Guide:Translations

Disclaimer and Note

This is mostly just me, Remi_Scarlet rambling about translations and the methodology in which I use. Obviously, there is no single correct way to translate, though I do believe there are better ways. I understand that opinions may vary, so this is but one of many ideologies on the subject.

Purpose

The purpose of this "guide" is to give a foundation and roadmap to those who translate and the larger ideas behind translating so that people don't get lost in the minutia of it. Translating is a pretty open field where a lot of different ideas as to the reason, method and arguments for different methods exist. This guide will follow the method that I have come up with having translated both professionally as a freelancer and as a hobbyist translator for 5+ years. Do note however that I do not possess any formal or professional training but rather translate based on my native background of being a Japanese-American that is fluent in both languages. My primary intuition and reasoning comes from trial-and-error as well as standards of methodology that I have come across in my years of translating.

Guide

Translating: What's the point?

The point of translation, to put it simply, is to "get the idea across". To be more formal, the Oxford dictionary defines translating as

• To Translate: To express the sense of (words or text) in another language.

This means that the core purpose and idea behind translating is to get the idea, emotion and purpose of a piece of text or words across, whether those ideas, emotions and purpose are explicitly stated in the words or not. Take for example the sentence

• "I'm not too sure about that."

This sentence is pretty simple. There's nothing mythical about it and they're all easy to understand words. However, note that there exists a wealth of information in this sentence alone just based on things such as context, tone, subject etc. Maybe someone uttered this message under his breath at himself to convey doubt on the action he or someone else is about to take. Perhaps he's saying it to a friend directly to try and discourage them from doing something. Maybe the speaker is legitimately not sure about a question and is simply brushing it off. This sentence by itself can convey many different ideas, emotions and purposes.

The point of translating, then, is to convey all of these in a language that isn't native to the original.

While I will not cover it in detail, one more aspect of the point of translating I have to bring up is that while it's certainly possible to do what was mentioned above well in many ways, let's look at two examples of translations.

The original sentence will be "マルゴーマル・・・えっ？姉さん達に比べて、出るとこが出てないからいっぱい食べろって・・・？上等じゃない！言い残すことはあるかしら！？", taken from Katsuragi's hourlies.

One example of a translation

• 5:00... Huh? Compared with my sister, the part that needs to stick out do not stick out, so I have to eat...? Y-You have done it! Any last words!?

My translation is

• 05:00... What? My body lacks presence in certain areas compared to my sisters so I should eat more? Are you picking a fight with me?! Any final words?!"

Both translations obviously portray the meaning of the original sentence. Whether you read the first one or second one, you can get the meaning across. However, many will likely be inclined to agree that the second translation is better. Why is this so? It's because it flows better.

A terrifically important aspect of translating that is commonly overlooked is the flow and feel of the translation in the non-native language. You can't forget that at the end of the day, you're translating your text to native-level people of the language you're translating into. These people will instantly, just as much as you yourself should, be able to identify "flawed" sentences. Nobody speaks like the first translation does in English. There are many parts of the sentence that makes it so, but I'll let the reader figure it out. Hint: It's not difficult.

Here's a great picture to give an example. This image is a half-joke, but it shows the importance of how many "translations" can all be relatively accurate (relatively) but still give off completely different feels of quality and accuracy.

Translating in a Nutshell

IN CONSTRUCTION PLEASE COME BACK LATER

Teehee. <3