Scope and Fields of Translation and Importance of knowledge of context

As I have told in my earlier posts also, there are a number of fields where translators have their foot or where translation is necessarily needed.  These are:

1.       Literature

-          Fiction

-          Poetry

-          Articles

2.       National/International Relations

-          Political

-          Business

-          Science and Technology

-          Research

-          Education

3.       Finance

4.       Law

Now, we see that these fields cover almost every field of modern life.   It, thus, means that a translator must not only be -

(1)     well acquainted with the (i) vocabulary , (ii) grammer, and (iii) structure of the source language as well as the target language;

(2)    Use of words in particular contexts,

but also he must know the terminology used in various fields of both the languages so that he, through his translation, can convey exactly the same what has been said in the source language.

Since all the languages have a number of words which change their meaning according to the context, hence a translator must not have only a good vocabulary but also have knowledge of contexts in which these words can be used in different context.

In other words the knowledge of context plays a very important part for rendering a perfect translation.

Why do we need translation

Now the question is that why do we need translation.  As we see that with the advancement of technology this world has become too small.  A lot of developments are taking place. People of any corner of the earth are reaching/approaching  any other corner of the world for any field. Earlier it was only literature which was required to be translated as it was not easy to approach people on the other corner of the earth but now no field of life has been left which need no communication with the people of other language.  It is literature, international relations of various governments, business, industry, finance, law, internet, science and many more.   In fact, we see that there is no country where people of the other countries are not present.  But the problem is that of language.  It is a barrier.  How shall we communicate.  There are more than 6900 languages and dialects in the world.  Even in India itself there are 22 official languages and 1652 spoken languages which make a wide gap in communication.  And here comes the role of a translator or an interpreter who facilitates the communication between people of different languages.   The difference between the two is that  a translator fulfills the need of those who need to know what is written in the document/paper/letter/book and so on and the interpreter facilitates the two people who are talking to each other in two different languages.

In fact, since the earth has become a global village and the various countries of the world interact with each other with regard to international relations, whether for political reasons, technological reasons, business, science,  and what not.  How would they do that? 

This is the translator and the interpreter who facilitates in the fields.  And since this need is growing day by day with more and more developments that are taking place all over the world, this is becoming an industry.  And thus, the people, who want to join this industry,  must know not only the very basic thing of translation that is -  the two languages, but many other things which I will explain in my later posts.

Online Translation or Machine Translation

As I have told in my previous post, machine/software can not be a substitute for a human translator. They can enable you to get just an idea of the matter but not the actual subject thing. What we see in the translation of the matter in the previous post, except for the two small phrases, the whole translation was not correct. What one could understand by that translation is that there is something being told about translation/translator.

In fact a machine cannot have the ability to translate in the manner a human can.  Machine has no brain, it is just a programme.  The extent of its ability is limited to the extent to which it has been programmed, i.e. the extent of words of a languge and their equivalents in the other language.  It can not judge the context, or the brain behind the writer. Some times an expression is made in sarcastic manner and the actual meaning is something else than what is written.  A human translator can go to the brain of the speaker/writer, but machine would translate it literally. A human translator can analyse the situation or context and would express accordingly but a machine cannot.

In my later posts I would try to give examples of this thing wherever I would find an opportunity.  In fact the translation, on one hand requires the complete knowledge of both the languages, on the other hand it requires skill, hard  work, expertise of the subjects to render the best translation, which a machine can not have.



P.S.   Since my blog is to teach the techniques of translation,  I would be happy if readers come with their questions regarding that.   If they have any problem with regard to any expression, they need not to hesitate in asking for any help.

Use of machines for tanslation or online translation facilities

Now a days a number of softwares are available in the market for translation.  Many a sites give facilities for online translation.  But do they provide good translation.  Are they useful.   I opened a site which provides online translation facility and I copied two paragraphs of my previous post and got them translated there.  What could I get there is given below.

*                           *                                  *

(1) In my previous post I have mentioned that during all my career in translation and editorial field  I came across many problems   a translator/editor faces while rendering the translation of a given material,  and hence a translator or for that purpose editor or even a proof reader, who gives almost the final check to the final product, has to keep many a things in his mind to give the best so that the justice is done to the translated version and the client is not only satisfied rather even is not able to point out towards any shortcoming of the product.

