General Translation Tips & Advice on Addressing Text

TRANSLATION TIPS

Translation is certainly one of the most difficult language exercises. It immediately reveals the translator's linguistic knowledge and literary sensitivity. If the Italian proverb often put forward "traduttore, tradittore" (translator, traitor - translate, betray) will never be completely wrong by the simple fact that there is a change of language, a good translator will make a text will be appreciated in the same way in the language of departure and the language of arrival and that the two readers will know of the same history and revelation of the same sensitivity.

GENERAL ADVICE

The lexic

To translate a text from one language into another, it is important to have a good knowledge of lexicon in both languages. It is therefore important to read regularly in both languages and to learn this lexicon. Learning does not only mean translating one word into another (house = house), which is already a type of exercise, but also knowing how to give a definition of the term in each of the two languages. This is certainly the best way to have a knowledge of lexical fields, to avoid false meanings, false friends and to choose, according to the text studied, the right word. The knowledge of the etymology of the terms is also very useful in the knowledge of the language and in translation.

The principle is as follows:
various meanings of the word -> meaning of the word in the sentence -> meaning of the sentence

Finally, it is necessary to know idiomatic turnings specific to each language (and which are often metaphorical turns), proverbs , and render the metaphors of the author by similar turns. For example :

Idiomatic expression: to see where the wind comes from or to see which way the wind blows or to see which way the cat jumps.Proverb: Do not sell the skin of the bear before killing it = Do not count your chickens before they're hatched, but also, and in a more popular way: It's not over to the fat lady sings.

The grammar

A good knowledge of the grammar of both languages is also necessary to translate a text well. Thus, you may have learned in the course of grammar or before that the English possessed two forms of the present (simple form and progressive form) where the French possesses only one. In the same way, the French expressions leading to a subjunctive are not translated in the same way into English. So it is necessary to master the time and syntax of each language. Grammatical practice is a good exercise to review the grammar of both languages and to practice translation.

The spirit of the text

To translate a text from one language into another, one must first make a detailed analytical reading - as for an explanation of text. The time when the text was written is important because a language is constantly evolving. We must also pay attention to the point of view of the narrator, to the movements in time (towards the future = anticipation of events, towards the past = anteriority, indirect speech, retro-narrative), to the characters mentioned (and to the regularity of their appearance), at the places mentioned. We must also understand the spirit of the text: why did the author write this text? What did he want to show? How did he go about it? What is the tone of it? These characteristics are important to translate the text well. When preparing a translation, we find ourselves in a literary scheme.

Main pitfalls to avoid

If you follow the rules above, it is unlikely that you will make the most common translation mistake among beginners: the layer. The layer consists of translating a word, phrase or phrase directly from the source language into the target language, sometimes to the word. The result is most often a bad translation qualified as "badly spoken" or "very badly said" if the meaning remains the same, and which can lead to a misinterpretation (if there is a false friend or if the time covers another period in the target language) or, at worst, nonsense (see below).

False sense: it consists in taking a word for another. It can stay in the same lexical domain ( house = mansion , where house is expected in the text) or change completely category, ( home = home , where we expect hearth ). The fault will be more or less great.
Barbarism: it consists of writing a word that does not exist in the language. As important as a serious missense.
Solecism: it consists of constructing a syntax that does not exist in the language. As important as a serious syntax fault.
The misinterpretation: as its name indicates, the misinterpretation leads to a contorted translation of what has been stated. It's a big mistake (depending on whether it's a sentence or an entire paragraph), which can even be very serious. Imagine, in a diplomatic context, that the phrase "he wants to conclude peace" is translated as "he wants to wage war". At best, the result would be a referral from the translator. At worst, it would be a disaster.
Nonsense: nonsense is worthless. It reveals above all that the translator did not read his text again. A nonsense is very penalized in examination. Of course, the rest of the text is also taken into consideration because the teachers are aware that the students are in a phase of acquisition and development of knowledge. But linguistically speaking, an enormity that has no coherence should normally lead the reader to reject the text.
Omission: it is an abandonment or a refusal to translate in the face of difficulty. This is the most penalized fault. Always try to fill the void according to the general meaning of the passage. If it is a word, you risk at worst a big missense. If it is a sentence, you risk at worst a misinterpretation. But in the spirit of translation, a misinterpretation is less serious than an omission. Imagine that a translator, because he does not know, fails to translate a chapter of a literary work. There is betrayal of the author and the reader.

Other mistakes to avoid: spelling, time and syntax errors; over-translations or sub-translations (when the translator says more or less than the author of the text) and bad turns (ill-said, mistakes of style).

TIPS FOR ADDRESSING TEXT

There is no secret to being good at translation. You have to read regularly in both languages and do translations as often as possible. It also means knowing your own language.

Faced with a task, it is necessary to make a good analytical reading of the text (of the kind of explanation of text). That is, read the text several times, paying attention to all the elements of importance. So start by learning a read a text.

Read immediately the title and source:

The title can be a digest of the subject (this is often the case in the press).
Be careful of some titles containing a word game, a particular tone or a style effect (alliteration is very common in the press titles of the English language) that will try to render.
The source (eg magazine name, date of article) also gives us information about the target audience and the spirit of the time in which the text was written.
Who is this text for (readers - general public, scientists, etc.)? The vocabulary will depend on this data.

Understand the overall meaning of the story.

What does the text say?
Is the narrator neutral or does he take a position (using, for example, ironic turns)?
Does the text have a serious or humorous tone?
Are there any changes in point of view? (see below: style used)All these aspects are important.

Study how the text is constructed. How did the author go about building his story?

How many paragraphs are there and are they logical parts?
What are the times used? Locate the main time of the story and the other times (a change may be a return or anticipation)
How many characters are there?
What styles are used (narrative, direct, indirect, indirect free, etc.)?
What level of language is used (formal, usual, familiar language, etc.)? You have to give it back too.

Spot the difficult terms or particular turns.

Analyze their meaning in the context.
If you do not have an immediate translation, know how to work on the language by looking for synonyms.
What would we say, in a similar context, in the target language?

Once all these scouting done, you can tackle the task by looking after your style.

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