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A Short Translation guide
About this guide
This is a short and simple translation guide. It is not the
definitive
text on translation. Nor is it a manual.
Translation cannot be learned from a manual alone. It requires
theoretical knowledge and practical skill. Also, it is not an
exact
science. In fact, some even consider it an art.
About translating
“What is translation? Often, though not by any means always, it is
rendering the meaning of a text into another language in the way that
the author intended the text.” (Newark, Peter (1988): A Textbook
of
Translation, Prentice Hall)
Translation guidelines
Read the text completely
Before you start translating, read the text
completely.
This will give you a general impression of what the text is like.
Whether it is formal or informal, general or technical, etc.
It will also allow you to detect problems, such as difficult words,
expressions or paragraphs.
Analyze the sentence
When translating, analyze every sentence.
A sentence is made up of interconnected parts. Identify the parts
(subject, verb, object, subordinate clauses, prepositional objects,
etc.) and
determine how they are connected, what their purpose is in the overall
sentence structure. Then you will understand the sentence. Once you
understand the sentence, you can translate it properly.
Do not invent a story of your own
Do not invent a story of your own.
When you do not understand a sentence, you may be tempted to ignore the
elements that you do not understand, and base your translation on those
elements that you do understand. In other words, you may be tempted to
invent a story of your own. This is very risky and will almost
certainly result in a deficient, if not downright wrong translation.
Instead of inventing a tale, make every effort to understand the
original sentence. Analyze it, look up all the words and expressions
you don’t know (yes, you will have to spend time actually looking up
words in a dictionary!), until you find satisfactory answers. (See
previous guideline.) If necessary, ask for help (for example, John’s
“English Idioms” section).
Use dictionaries
If you have no real, physical dictionaries, go out and buy some.
You should buy two types of dictionaries.
- Bilingual or translation dictionaries. For example, the
Collins
Spanish Dictionary, which has two sections: Spanish-English and
English-Spanish.
- A good English dictionary. For example, the Longman
Dictionary of
English Language and Culture.
There are other very good dictionaries in these categories, of course,
as well as other types of dictionary (slang, legal, medical, etc.). For
the purposes of Project Avalon, general dictionaries are more than
adequate.
What you cannot find in them, you can usually find on the internet. I
do not, however, recommend using only online dictionaries. Physical
dictionaries are better, contain more information, and may at times
even be quicker to consult than online dictionaries.
Do not (always) translate word for word
Do not translate literally as standard procedure.
When you can translate literally and have a translation that both
respects the original text’s meaning and sounds natural, fine. There is
nothing wrong with that.
Other times, however, you cannot translate literally, for any number of
different reasons. Some words mean slightly or totally different things
in different languages (“false friends”). Different languages have
different ways of saying things, of constructing sentences, of using
verb forms, etc. To maintain these nuances, it is sometimes necessary
to “say the same thing with different words”.
Translation techniques
There are numerous techniques for solving problem situations in
translation. Describing them is beyond the scope of this short guide.
A non-complete list of techniques (lifted from the book referenced
above): transference, cultural/functional/descriptive equivalent,
shifts, transposition, modulation, compensation, reduction, expansion,
paraphrase... Have no fear! If you saw examples of these techniques,
you would immediately realize they sound more formidable than they
really are.
Learning these techniques is definitely a good idea!
Make it sound natural
A translation has to sound natural. Ideally, while reading, the reader
should wonder: “Is this really a translation? It sounds like an
original text!”
KISS
KISS. Keep It Short and Simple...
Sometimes the original text is complicated, dense, difficult... The
author expresses himself in a confused way... Depending on the
circumstances, you have to respect and reflect this in your
translation, or you can improve the original and make it easier for the
reader to understand.
Possibilities include: rearranging elements; splitting up long
sentences; using simple words instead of difficult ones; simplifying
the sentence (see "Translation techniques" above).
Whatever you do, however, always respect the original. Never
make
changes that result in your translation saying something else than the
original. The words may be different, but the content must
always be
the same.
No machine translation
Translate yourself. Do not, under any circumstances,
use machine
translation (web sites or programs that translate for you).
Do not use machine translation. Do not use it to translate, do not use
it to help you translate. Machine translation is totally unsuitable for
the purposes of Project Avalon.
The best translation engine is the human brain. You have one. Use it.
If your language level is not sufficiently high to translate without
the use of a computer program, I am sorry: find another way of
contributing.
Why? Texts translated by computer programs are badly written and full
of errors. Correcting them actually costs more time and
effort than translating the text all over again, so, viewed from this
perspective, a machine-translated text is actually a loss for your
group, not a gain.
Write well
Write well, without mistakes.
No matter how good your translation is, if it contains grammar,
spelling and punctuation mistakes, it will look like a
bad translation.
Make sure there are no mistakes. (Except when such mistakes are used to
reflect equivalent mistakes in
the original... You see, there are no absolutes in translation. For
every rule, there is an exception...)
Apoya al Proyecto Avalón – haz un
donativo:
Donations are not tax deductible for U.S. citizens.
Gracias por tu ayuda.
Tu generosidad nos permite seguir con nuestro trabajo. |
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Bill Ryan
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