Translation column 2

This is the second of a series of columns I’m writing on translation. The first is over here, if you want to take a look.

The Life of a Text

It’s more than words

People who don’t know much about translation tend to think of it as something that all bilingual people can do. Bilingualism is one requirement of this job, of course, but it isn’t the only thing needed to ensure that it’s done well. There are a number of people involved, and they all have their own demands that will change how the translation gets done.

A Japanese-to-English translation might seem like a very simple thing:

In reality there’s a lot more to keep in mind, though:

Let’s take a look at these different factors and what they mean for the translator working on those words in the middle of the chart. It should become clear that translators don’t ever translate words; they translate texts, which can be just a few words on an office sign, or a webpage, or an entire book, and which have writers, readers, and other interested parties. These are some of the questions to ask when approaching a text:

1. The author: What is this guy talking about?

You can’t translate anything unless someone writes it to begin with. Who is this person (or people)? Why is he writing this particular text—what information does he want to convey, and what impact does he want it to have on the people reading it? Perhaps your writer is a bureaucratic team whose job is to write up information for city residents. Perhaps he’s a protest-minded poet who wants people to wake up to the threat of war. Perhaps he’s a politician who wants to convince taxpayers that they can trust him. As a translator, your first job should be finding this out. Understanding who wrote the text you’re dealing with, and why (see number 4 below), is essential if you want to be confident that you’re looking at the words in the right frame of mind—and with the right understanding of what those words truly say.

2. The reader: Who is going to look at this, anyway?

Who consumes a text at the other end of this process is also very important. Even if you know that the politician wrote the speech, how you translate it will depend on whom your translation goes to. Will the speech be printed up and handed out in English while the speech is given in Japanese? You can use longer, complex sentences. Will the person give your translated speech aloud? You’d better include pauses to give him a chance to breathe. Depending on his English skill, maybe shorter sentences are better, and words like quarrel, with their difficult-to-pronounce L and R sounds, should be replaced with fight. Native-English-speaking audiences can handle more advanced translations than nonnative speakers in Southeast Asia, or children reading your kids’ website. Know your audience and tailor your output to match. Translation is just a form of writing. Be a flexible, talented writer.

3. The client: Who’s paying for this?

If you’re working in-house for a local government, that government is your client. If you’re a freelancer, the client is whoever gives you your hard-earned yen at the end of the project. Money is power, and in this case the client’s money is paying for power over the text you produce. For instance, I personally dislike listing initials immediately after a name when they’re evident from the original term, but if the client’s preferred style is to write about “the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare (MHLW)” then that’s probably what I will put in my translation.

The relationship you have with your client is also important. Client education, with you as the teacher, is possible. You don’t need to sit around taking instructions; you can often offer your own expertise, making suggestions to that client, warning when a translation is going to be poorly received, and noting how to fix it and avoid that problem. A “difficult client” is not a client that gives difficult assignments, but one that refuses to listen to your wise input. Be confident about the work you do (and study hard to back that confidence up), and be patient as you share what you know with the money people.

4. Purpose: What will this accomplish?

This can be connected to all three of the above factors. The purpose of a translation might be to satisfy the author’s vanity: nobody’s going to be interested in this essay, but the guy wants it on his website in English. It might be the broad sharing of vital information: let the people in your town know where to go when the big earthquake hits. The client—who can be on either the author or the reader side—is paying money for a translation. Think about why this is. The answers to it might change how you format your translation: use easily read bullet points for that emergency information, and write the English lifeline phone number in a large font, front and center. Put plenty of effort into crafting smooth English if this is a marketing brochure, but if it’s a for-information translation ordered by a law firm that just wants to know what the document says, focus less on beauty and more on accuracy.

5. Style: How should I make this look?

A client on the reader side (the publisher of a magazine where your translated article will appear, for instance) will often have stylistic rules for you to follow. The same may be true for clients on the author side: many governmental organizations in Japan that publish heavily in English have style sheets prepared for their translators, and companies will usually point you to a website or a previous brochure as a source of vocabulary and phrases to use. Don’t just leap into each new translation job as something totally new; find out what you need to do to ensure consistency with similar texts. (And if it really is something totally new—perhaps a common thing when you’re translating for a small organization that has almost nothing out in foreign languages—then consider putting together your own style sheet, both for your sake and for your successors in the position.)

Putting it all together

The above should make it clear that there’s a big difference between the words on the page and the text that you’re looking at as a translator. There’s a lot of context surrounding your project that will determine how you go about it. (If you post a vocabulary question to the Honyaku mailing list and other posters ask for more context, don’t just give us the surrounding sentence! We also mean those five factors listed above.) The next time someone says you must be able to translate just because you’re bilingual, tell them no! You’re able to translate because you can step back and see the whole picture—the whole life of a translated text.

08/14/2007 | work | Comments

3 Responses to “Translation column 2”

  1. Posted by: adamrice - 08/16/2007

    Knowing what your client expects can influence a translation far beyond mechanical issues of style. On more than one occasion, I’ve translated pieces that included casually sexist remarks like “so easy a woman can do it.”

    If the author is the client, and is paying you to make him look good, you find a less offensive way to say that. If the client is, say, a competitor who just wants to know what some marketing materials say, you should be faithful to the original.

    Of course, there was that one job I did where the client was the author, and wanted all the sexist remarks kept intact. In that particular case, I was happy to oblige.

    That’s just one example. The client’s expectations can influence your translation in substantive ways.

  2. Posted by: Durf - 08/16/2007

    Yes indeed, I think number 3 up there can be the deciding factor for just about anything related to a translation job. And when you’re good enough in the target language to offer advice on those sorts of issues, that’s when you can call what you do “linguistic consultation” and charge more money than a simple translator, right? :)

  3. Posted by: adamrice - 08/16/2007

    Hah. I have to try that some day.

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