Translating Difficult Words

My sweetheart sent me a link to an article some time ago which was about the ten words which are the most difficult to translate. It made me think about words I found difficult to translate during my previous years of translating.

There have been quite a few words, especially in my children's stories about Miro the Dragon, that gave me headaches. Sometimes, I had no other chance than to slightly rewrite the sentence in order to make it work in another language.

What makes some words more difficult to translate than others?

First of all, it is due to the different cultural backgrounds. If a concept does not exist in the target language, it is difficult to translate that concept. You need to catch the essense and rewrite the sentence to get as close to the essense as possible in the target language.

Another reason is the difference in common idioms from language to language. Sometimes, it is hard to recognise an idiom at first glance since it is so rooted in our everyday language that we don't notice it normally; once you have recognised it, you need to find the equivalent in the target language. You can easily spot bad translations by word-by-word translations of idioms.

Tricks for Translating Difficult Words

In a first step, I always translate carefully from the source text into the target language. Whenever I come across a difficult word or phrase, I look up possible translations in various dictionaries and try to find the one with the closest meaning. I often cross-check the possible translations to see if they really fit the context in my case.

In a second step, then, I put away the source text and basically edit the translation. My goal is to produce a text that can't be spotted as translation at all.

A common rule among translators is: As close to the source text as possible, as far away from it as necessary. In other words, I try to translate close to the source text but change phrases or sentences when I have to in order to convey the meaning or because it would sound awkward in the target language.

Translating vs. Writing

There is a difference between writing a story in English and translating a story from German to English. A huge difference. You see, when I write in English, I think in English. I use English "word pictures", English idioms and phrases. When I translate, though, the story uses German "word pictures", idioms and phrases. It works perfectly in German, and I have the task to make it work with a different set of "language tools". This isn't always easy since these tools can't be translated one to one. I have to use different "word pictures" to make the story work the way I want it to work.

Sometimes, I have no other option than to change the meaning, the intention of a sentence slightly. This isn't because I'm a bad translator; it's just that the two languages work in different ways. If I tried to stick to the original meaning and intention as if it was set in stone, it might well turn out awkward in another language. My goal, therefore, isn't to make each sentence work exactly like the original sentence but to make the story work the same way. If that means changing a sentence or two to make a scene work in the target language, then that's what I do.

I always translate in two steps, no matter whether I translate fiction or non-fiction. My first step is obvious: I have the original text and translate it sentence by sentence, often with help of a good dictionary or two (I like to use a bilingual and a monolingual dictionary, the monolingual one to check use and meaning, and prepositions). The second step, however, might surprise some of you. I close the original document; I don't need it anymore. In this step, I fully concentrate on my target text. I edit it thoroughly to make it work in the target language. In this step, I have to be careful that I don't change any meaning since I don't have the original text open anymore.

To break it down, step one is to transfer the meaning into the target language, while step two is all about the language: sentence structure, word use and meaning, text flow and so on. My two-step translation strategy only works when I work very accurately, of course, since I need to get the meaning right with the first try.

My goal is always to produce a target text that can't be spotted as a translation. Especially when I'm translating my own stories, though, I'm very glad for a second pair of eyes to proofread my final translation. One truth of editing is also true for translations: You tend to overlook awkward sentences and mistakes if you are editing or translating your own writing.

Machine Translations - Gift or Curse?

Ok, first of all a disclaimer: I am freelance translator, so my opinion might be biased. On the other hand, I believe that because of my knowledge in this field, I can evaluate the quality of machine translations better than most of those who use them.

First of all: Those free website translating services might be helpful to get an overview of a site's content. But: Those translating services rely on machines. Now answer this for yourself: Do you really believe that a machine can grasp the meaning and intention of a text?

Machine translations only replace the words and sentences in one language with matching words and sentences in another language. Now if you have ever had a look into a dictionary, you know that many words have more than one meaning. Machine translations might be getting better, but I don't see them reaching a quality anywhere near a good human translator in the near future. Machines lack one important thing: They can't think!

So do I recommend or warn against machine translations?

Both.

Let me explain how I mean this: If you only need a general overview, want to read someone's blog or translate something for fun or to use for your friends only, machine translations are just fine. You only have to keep in mind that it isn't an accurate translation, and you should be prepared for weird sentences and portions which just don't make sense.

As soon as you need some information for relevant purposes, though, such as for business or legal matters, you should never relay on machine translations. In the best case, they will make sense for you, but in worst case, they will display information wrongly (apart from not making any sense at all). So in those cases, you are well advised to pay a human translator for his services as a bad translation can cost you much more retrospectively than a quality translation.