On Translation

By Crystal Yao

As English majors, we learn important skills for reading, listening, writing, and speaking. Why are we learning in college things we have been learning since elementary school? Of course, school is a place for learning and for readying students for the next stage in life. We learn reading to acquire knowledge effectively, listening to pick up information, writing to put things in order, and speaking to communicate with others. Among those skills, personally, I regard speaking as the most challenging one, though it may seem trifling to some people.

Recently I have been taking a class of translation and interpreting. What is translation? Some people may think it is just translating one language to another; others may think it is to get across to the listener what the speaker is trying to convey. But is it just this simple? The answer is "no". Most people can speak basic English; however, that doesn't mean they can translate. There are times when people speak with some heavy accent that we can barely understand. This is why we need a translator to help people communicate.

Translation is a complicated process human beings are capable of while there is hardly a scientific calculation or a mathematical equation to program a machine to do it as proficiently. The process involves the work of a professional translator, usually, a native speaker or one who has studied the target language extensively. The translator will translate the text into another text in another language while staying faithful to the original in both its denotation and connotation, and securing similar tone and style in the target langauge. If you have tried Google translation, you may sometimes find that it fails to get the gist of the document and mis-translation is common. It cannot convey the intended mood nor the embedded culture that undertone the text in the source language. Making a translated piece attend to cultural subtleties and lingual intricacies are still beyond the computer technology of today. Performing the task of translation involve many variables. In addition to language ability and grammar, taboos, traditions, customs, and beliefs are what a professional translator is acquainted with to make translation possible.

The most common two modes of interpreting are simultaneous and consecutive interpreting; former is done alongside the verbal delivery while the latter is done at breaks made for the interpreter. I have been learning both recently and I think it is very difficult to do. Like all the things I mention above, translating is a very challenging job that demands us to make efforts.