Steps in a Translation Project

The purpose of the first section of this book has been to give an overview of the main aspects of translation. We have dealt with what translation is, the kinds of translations, and some of the aspects of the relationship between grammar and semantics which affect the translation process. In order to complete this overview, we turn now to a general discussion of the steps in a translation project. Before beginning any actual translation, it is important to have in mind the total translation project and what is involved in producing a good translation. Each of these steps will be elaborated on in more detail in the last section of the book.

Establishing the Project
Before one considers beginning a translation project, there are a number of matters which need to be clearly understood by all who will be involved. These can be summarized under four T’s-the text, the target, the team, and the tools.
The text refers to the source language document which is to be translated. The desirability of translating a particular text must be determined. Texts are chosen to be translated for various reasons. Most often it is to communicate certain information to people speaking another language, or it may be to share the enjoyment of the source text. The translator should examine his reasons for choosing the text and the potential for its use by the receptor language audience.
The target refers to the audience. For whom is the translation being prepared? The form of the translation will be affected by questions of dialect, educational level, age level, bilingualism, and people’s attitudes towards their languages. Will it be used in school, in business, or read orally in church and at home? The question of alphabet is also very important. The attitude of the target audience towards the proposed alphabet should be determined before the translation begins. Some excellent translations have been rejected because those who read them did not like, or could not read, the alphabet.
Team refers to the people who will be involved in the project. If a person is a competent speaker of both the source language and the receptor language, it may be that the project can be done completely by one person. But even so there should be others available for evaluation and consultation. Most translation projects require a team, a number of people who are going to contribute to the translation at some stage in the project. The working relationship between these people needs to be established before the project gets underway. It may, however, also change as the project moves along and new factors come into focus.
There are certain essentials to any translation project. Not all of these need to be found in one person. There are various kinds of programs which may be set up depending on the abilities and backgrounds of those who will be involved. The team may consist of 1) co-translators, where one is a specialist in the source language and the other a specialist in the receptor language, or 2) a translator with capability to handle both source language and receptor language matters and an advisor or consultant, or 3) a committee working together with specific responsibilities delegated to each one. Which kind of a program is developed will depend on who is available and qualified to determine the meaning of the source language, who is most skilled at drafting in the receptor language, and who has an understanding of translation principles. The team may include the translator(s), a consultant, testers and reviewers, and technical people to do typing and proofreading. The publisher and distributor are also part of the team. Before the program is far along it is important to know who will perform these different functions. (For details see chapter 35.) The various members of the team may need special training in order to do their part. This training may need to be taken before the project begins.
Tools refers to the written source materials which will be used by the translators as helps. These include, in addition to the document to be translated, any dictionaries, lexicons, grammars, cultural descriptions, etc., of both the source language and receptor language which are available. The team will want as much information available as possible while translating. All of these tools should be brought to the translation site in preparation for the project. For some projects, there will be a wealth of materials that can be used to help in interpreting the source language text and in finding equivalents in the receptor language. For other projects, there may be a scarcity of such material, but whatever is available should be there to make the work easier. Equipment and finances are also tools needed to carry on an effective program.
Once the matters of the text, the target audience, and the team relationships are cared for, and the tools needed made available, the project is ready to begin. The project will follow a series of steps which include preparation, analysis, transfer, initial draft, reworking the initial draft, testing, polishing, and preparing the manuscript for the publisher. These steps are discussed in detail in chapters 36 and 37.

Exegesis
Exegesis is used to refer to the process of discovering the meaning of the source language text which is to be translated. It is the step which includes the preparation and analysis which must be done before anything at all can be written in the receptor language. The text must be understood completely. This is the process which takes place in moving from the source language form to the semantic structure, i.e. to the meaning of the text.
The translator(s) should begin by reading the text several times, then by reading other materials that may help in understanding the culture or language of the source text. As he reads the text, he will be looking for the author’s purpose and the theme of the text. The purpose is to understand the text as a whole. Once he has done this, he is ready to work on the material a section at the time.
The analysis of the source text will include resolving ambiguity, identifying implicit information, studying key words, interpreting figurative senses, recognizing when words are being used in a secondary sense, when grammatical structures are being used in a secondary function, etc. it will involve doing the kind of analysis which this book is all about. The goal of exegesis is to determine the meaning which is to be communicated in the receptor language text. The translator carefully studies the source language text and, using all the available tools, determines the content of the source language message, the related communication situation matters, and all other factors which will need to be understood in order to produce an equivalent translation.

