ये translation नहीं आसान…

Recently I got a chance to translate two speeches for the Government Authorities for a function. One of the speeches I got was in Hindi and another was in Gujarati. The Speeches had to be translated into all three languages. I don't know who wrote the original and in which language, but I had to translate it into English. The time given was only a few hours.

The first speech I received was in Gujarati which was handwritten and it was challenging to read what was written. Later on, I got the speech typed in Hindi in form of a Word file.

Due to lack of time, I started using machine translation for the speech. There were many tools for machine translation but proceeded with Google Translation.

Machine Translations are hilarious because the translation is done literally and it distorts the essence of the context. Translation of Hindi into English still was better, but Gujarati into English was a mess. I had to give extra effort to change the words, and sentences as per the context.

Challenges of Machine Translation:

1.)Terms with No Alternatives in the Target Language

2.) Sentences with multiple grammatical structures

3.) Uncertainty about what a pronoun refers

4.) Lack of creativity

5.) Quality Issues

Learning Outcome of Machine Translation:-

1.)The translation is done at a better speed than we do on our own. It saves time. Especially when you have urgent work.

2.) Editing can be done easily.

3.) Technology gives us many advantages regarding the alternative of words and the words are not repeated.

The Process of translation is quite challenging. This was not the first time that I had translated something. A few years back, I attended a workshop on Translation Studies. It is said, that once you learn something, it will never go waste. That workshop was helpful to me today while doing the translation.

Late Prof.Dr Avdhesh Kumar Sir once said in his Keynote Address that there is no particular theory of translation. Emotive use of language should be taken into account while translating not the literal language. Discourse said and unsaid taken in view is the basic unit of translation.we should not waste time in discussing the process of translation but we should practice it.

Here are the links to the blog of the translation Workshop - https://vaidehi09.blogspot.com/2018/03/day-1-national-workshop-on-translating.html

https://vaidehi09.blogspot.com/2018/03/day-2-national-workshop-on-translating.html

By Practicing only we come to know about the challenges and advantages of translation. Theories can be helpful for the basic knowledge, but practice and years of devotion can make us master it.

Machine translation is easy and speedy, but if you are not aware of the context and unsaid views it can be a blooper.

Happy Learning!!!

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