Poll: How often do you tend to use Wikipedia when translating? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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My projects seldom lend themselves to seeking info on Wikipedia, and what you get might not be 100% accurate.
However, Once in a while I do use Wikipedia for private research e.g. historical events, personalities etc.
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I think Wikipedia can be useful as a starting point during our research to get a quick idea or a little context on a subject. We all know that thorough research is essential in our work, though, so it's usually only a first step, followed by other, more specialised sources.
| | | | Samuel Murray 
Netherlands
Local time: 12:47
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
I often add the word "wiki" after my search term to convince Google that I prefer a result from Wikipedia.
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Metin Demirel
Türkiye
Local time: 13:47
Member (2018)
Italian to Turkish
+ ...
| almost never | Aug 16, 2022 |
I used to translate articles on art history for one particular client and I used to spend a lot of time on Wikipedia back then. But I stopped accepting those projects 2 years ago. These days I don't remember referring to it at all.
As for personal use, I don't trust it when it comes to history and social sciences. References are mostly irrelevant and sources are self-referencing. Unfortunately, it has turned into a propaganda tool mostly in the service of nationalist bigots from di... See more I used to translate articles on art history for one particular client and I used to spend a lot of time on Wikipedia back then. But I stopped accepting those projects 2 years ago. These days I don't remember referring to it at all.
As for personal use, I don't trust it when it comes to history and social sciences. References are mostly irrelevant and sources are self-referencing. Unfortunately, it has turned into a propaganda tool mostly in the service of nationalist bigots from different parts of the world. Also, material on popular culture are mostly used by the publicists.
[Edited at 2022-08-16 11:58 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | The last resort | Aug 16, 2022 |
To translate a product description of one of the best masterpieces (a medieval picture) in a premium MTPE project.
The original author didn't grant so much hint and I had to go deeper into the relevant (art) histories. No source couldn't be found anywhere else except for Wikipedia, which rarely happens.
[Edited at 2022-08-16 12:07 GMT]
[Edited at 2022-08-16 12:11 GMT]
[Edited at 2022-08-16 14:31 GMT]
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Some of my clients even forbid me to use it for their projects because of its unreliability.
Here in Germany it is well known that some politicians insert false information into Wiki articles about themselves to polish their public image.
| | | | Kay Denney
France
Local time: 12:47
French to English
As others have said, it's very often a good starting point.
Christina Pauly wrote:
Some of my clients even forbid me to use it for their projects because of its unreliability..
A fair while back, I was working on a translation about inclusive banking. The French term for inclusive banking is "bancarisation" and the client wanted me to use that as if it were an English term, which it wasn't. I sent them the Wiki page on inclusive banking, highlighting the definition and pointing out that it was defined exactly the same way as "bancarisation" in French.
They replied that Wikipedia was not a reliable source, I was obviously not a serious translator. I referred them to the list of references at the end, linking to the websites of places like the World Bank, the IMF and various international banking establishments. "Are they serious enough for you?".
Inclusive banking it was!
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| Wikipedia has improved a lot over the years | Aug 17, 2022 |
I use it as a starting point.
I use it to compare source and target articles, and to find the names of theatres, institutions or schools that have official names in English, but do not always show them immediately on their Danish websites.
Of course, I check the references and look elsewhere too, but I use it quite a lot for private purposes and my non-working languages.
It probably varies from language to language, but there are some gems if you look caref... See more I use it as a starting point.
I use it to compare source and target articles, and to find the names of theatres, institutions or schools that have official names in English, but do not always show them immediately on their Danish websites.
Of course, I check the references and look elsewhere too, but I use it quite a lot for private purposes and my non-working languages.
It probably varies from language to language, but there are some gems if you look carefully. I like the idea and donate to it. There are some serious experts on a lot of subjects who generously make their knowledge available, and it is a great tool. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | You don't often get translation insights from wiki | Aug 17, 2022 |
Christine Andersen wrote:
I use it to compare source and target articles, and to find the names of theatres, institutions or schools that have official names in English, but do not always show them immediately on their Danish websites.
This is a near-exhaustive list of uses I have for wiki content in my translation work, only I've noticed that different language versions of wiki articles sometimes talk about different things (vaguely related to each other), and I also often use wiki's transcription systems, which come in handy when you need to render a Polish, Turkish, Hungarian, or Thai names in cyrillic (I wonder if other language pairs have similar features; those transcription pages are available in my language pair only). There are "wiki" pages (like qaz.wiki and others) where useful materials seem to be available in translation, but that translation is pure MT, it has no value for a translator, so I just dismiss those links when they pop up in my search results. I considered giving some credit to those results at first, but no, MT totally sucks, and still I saw people citing similar resources when answering KudoZ questions
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I use it whenever it happens to come up in my search results. I would like to think we all have enough intelligence to tell whether or not a particular article is reliable. My favourite was when Craig David joined the GB archery squad as bow selector.
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I avoid using Wikipedia. It is not reliable and people can add false information for whatever reason. However if there are no other good sources you might check on it but verify it elsewhere.
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| All the time | Aug 19, 2022 |
I use it all the time.
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