Recently I came across a certain someone (not to defame them by mentioning their name), who is upfront in using Google Translate. I was definitely disappointed and wanted someone’s advice about how they deal with such people.
Firstly, I checked their work randomly and since I know my subbing language (Hindi) pretty well, thus I can easily differentiate between a Google translated and a self-done translation. So, what I saw was shocking… they used Google Translate for all the subtitles. They didn’t use GT for specific phrases or words. Rather they just copy-pasted the whole subtitles (most probably from the Bulk Translation).
I gave 'em and myself some time to digest the fact. And after almost a week, I messaged them indirectly signaling them about their breach of rules. But, alas! Even after doing so, they didn’t rewrite their subs and rather said that they were done with their respective part assigned to them, further continuing to sub the successive part of the episode.
Now, why I did do this? Why didn’t I directly approach or snapped at them? Well well well… They’re a newbie at this site and at my initial stage of subbing even I was confused. So, I thought maybe (just maybe) if I give them an indirect sign, they would not feel bad or hurt and things would also not get complicated. Hence, I did what I thought was correct at that time. But, nothing good came out of it.
Lastly, why I came up here? Obviously to seek advice from you all good souls. Experienced for sure! I want you all to help me explain how you deal with such users, particularly in this case & in general too… and if I was anyway wrong in my approach.
If you read up till here, you really are a PATIENT HUMAN!
Thanks for reading and maybe helping meh!!!
Look, I am also new to subtitling and before I started I read all the information and rules to be part of the projects as a sub from English to Spanish and I know perfectly well what I should and should not do, so it does not give me the right to violate the rules of Viki and the teams, of course there are many things that I still do not know for sure even though I almost graduated as a language teacher so I always prefer to ask the language moderator instead of doing something that will only create problems.
What I would do if I were a moderator would be to speak only once about the mistake they are making and give them a warning, and if the person continues I would remove them from the team and I would not accept them again in any project.
Maybe it reads a little wrong, but rules are rules and even more when there are warnings, this is just my opinion… I clarify it.
Have them removed from the team or get the relevant mod or CM to do it. Gather evidence if you haven’t already, then report the person to the staff and your language community. Language community is more important as the staff have a delayed response. There is no trying to reform these people to fix their mistakes. You’ll eventually wind up looking behind your back and possibly see that they’ve gone back to their old ways even if they’re fluent in the language.
If they can’t bother to read the subtitling guidelines, follow simple rules, or bother to heed warnings, then they’re irredeemable.
You might want to look into changing or implementing an initial test of a candidate’s fluency before they get added to a team.
and those who are aware of it from the start, but they don’t abide by the rules (abusers called The Evil Googlators, TEGs)
Some people belong to the first group. Once they are told about the rule, they stop their activities. You can tell who they are based on their first response (usually something like "Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know). Those users are promising both as volunteers and as part of a team.
Majority of people using GT, however, are abusers. You can sense no remorse in their response to your critique (like the person you described). Those users need to be nipped in the bud.
Warn them. (You’ve done that.)
If they don’t comply, throw them out of the team ASAP.
Take a sea of screenshots, proving they’ve used GT.
Ask the CM to delete their subs. Don’t try to edit their subs.
Report the user to Viki by going to their profile and clicking the flag button “Report user”.
It’s very important that you do points 2 and 3 quickly. You need to prevent this user from reaching QC status. Once they get one, they are able to become a Moderator and they are practically unstoppable. At that point only Viki can help you, and they shy away from that like a cat from the water.
@catalina2108
I definitely respect your opinion and tbh I agree with it too. Rules are rules.
Thanks for your response and support.
@ilikedeadclowns
True! I am about to get the screenshot about the same.
Thanks for your response and support! Cheaters should definitely be treated accordingly.
So, I read the whole response and I’m understanding the situation in a better way. I agree with you, these TEGs should never be left to roam.
Thanks for the help and support!
