of years as a requirement for their jobs.
Proven peer-reviewed knowledge - I am not sure "proven" is the appropriate word, when the single help-requesting translator selects one's translation as their favorite. The translator asking for help may not be able to assess the quality. The person ... See more Years of bad results - While it is not 100% guaranteed, a long history doing translation and still surviving indicates a certain level of quality. That is why a lot of jobs have a minimum number of years as a requirement for their jobs.
Proven peer-reviewed knowledge - I am not sure "proven" is the appropriate word, when the single help-requesting translator selects one's translation as their favorite. The translator asking for help may not be able to assess the quality. The person providing the response may be a fast Googler, finding the term on an iffy website, etc. I never make a KudoZ term my final stop in researching a term, even if it can be helpful in finding the final term that I go with.
Your comment on ProZ not wanting to change over a long period of time is well noted. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Certainly not the total number of points! | Nov 21, 2022 |
The total number of KudoZ points as a selection criterion has a fatal flaw: at least in some language pairs, there are certain resident clowns who aggressively provide lots of answers, most of which are wrong, deficient or irrelevant, yet they are sometimes awarded points just because the asker knows even less about the subject, or nobody wants to get into an argument with them, or the question itself is so foolish that serious specialists don't want to answer. Even if they gain points for one a... See more The total number of KudoZ points as a selection criterion has a fatal flaw: at least in some language pairs, there are certain resident clowns who aggressively provide lots of answers, most of which are wrong, deficient or irrelevant, yet they are sometimes awarded points just because the asker knows even less about the subject, or nobody wants to get into an argument with them, or the question itself is so foolish that serious specialists don't want to answer. Even if they gain points for one answer out of 10, some of them get near the top of the point ranking just by their persistence. One possible way to correct this problem would be to subtract the number of answers given from the total number of points received. This way, good answers will yield 3 points instead of the usual 4, but poor ones will yield -1 instead of 0. This will discourage sciolism. ▲ Collapse
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You seem to be confusing questions answered with points awarded.
Many people answer lots of questions but rarely win points.
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