Say for example you have a document/ presentation/ contract/ book (as applicable), which you need to translate from English to Hebrew or vise-versa, and say you are an intelligent, well-spoken and educated person who can speak enough Hebrew/ English (as applicable) to chat, do business, watch movies and read, so much so, that you decided to translate your document/ presentation/ contract/ book (as applicable) on your own. Even though it would seem that such a decision will save you money, it might also put you in an awkward situation when you present the translation to your potential client, partner or adversary and end up costing you much much more.

Translations is more than just rendering words from one language in another language. Although it is important to translate the words in an accurate manner, it should not be at the expense of the overall meaning of the text, the words’ accurate place in  the target language sentences and the cultural and social connotations hidden within the words and the text.

Following are three examples of simple mistranslations, which have changed the face of history:

• The source of the anti-semitic stereotype of Jews being horned is in a mistranslation . This is an example of a mistranslation from the bestselling and most translated book of all times. In Exodus 34:29 it says that Moses’s face was radiant, however, in the Vulgate translation of the bible to Latin from the end of the 14^th century and  the Catholic Church’s official translation of the bible, the word Keren, used in the Hebrew origin, which has two meanings, ray of light and  horn, was translated as the latter, thus, Moses appears in Michelangelo’s famous statue with horns, as he does in additional art from the renaissance.

• Christianity’s perception of purity and of sexual relations are derived from a mistranslation.  In the Greek translation of Isaiah 7:14 the Hebrew word, Alma, meaning maiden, was translated into the Greek word parthenos, which also meant  maiden, but because of social connotations, it was translated into Latin as virgin, as was Matthew’s  reference to Isaiah 7:14. The cultural ramifications of this very loose translation have had a profound affect on western culture and its perception of purity, and of sexual relations to this very day.

• Christian Slater = A Christian Roofer. There is really no need to go back to biblical times to find mistranslations. All you need to do is sit on the couch and watch a subtitled television series. For example, in one of the chapters in the series “The Morning After” from 2001, the translator, who was obviously not well versed in Hollywood personalities, mistranslated the sentence “I had to chase Christian Slater” into Hebrew as “I had to chase a Christian roofer”, and this mistranslation is now used as a synonym for mistranslation in Hebrew.

The post Can You Really Translate on Your Own? 3 Mistranslations with Long-Term Historical Ramifications appeared first on ruthtranslations.

Climb up onto the merry-go-round, sail into other people’s lives and experience their joy,  disappointment,  fear and  wonder along with them, as well as the floating feeling  overcoming me as I thirstily gulped down other peoples’ lives.

When I grew up a bit, I was filled with awe at the wonderful use one could make of words. How simple ink stains on low quality paper could full me with amazement and give rise to such strong feelings.

The sadness and feeling of emptiness the last page of a book always left me with the urged me to fill the void with yet another book. And when I would sit, daydreaming about wondrous impossibilities  such as winning the lottery and flying to mars I would also always daydream about being paid to read.

In time, my dream became a reality, and now people entrust me with  reading and translating the products of their imagination. I no longer devour books, rather, read them slowly, internalizing and understanding every word and its connection to the following word and to the paragraph in which it appears. I open dictionaries, surf the internet and discover whole worlds in each and every book.

Now books allow me a new kind of pleasure. The in-depth reading necessary for translation makes the nuances, the atmosphere, the language and the differences between the languages pop out prominently. Hebrew is short, concentrated, rhythmic, minimalistic, while English is broad, rich and generous.

Reading has gained a new aspect  – the excitement, the puzzle, the search and the satisfaction in finding an appropriate solution for the challenges each book presents.

The age of technology we live in, and the ease  with which one can reach a vast amount of readers all over the world through various ebook platforms, calls for access to high quality and reliable literary translation services which will allow a foreign reader to read and experience the book as if it initially was written in his own language.

