Why are some requests for translation shoved into the random chat thread?

I would say it's been online since 2004 - web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.yourniagara.ca


What if 50% of all members were coming here just to "want translations"? I'm not sure how a person who even learns English or Polish could benefit from a random text posted in a translation section. Plus, those who are long-term members and are genuinely interested in discussions about Poland tend to be annoyed by a person who out of the blue requests or demands translations (sometimes in unrelated threads because "it's urgent").

A similar situation is/was with the job section people from different countries wanted to post inadequate job offers or requests.

Admin

have noticed that .. if it is that urgent they should get someone not on the net to assist .. i know i am learning polish and all .. but some people post translation requests without even probably to attempt themselves to have a go ... at least i try and yeah i get it wrong but then again that is part of the learning process .. if randoms posted urgents they should not hit it off with a said male / female and claim they understand ... a simple nie rozumiem po polsku czy rozumiem po angielsku towards the individual would help till they learnt some of the polish language at least ....

.... !

That's a whole other issue about the placement of translation requests.
Who says it has to be random? What about if some employer, as an example, had to relate something important about a job to their employee? Maybe they speak good english, but don't know a certain technical term that would make their job easier? Simple things like that. Or somebody in a relationship and just wants to show how they feel. Could make somebody's day - and why wouldn't anybody benefit? I can't fathom why not.

Why should somebody give it a go? It would be nice if they did, but I think it's a step that they are even attempting to find a translation to help in the first place in some cases. Maybe they don't want to have to learn a new language just to say something, and maybe it is important that they do get it right. People here are good to help, if they don't want to it's their decision - but if they are willing, I don't see a problem.

There were several situations when a random poster (either a new member or even anonymous poster) went to the site and posted their message to translate. After it was translated, s/he emailed us and had the cheeks to demand that "their translation thread" must be deleted because it contained some "personal information." When it was deleted, a person who did the translation complained that "his/her thread was deleted".

That's why we tend to treat new members who come here and in their first posts request translations as potential trouble-makers or trolls.. This is what we can tell from our experience.

Admin

thanx sofi - other comments from other members??

Admin that is a fair and valid point ...

So this first post of mine was treated as 'potential trouble-maker-troll' material?



Admin, if it wasn't for the fact that I liked most of the people, animals, birds and other creatures that I have to do with on PF, I would have left this site, and you wouldn't have sniffed my tail again :/

Look Mufasa, you are not right here, okay? So just sshhh!! Relax!
No one wants you to leave YET. But if you really want to act like this, then don't be suprised.

Wyspi, I did not say that anyone wants me to leave. I disagree with Admin on moving first posters to a random chat thread before they know the ins and outs of PF. I don't know why this lady was moved, while he had patience with me and - through changing my post titles - taught me how to do it.

I am also not going to be threatened by your comment, or become angry at you, because I'm not even sure that you have read the whole thread.

Maybe it's also the fact that I will always put up a fight for the underdog, because it's only if an underdog sees that someone sees and hears her or him, that they start mustering enough courage to be able to stand up for themselves.

This is not just about a post being moved, hun. This is also about a person being pushed aside without having a fair chance. I will never be able to keep my mouth shut about something like that ever.

That is the end of my story on this thread.

Why are some requests for translation shoved into the random chat thread?

For Moderators it's frustrating to arrive here and find maybe 3 or 4 requests for translations that have titles like "urgent translation" or "sms to Polish". This doesn't happen once in a while, it happens every day. So then time has to be spent on re-naming these threads (this is fine as it's part of the job but you can imagine how it becomes frustrating). Then after that move on to other Moderating jobs, plus try to participate in PF of course ;)

These titles are not often all the doing of new members either.

To not moderate these would leave a list of thread titles in the translation section that are of no use to anyone. It's also worthy to remember that the people who translate all the requests and help with grammar and pronunciation do so out of the goodness of their hearts.



It's worth noting that the user who posted this message wrote this "If you cant text well in english then text in polish instead.". So the user was welcoming someone to text them in Polish but didn't seem to know how to speak Polish or write Polish. So how were they going to understand those texts when they started arriving?

PF is moderated by humans, not robots so it can't be perfect all the time.



Then it must be worth it to spend some time looking around the forum before making that first post. Personally I was hovering for days before I joined ;)

that was what my point was above ... with attempting polish before requesting translation .. or at least check the threads first as most translation requests are repeats if people had half a brain they would cut and paste and save to word or notepad for future reference ... !



i was browsing for forums to assist in polish learning to help me learn i found this site my first post wasnt translation request it was to stick up for the polish people in the uk ... i think it was a while before i asked for one ... !

I don't remember a first post of yours or any other member who posted more than several hours ago..


Frankly, I had to correct your "Translation please" topic yet a couple of days ago ;}.


Right... It's the end of the new year so let's assume you and the other "oppressed members" win - now you can enjoy your freedom.

Admin

wasn't about winning or losing :)

Happy New Year Admin ;P