My question is prompted by @manonamora 's translation of Les Lettres du Docteur Jeangille in this year’s SpringThing. I read it during The French Concours and loved it. I was thinking of skimming through the English version to see if the translation is up to snuff, since tone and writing style are extremely important to this piece. Then , based on that quick impression, I was going to form my judgment about the English version in comparison with the French.
SpringThing isn’t a rated competition with stars or points, but what if it had been? If something like this happens in another Comp? How should one go about rating a translated game where one has already played the original and formed a verdict about it?
I can’t speak to what should be done, but I typically only run over the translated versions very briefly, and then I generally give the same score or same review. If it feels different (for instance, if the original version felt more epic than the one in my native tongue), I lower the score a point, and if it feels more familiar and fun, I raise a point.
So I usually do 10% of my normal reviewing work, by just taking the old rating/review and adjusting it slightly up or down.
Specularily (that is, judging from a non-english mothertongue), personally I apply intelligently Rule 16 (that is, not on spelling, albeit in the fuse/fuze case, can be problematic, leading to vain attempts to ignite a mechanical/electronic one…), that is, if the story can be enjoyed by both sides of the pond, deserve high praising.
a curious thing is that in some cases, detailed descriptions can led to Rule 16 violations. e.g. an hole and a football: in this case, plugging the hole is best done with nondescript hole and football…
