Our company has a translation group. Normally we send off our properties files, and we get back the versions for the languages we support in this application. Sometimes we get a few questions from the translators, usually just a clarification of how we’re using a term or a request for some context. I send back and answer, and a few days later I get my translation.
I don’t think their Chinese translator quite understands this process though. I got back a list of translator questions from him, and it’s all stuff like “Please confirm this translation of the string ‘Foo Bar'” followed by a string of Chinese characters. Or “Should the word ‘Digest’ be translated or left as English?” I feel like writing back and saying “HOW THE FUCK SHOULD I KNOW? YOU’RE THE ONE WHO CAN SPEAK CHINESE!” But I won’t. Instead I’m writing to his manager to explain that we can’t answer his questions because we don’t speak Chinese, and leaving out the part about how if we did speak Chinese we wouldn’t need them.
That would make me fear for the translator’s ability to properly translate, frankly.