The electronic trend gaining momentum over recent years, has caused many authors to follow in the footsteps of musicians  to self-publication of their work. This has created a demand for literary translation, accompanied by a fad of machine-translating books with Google Translate, and then editing the result, in an attempt to cut back on the costs.

The problem is that Google Translate is not capable of taking pleasure in in a word, or enjoying a sentence, and is not able to connect between the words, nor is it aware of the nuances in Hebrew or in English or in Swahili and is  certainly not aware of the cultural connotations. An editor who receives a text from Google Translate might be able to turn it into a clear and logical text, but would certainly not able to turn it into the text that was input into the machine to being with. The nuances, feelings, intentions and plot line you worked so hard on will disappear into thin air leaving behind them a joint creation of Google Translate and the editor.

If you have written a book you would like to distribute overseas as well – it is important to invest in a high quality literary translation to enable foreign readers to read the book you wrote and not a text  distorted by a machine, with little or no connection  to  the original text.

You worked long and hard on your book and you deserve to have a high quality, professional translation.

The post Literary Translation appeared first on ruthtranslations.

• Professional translation services are carried out by translators with in-depth knowledge of both the source language and the target language, allowing an overall more accurate translation, both in terms of the literal translation and in terms of the broader meaning of the text.

•  A mere familiarity with both languages does not ensure an accurate translation. A translator learns how to read the text meticulously and understand every word and it connotations,  every paragraph and its intent and the meaning of the entire text as a whole. Professional translators do no not skim over the surface of the text nor do they see every word on its own. The outcome of professional, quality translation is a text that conveys the original message in the target language in a fluent, natural and organic manner, so that people reading the translation feels as if they are reading a text originally written in their own language.

•  Professional translators have the ability to convey the overall message of the text on a literal level without losing the cultural contexts and the nuances unique to each language. For example – finding parallel phrases and idioms in the target language and removing words that are essential to the sentence in the source language but unnecessary in the target language.

•  Professional translators have usually spend extended periods of time in countries that speak the languages they translate. Therefore, have an in-depth knowledge of both the target and the source language including the cultural and social connotations attached to the various words and expression. This makes it easier for them to find parallel words and expressions in the target language – even if they are not accurate in the literal sense.

•  Good searching and research skills are an inseparable part of the translator’s toolbox. Even though many translators have a wide range of general knowledge and even specialize in certain fields, a good translator needs the ability to search for and find professional terminology and gain a deep understanding of the text. In the case of academic and literary translations, the translator needs to find the sources of translated quotes and while translating material about cutting edge technologies, for example, may even find it necessary to coin new phrases and new terminology in the target language.

•  Practice makes perfect – as a result of the experience a professional translator gains in meticulous and in-depth reading and understanding of texts, a professional translator has the means to provide an accurate translation in all respects, whereas the nice, Hebrew speaking neighbor who is quite happy to lend a hand lacks the means to allow the best translation possible.

•  And let us not forget the objective of the translation – why is the text being translated and for whom? If the text is a literary text, then it probably has sophisticated, nuance-filled expressions and descriptions meant to convey a certain atmosphere. An inaccurate translation of the intent of the words and in the chosen register are likely to lead to a distortion of the message, or even worse, cause the meaning of the text to be lost in translation. For example, in legal translation, a mistranslation of a word, paragraph, or term is liable to change the meaning of the contract or document in such a way that the translated contract might not be identical to the original contract due to a loose and inaccurate translation. If a catalogue, for example,  is not translated accurately, and is presented to the client in erroneous and flawed language, the message will be lost as will the client, who  will probably go and see what your competitors have offer.

Ask yourself if you would let a first year medical student perform surgery on you, or would you get on a plane flown by your nephew, who happens to “like planes”?  Of course you wouldn’t.

Translation is a profession requiring skill and experience and translators are the people who enable communication between people who lack a common language but have common interests, whether they are business, legal or cultural interests. Give yourself, your business and the messages you would like to convey the respect you deserve and invest in the professional translation you deserve.

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