World Updates - Page 6

Smokey

That has cleared that up somewhat, But surerly logic says that most of the paying audience and the competitors more importantly would understand the English Language more than in favour of the German Language

Also where may we see the rules of the WUSV if we know them then we do not have to comment on these sort of threads

At least the weather was kind to all, and dispite of the language problem i bet it was one hell of a great event and finished on time, Congrats to all involved

Steve

Get over it.  If the judge feels more comfortable speaking german, then so be it, doing translation???? were you there?? do you have any idea how long the days would have been had they given 2 critiques for each dog?  I was beat each and everyday by the end and all I had to do was sip on some beer and watch great competitors and dogs.

Mind you this wouldn't have made for 1 long day, but 4.  As soon as the OB or protection dogs were halfway off the field the next dogs were coming on and starting.  There wasn't any where to make up time, other than to extend the day that was already long enough, I can't imagine what it was like for the helpers, judges and other workers.

all in all I thought it was a pretty smoothly run event with lots of good dogs to watch and was glad to be there.

The real issue was not that they were not translating it was they were judging on their own made-up standards, thats only they knew appearantly.

I agree the judge should critique in his own language, but there definitely should have been translation into the language of the host country, which of course was English in this case.  It was appalling that there was not.  This was a WORLD event, an INTERNATIONAL championship - more than one language DEFINITELY.  It was rude that there was not, and yes, definitely an epic fail as to education, community, and interest.  Also came across as a slap in the face to the host country and the spectators.  No matter who made the decision, it was a bad one.  The gain in the time saved did NOT compensate for the exclusion of most of the competitors and spectators:  actually, it looked as though the vast majority of competitors didn't know what was being said: they had no reaction to the critique and when it ended, they leaned over as the judge showed his marks.  Then and only then did they know how they'd been scored.   Pathetic to do that to world-class competitors.

It could've been done rapidly - the translation spoken more quickly than the original critique, which of course is a little slower as the judge looks over his notes.

Extremely disappointing from a learning standpoint.  Sure, you just saw the dogs perform, and most of us could follow along with the "sehr gut" and "gut" - but c'mon.  There were almost 30 countries represented there.  English would've been appreciated by LOTS more people than just the Americans.

Anyway, I had a great time, I loved it, and I'm glad I went, but the disappointment in the German-only critiques was ENORMOUS and cannot be over-emphasized.

On a positive note, I found a number of the performances simply inspirational.  Saw some HAPPY, HAPPY obedience dogs who were just a delight to watch.  One of my favorites was Japan-1 (don't have my catalogue in front of me).  The dog's name was Raven, and the handler Yoko (Ishikura?).  Debbie Zappia was also just terrific to watch in obedience and protection.  Many more, too.

To:

David Robinson

Logistics Coordinator

2008 WUSV

Glad you posted so we know where some of the blame rests.

It is a complete joke that there was no translation to English!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was at the event and in stands the thing that I heard being talked about, and talked to most everybody about, was the fact that there was no translation. I do understand some German and when the German judge spoke I could pick out some of what was said. One of the judges, I believe Swiss (?), spoke so fast that I thought that I was at an auction. Nothing was discernible! It was even worse for those who do not speak German! I know people in this sport from all over the world and they all agreed that it was a failure on your part that there was no translation, so, you can see that this was not just Americans complaining.

I would think that while you were coordinating logistics you might have taken in to account that a part of making an international event successful you would hope that the spectators who paid to be there might actually be accomodated. One very simple way of doing this is to let the spectators know what is happening on the trial field. Is that really too much to ask?

I will also add to this that I thought that the rest of the trial was run very well! You and the rest of the people on the WUSV committee did a great job and deserve a lot of credit!

Now let's move on and talk about the dogs and handlers!

 David,

I do not know you, nor you me so there is nothing personal here directed at you or anyone else. I do appreciate the time you and others spent working on this event.

But, that being said, I will say again that it was a terrible decision not to translate the critiques to English. There were ways to accomplish this and, as has been pointed out, it is done in Sieger Shows here, at local trials etc. What a great opportunity was missed to help people understand what was going on. And how sad is it that many competitors left without having a good understanding of their own scores and performances as seen by the judges. 

It was a mistake. Period. Even in Europe the WUSV catalogues is printed in English too and I believe I have one in several languages. The website for the WUSV also had a German page. Translation of critiques to the language of the host country is a given and to not so so is just plain incomprehensible. Translation beyond that would have been thoughtful and yes, professional and world class.

I am sorry you do not understand this. I give credit where credit was due. But I too have heard from many, many people who were there watching, and some who were participating, and this was the thing that all of them were distressed by....i.e., it really left a bad taste in their mouth. I can understand that and it is sad that this happened. But it is even sadder that there is no realization of the mistake. When that does not occur, we can be sure it will likely happen again.

I will agree it would have been much nicer to have an english translation, but don't let it be such a big detractor.

I think the event itself was done very well. and Friday and especially Saturday  and sunday I saw a lot that I really really liked.  (I missed most of thursday driving there).

I wonder though how the timing would have worked.  There wasn't any down time between dogs and it was a long day, going from 7 till at least 4 every day non-stop, you throw in just 3 minutes for a translated critique per dog  I know at club trials the critique and translation don't always flow that well I think 3 minutes would be fast.  I don't know the exact number of dogs each day, i'm going to guess around 40 and that is 2 more hours added to the already long day.  Like I said before, i was tired when I got back to the hotel, I can't imagine what the helpers, judges and event workers felt like after 4 days.

Regardless, don't let this one thing overshadow a great event with great dogs and handlers.

 zdog,

I agree that this should not overshadow what was positive. However, the complaints which have been many seem to have fallen on deaf ears. A simple acknowledgment that it should have been done would go along way to fixing it for future events. There is always a way to do things. I have no doubt the days were long, but this still could have been done in a variety of ways, including perhaps, through the scoreboard and a translator with radios etc......Good translators would have been able to provide a translation almost simultaneously. We have several in the organization who could have done this, probably at a simple invitation....