Different Levels of Difficulties in Translation

Sometimes people think that if a person knows two languages perfectly well it is not difficult for him to translate from the Target language into the Source language. But it’s not so. Let’s take for example the simple sentence in English “ The cat is on the mat”. It seems quite easy to translate this sentence into Russian or Romanian”Koshka na kovre” and “Mîtsa este pe covor”. Even this sentence gives rise to some alternatives. Translating the word “cat” into Russian or Romanian is rather straightforward. No matter how finicky one may get. Translation into Romanian is easier because there are articles definite and indefinite in English and Romanian. But translating into Russian the translator has some problems because in the Russian language there are no articles, so the translator has a dilemma» What cat?” Is it our or the neighbor’s cat, or may be it is some unknown cat? The following phrase is ‘The cat is…’. English uses the verb ‘to be’ to express existence, both temporary and permanent, and location in addition to its more usual function as a meaningless auxiliary. Romanian uses ‘a fi’ in the same way but in Russian this verb is not translated. Thus, if the sentence is taken independently of the text we don’t know what time it refers to.

‘The cat is on …’ English prepositions are widely regarded as being diabolical when translating from other languages into English.

Finally ‘the mat’. This really is troublesome. Consider the fact that ‘the mat’ has no definite size. In this case it can mean ‘a rug’ or ‘a carpet’. Additionally, ‘A mat’ can be used for: - cleaning your shoes, in which case it can be called ‘a doormat’; - keeping your feet warm; - protecting the floor in front of the sofa; - preventing you from slipping and injuring yourself in the bath(bath-mat). It can be made of wool, rubber, cotton, synthetics…. It is a very difficult thing to define the meaning of a word without a context. In each case this word can be translated in different ways. The knowledge of a context is very important especially for technical translators. But even in the case when the translator knows the context the difficulties continue. Here we can speak about pragmatic difficulties. For example, in hot countries the floor is never covered with thick carpets, especially from wall-to-wall variety.

The attitude to cats also varies from country to country. In ancient Egypt the cats were the sacred animals. In the world of the rich cats are often better looked after than any children in poor families. In less privileged societies animals are treated as animals should be. Cats are useful for catching rats, mice…. The attitude of the poor to cats differ greatly from the attitude of the rich.

So, we can speak about the contrasting world views of different people. It means that geographical and historical context, material well-being and similar factors change the person’s view of things.

The analyzed sentence is simple from grammar point of view but nevertheless it is sometimes difficult to give the proper variant of translation.

Very often there happen sentences which are unclear and it is difficult to see where the translation begins from. Let’s take the sentence ‘The buyer of the collar buys a cap and writes the floor; the writer of the collar writes a cap and buys a floor’. To translate this sentence in a proper way the translator should analyze not only the grammar of the sentence but paradigms of all words as well.

Translators come from all backgrounds. While a specialized degree in translation is useful it is far from necessary. What counts more is ability. Most translators are very well read in their languages and can write well. Some are writers who use translation as a way to write for living. Others are fascinated by the language and use translation to be close to their favorite subject. Still others are experts in certain fields and use their language skills to work in that field.

Almost all translators should have a college degree. All translators must have a deep interest and dedication to the languages they work with. The only exception to this rule is people who translate very specialized material.

The knowledge on the field the translator is working in is often overlooked by translators and those people that hire them. Translators are by definition language professionals, but they also have to cultivate a knowledge of the areas they work in. Few translators claim to be able to translate anything written in their languages just as few people can claim to be experts in everything. Most translators have to specialize, working with one or two related categories of material: legal, financial, medical, computers or engineering..... Each field has its own vocabulary, syntax, style; the translator has to work hard to develop knowledge necessary to deal with such material. This knowledge includes two main factors.

First – the background knowledge, experience and education.

Second - the translator should have the necessary resources to deal with the material. This means dictionaries, glossaries, etc. Such resources can include web sites devoted to translation or terminology, Usenet discussion groups concerning translation, friends or colleagues who work in this profession, magazines and journals. Translators have to work tirelessly if they want to improve their knowledge. They also have to invest time and money in maintaining their reference library. In other words professional translators are always learning.