Transfer and initial draft
After a careful analysis of the source language text, as indicated above, the translator begins drafting piece, by piece, section by section. The transfer results in the initial draft. In preparing this draft, the translator is transferring from the source language into the receptor language. As he does so, he must always keep his target audience in mind.
Before any extensive drafting can be done, the key terms must be determined. Every text has a set of words which are crucial to the content and correct communication of the theme. These need to be decided upon and may need to be checked with other speakers of the receptor language.
There are two ways of approaching the transfer and initial draft. Some translators prefer to do a quick rough translation so that the material flows naturally. Then they go back and tighten up the details to be sure that there is no wrong information, and no omissions or additions. In this way, the receptor language text is more apt to be in the natural style of the receptor language. Others prefer to prepare a proposition-like semantic draft, being sure that all the information is accounted for and then reword it for naturalness; that is, reword it in the idiomatic form of the receptor language. Either method will lead to an idiomatic translation if careful work is done.
It may be necessary to rework the initial draft several times before the team is satisfied that all the adjustments needed have been made, that no information is wrong or omitted, that the text communicates clearly in the receptor language. And that the form chosen will communicate to the desired audience. While making and reworking this draft, the audience must always be kept in mind. Once the translation team has sufficiently reworked the initial draft, they arrange for copies to be made so that adequate evaluation can be carried on.

Evaluation
The purpose of evaluation is threefold: accuracy, clearness and naturalness. The questions to be answered are 1) does the translation communicate the same meaning as the source language? 2) does the audience for whom the translation in intended understand it clearly? And 3) is the form of the translation easy to read and natural receptor language grammar and style? Those helping with the evaluation should be mother-tongue speakers of the receptor language. There are a number of kinds of evaluations which need to be done. (These are discussed in more detail in chapter 37.)
The translator will want to compare the translation with the source text at several points during the translation process to be sure no additions, deletions, or change of information have crept in. Others may help with this work. It is especially advantageous to have a consultant check over the material. The translator will want to have receptor language speakers read the text and then tell back what the text communicated to them. As they read, there will be parts that are hard to read or hard to understand. Any time there is an indication of a problem in reading, this should be noted for further checking. Another way to check is by asking questions of those who read the text, or to whom it is read. Questions need to be carefully formed so that they bring out the theme, the author’s purpose, and the relevant facts of the text. Any wrong understanding should be noted and then checked with others as well. It is best to have someone who has not worked on the translation, but knows both the source language and the receptor language, translate back from the receptor language in to the source language without reference to the original source language text. Does the back translation carry the same information as the original source language text? Any difference will need to be checked further.
It is very important that sufficient time and effort be given to evaluation. If many of the people who will eventually be using the receptor language text can be involved in the evaluation process, this will also create interest in the translated material when it is finally published.

Revised draft
After evaluation is done carefully, there will need to be a revised draft made on the basis of the feedback received. Those with whom the translator has checked may have suggested many rewordings, may have expressed misunderstanding, etc. The translation team now works through this material, honestly accepting the evaluation, and rewording the material accordingly. If any key words are changed, the text will need to be checked carefully for consistency in the change made. If some parts were hard for people to read, they may need to be made easier by more redundancy (or less redundancy in another language), by adding more information to clarify participants or theme, or whatever. How much re-drafting will be needed will vary depending on the results of the evaluation.

Consultation
In many translation projects, there are advisors or consultants who are willing to help the translator. The translator(s) will expect that the consultant is interested in three matters: 1) accuracy of content, 2) naturalness of style, and 3) effect on the receptor language audience.
It is important that translators check their materials with a trained consultant after completing a section or two of a long document. If they continue, and do large amounts of translation work without this kind of a check, they will miss out on the training which a consultant to work through the material with him will give the translator insights which will not only help his final draft of the material being worked on, but will help him do better transfer draft on the sections of the document remaining to be done.
The consultant will want to know how the exegesis and initial draft was done and what tools were used. In early meetings, if he was not in on the planning, he may ask about the project as a whole, i.e. all four T’s. Questions may deal with linguistic matters and with cultural matters. The goal of the consultant is to evaluate the quality of the translation as to meaning, naturalness, and its potential acceptance by the receptor language audience. In addition to evaluation, he is also interested in training and helping the translator improve and learn to make even more adequate translations..

Final draft
The translator incorporates into the translated text the suggestions made by the consultant, checks them again with mother-tongue speakers to be sure they are warranted, and makes any other minor changes which have come to his attention. However, before he prepares the final draft, decisions about format need to be discussed with the whole translation team, the consultant, the potential publisher and those who will promote distribution.
Some matters may need special testing before the final draft is prepared. If the publication is to include pictures, these will need evaluation. If a special size of print is being recommended, it will need to be tested. A final editing for spelling and punctuation will need to be made. When all matters are cared for, a number of copies should be prepared and distributed for proofreading by various people before the actual printing takes place. Every translator wants his final copy to be as accurate as possible. The time spent in careful checking and preparation of the final draft will improve quality and will make the translation more acceptable to the audience for whom it is being prepared.

EXERCISES-Steps in a Translation Project

Name and discuss the four T’s of a translation project.
Explain what is meant by exegesis.
What are the goals of the translator as he prepares the initial draft?
What is the purpose of the evaluation?
What kinds of evaluation checks can be made?
How is the revision draft different from the initial draft?
What is the consultant concerned about when he checks a translation?
How will the final draft be different from the revision draft done earlier?