I clarified the situation further in the thread.
Hello again! xD
To answer a few more questions just for clarification:
Did the above-mentioned person know about the rules of translation?
Yes. I made a spreadsheet for the respective drama for my convenience and I specifically mentioned Dos and Don’ts in it.
Here is a screenshot of it:
Proof: Google Translate the English text of these subs to Hindi and you’ll see the exact same result as written, plus any Hindi speaker can tell that these subs actually doesn’t mean what they should. Nutjob as अखरोट का काम LOL
“And don’t be hurt or sad buddy, I am just abiding by the rules, thanks!”
So, I shall do as @bozoli mentioned, and well thanks to everyone for their help.
The culture needs to change, the benchmark raised to the highest level.
On one level, ■■■■■■■ might complain that translating their output into so many different languages is an add-on cost they struggle with, but that’s rubbish.
After all, the more languages, the more subscribers in the various territories they attract. Indeed, one despairs at the huge budgets that go on a TV show for N’fix, and yet they resent the tiny funds, by comparison, it takes to subtitle a drama.
It’s a big like having a huge Hollywood premiere with a a gala dinner afterwards, served up with paper plates and napkins, the Champagne poured into styrofoam cups.
That only works if the abuser is the only subber. Otherwise, innocent subbers’ subs will get lost, as well. CMs cannot selectively delete the subs of one person in particular. Only Viki Staff can do that and they usually don’t. Even if they delete the abuser’s account, the subs often stay.
Are you saying that NF is lacking subtitles in many languages? That’s actually not the case. For most shows, there are several options, but the options shown to you are based on your settings. In some cases, the options are indeed limited, but that may have to do with license issues or even with a lack of translators. And even Viki has such limits.
There is a workaround, but it requires that the subs have not been edited. By extracting all subs of an episode, detecting the abuser’s subs and asking the other subber(s) (if any) to copy-paste their subs back.
Less people in the team means each person has done a lot (if it’s strictly divided, that is. Otherwise, one might even have done more than the abuser) so more subs per person get lost. Deleting innocent people’s subs is an issue in every team, but with smaller teams, the stakes per person only get higher.
The following is from OpenAI GPT-3.
Machine translation is worthless. Even if it is Chat-GPT.
Summary
La traducción automática es inútil. Incluso si es Chat-GPT. (Spanish)
मशीन अनुवाद बेकार है। चाहे वह चैट-GPT हो या कुछ और। (Hindi)
機器翻譯毫無價值，即使它是Chat-GPT。 (Mandarin traditional)
الترجمة الآلية لا قيمة لها. حتى إذا كانت شات-GPT. (Arabic)
The sentences seem ok in Hindi and Spanish, although I’m not a native speaker of either.
2nd iteration with proper grammar seems worse.
Summary
Machine translation is worthless, even if it is Chat-GPT.
La traducción automática no sirve para nada, incluso si es Chat-GPT. (Spanish)
मशीन अनुवाद निष्पक्ष होता है, यहां तक कि जब वह Chat-GPT हो भी. (Hindi)
机器翻译是没有价值的，即使是 Chat-GPT。 (Mandarin - traditional)
الترجمة الآلية لا قيمة لها، حتى لو كانت Chat-GPT. (Arabic)
I’m not exactly using the official version but seems like there’s a ways to go before A.I. takes over translation. I’ve seen some subtitles on another streaming service that I think had machine translation. The term fire truck was transliterated into devanagari for Hindi, when it’s much easier to write the Hindi equivalent as a human translator.
I personally think subtitling an unknown language using GT or any Chatbots which are typically pre-programmed with a limited set of responses, although ChatGPT is capable of generating responses based on the context and tone of the conversation. This makes ChatGPT more personalized and sophisticated than chatbots. Translating perfectly is now possible as it can translates the words formed in a sentence like it does quite ensure the accuracy, Technology software of the Viki should also be programmed to block using another software while translating.
