Yes, at $0.018 per character I'm practically paying to do these translations, but ever since joining Gengo as a Ja->En translator, I find myself looking for jobs in my spare time and doing them for fun — the way I used to compulsively start playing WordTwist (before Zynga shut it down) whenever I was bored. I think the attraction is the peek into people's lives: the trading company worker applying for his MBA, the Japanese company telling a US company that a partnership is not in the cards, the artist telling her friend that she doesn't know how to send photos over email. It's like you get to be this unseen, anonymous angel.
Anyway, I hope Gengo approves my pro test soon so I can live with myself for indulging in this new habit. But even if they don't, I might not be able to stop myself from checking the Ja-En jobs.
4 comments
:D I'm delighted that you feel that way! I definitely agree. I still wonder sometimes about what happened with particular customers after I translated their document for them.
I'm working through a backlog of tests, and you should have your results within a few days. Apologies for the wait! But please don't stop checking the queue--Standard jobs need love too!
Andrew, I think this is my all-time favorite piece of feedback on Gengo!
Welcome to the team and thanks for being awesome :)
Natalia
I too have fallen victim to this strange compulsion to spend my free time doing translations, instead of watching TV or whatever I would normally be doing.
I find myself refreshing the job lists more than I refresh Facebook. haha