मेरे पिछले पोस्ट में मैं अनुवाद और संपादकीय क्षेत्र में सभी मेरे कैरियर के दौरान मैं दी गई सामग्री के अनुवाद प्रतिपादन करते हुए कई समस्याओं के पार     एक अनुवादक / संपादक चेहरे आया था , और इसलिए एक अनुवादक या उस उद्देश्य के संपादक के लिए या यहां तक ​​कि एक प्रूफ रीडर उल्लेख किया है कि , जो न्याय अनुवादित संस्करण के लिए किया जाता है तो यह है कि सर्वश्रेष्ठ देने के लिए उनके मन में कई चीजें रखने के लिए है , अंतिम उत्पाद के लिए लगभग अंतिम जांच देता है और ग्राहक बल्कि यहां तक ​​कि केवल संतुष्ट नहीं है बाहर बात करने में सक्षम नहीं है उत्पाद के किसी भी कमी की ओर ।

(2)  Actually so far as I think translation is not a job.  It is a creativity.  It is not that you just sit down and start writing a thing in the language which is asked for.   No, it is not that easy.  A real translator has to sit and go through the whole or at least most of the document or material just to understand the actual matter and the context of it because what is said in a language, if translated literally may harm the content of the matter.  That would not be able to convey what is said in original version. Even it can damage the actual purport.

दरअसल अब तक मैं अनुवाद एक नौकरी नहीं है लगता है। यह एक रचनात्मकता है। यह आपको सिर्फ बैठ जाओ और के लिए कहा जाता है , जो भाषा में एक बात यह है कि लेखन शुरू है कि नहीं है। नहीं, यह इतना आसान नहीं है । एक असली अनुवादक बैठते हैं और पूरे के माध्यम से जाने के लिए या एक भाषा में कहा जाता है कि क्या , शाब्दिक अनुवाद अगर बात की सामग्री को नुकसान पहुंचा सकती है क्योंकि कम से कम दस्तावेज या सामग्री के सबसे सिर्फ वास्तविक मामला है और इसे करने के संदर्भ को समझने के लिए करना पड़ता है। यही कारण है कि मूल संस्करण में क्या कहा जाता है व्यक्त करने में सक्षम नहीं होगा। यहां तक ​​कि यह वास्तविक मुराद को नुकसान पहुंचा सकते हैं।

Now what we see,  the software translation/online translation gave a literal translation, It had nothing to do as to whether or not that translation makes any sense.   A machine cannot see or judge the context or correctness of the translation, it would translate each and every word as it had been programmed in that manner.  Of course, some phrases, which are very short , are translated correctly.   Similarly if same manner is applied by a human translator, what would happen to that translated version, one can well imagine.

What is Translation

In my previous post I have mentioned that during all my career in translation and editorial field I came across many problems a translator/editor faces while rendering the translation of a given material,  And hence a translator or for that purpose editor or even a proof reader, who gives almost the final check to the final product, has to keep many a things in his mind to give the best so that the justice is done to the translated version and the client is not only satisfied rather even is not able to point out towards any shortcoming of the product.

Actually so far as I think translation is not a job.  It is a creativity.  It is not that you just sit down and start writing a thing in the language which is asked for.   No, it is not that easy.  A real translator has to sit and go through the whole or at least most of the document or material just to understand the actual matter and the context of it because what is said in a language, if translated literally may harm the content of the matter.  That would not be able to convey what is said in original version. Even it can damage the actual purport.

 A person who is bilingual can understand the things in one language and has to reproduce the same in the other one,  which is not a simple work.  Actually any expression in a particular language has some sort of bearing of the location, culture, social set up, industry and many other things which may be different in the other language in which it needs to be translated.  I will give an example - there is a word  'register'.  Now it has many meanings like a book to enter the records of some thing, an act to record the entries, in case of computers it is a part of central processing unit used as a storage location, particular terminology used for a particular profession and so on,  If a person simply sits and starts translation without going through it beforehand, may, after translating a substantial portion, find  that some of the words he/she used earlier in the translation, were wrong.  Now he/she will have to go back to correct the things and if he/she does not realise the mistake, he/she would be committing blunders.  What I mean to say is that translation is not just to translate the matter in literal sence but rather it requires patience, a very good understanding of both the languages and if he/she knows the other aspects of both the language like culture, society, politics of the place and many other things, he/she would be able to render a perfect translation.

In my next post I would deal with the other aspects of translation.

An Introduction

I have just retired from Editorial and Translation Service of Lok Sabha Secretariat, Parliament of India.     I had been in this Service for 30+ years.  Joined the Service as translator and retired from the post of Additional Director passing through the various positions in between.  During all these years I came across many problems which a translator faces and many things which a translator or a reviser/editor must take care of while rendering translation of any material.  Through this blog I will address these things one by one.