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Featured So You Want to Be a Bible Translator!

Discussion in 'Bible Versions & Translations' started by John of Japan, Dec 6, 2022.

  1. John of Japan

    John of Japan Well-Known Member
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    I keep thinking this would be a fun topic, so here we go. This will be about how to become a Bible translator, assuming you either want to be one or you would just like to discuss the matter.

    First of all, I can't abide wannabes. A wannabe is someone who aspires to a task or profession, but just doesn't have what it takes to make it. Back when I taught Kung Fu in college, two boys came to a class I was teaching, and said they were followers of Bruce Lee and his method, Jeet Kune Do (pr. jeet coon dough). They wanted to spar me and show off their "Jeet Coon Knee Do." They had been training on their own, I suppose with one of Lee's books.

    I corrected their pronunciation, and squared off with one of them. At one point I threw a round house kick at his head, stopping before I connected, of course, since this was non-contact sparring. He said, "What was that??!?" Really? Every beginner in my class knew that technique, yet they claimed to be expert in JKD and didn't know it. They were wannabes, not real martial artists.

    So, what is the absolute minimum of skill and/or knowledge one needs to be a Bible translator? Anyone?
     
  2. 37818

    37818 Well-Known Member

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    I would think, be able to read and write the source language and a working knowledge of the grammar. [That disqualifies me.]
     
  3. JonC

    JonC Moderator
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    Just guessing, but I'd say at a minimum an education in the original and target language(s), and probably a gift for languages (I'd assume that would accompany a desire to be a translator).

    Thick skin or a fair amount of whiskey would probably help as well.
     
  4. Martin Marprelate

    Martin Marprelate Well-Known Member
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    Excellent knowledge of the Biblical language and the receptor language is a given (though I guess that the help of a native speaker would be a big help with the latter), but I would say that a vital quality in a Bible translator is humility.
     
  5. John of Japan

    John of Japan Well-Known Member
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    Definitely. So, the absolute minimum is to be fluent in two languages. So one could translate from English to the target language, but one would have to know the target language fluently.

    Knowing the Biblical languages as the source language is ideal, but a lot of translation work goes on from English. I understand that a lot of Wycliffe translators work from English, often from the inferior GNB. However, I've known fundamentalist translators who worked from English, also.
     
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  6. John of Japan

    John of Japan Well-Known Member
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    So a minimum of fluency in two languages. One may or may not be formally educated in them, but educated nevertheless. Bilingual kids like my son can speak two languages as a native speaker.
    Absolutely. One not gifted in language would have a real hard time being a translator.

    Thick skin, definitely. But probably coffee instead of whiskey. :Cool

    But you just have to ignore the critics. I've heard:
    Why don't you just go soul winning?
    There's already a good Bible.
    Can't they just learn English?
    Etc.

    Then you might get schooled by the nationals. Uncle Miya, my co-translator, said to me once, "Himes Sensei (teacher), that's Junior High Japanese." :(
     
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  7. John of Japan

    John of Japan Well-Known Member
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    Yes to the two languages, though one can use English (or their native tongue) as the source language. Ideally, the target language should be the translator's native tongue, but occasionally a brilliant translator like William Carey can become fluent enough in the target language to translate.

    Humility: definitely. The translator makes mistakes when translating such as leaving out words or phrases (I once left out a whole verse), getting the grammar or semantics wrong, getting the nuance wrong, etc. Being willing to admit error and fix it is vital.
     
  8. John of Japan

    John of Japan Well-Known Member
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    So, how would you ensure accuracy if you translated from English? Ordinarily a double translation ends up with poor renderings. You always lose data in a double translation.
     
  9. John of Japan

    John of Japan Well-Known Member
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    Speaking of wannabes, I once got a phone call in Hokkaido, where we were based, from a man down in Yokosuka where there is a huge American and Japanese naval base. He ran some service or other for the servicemen.

    So anyway, he wanted to join our translation team. I asked if he knew Greek. Nope. Did he know Japanese? Nope. Well, maybe he could contribute financially. Nope, since we were in Japan under a mission board and he didn't believe in them.

    So he found a Japanese man to use, and told me he was going to submit a chapter of John for evaluation, so the Japanese man could join our effort. (We had already translated John, though.) I bit, and waited and waited, but nothing ever happened.

    So the great thing about Bible translating is if you are a wannabe, it soon becomes evident. When push comes to shove, you can't produce anything! :Wink
     
    #9 John of Japan, Dec 6, 2022
    Last edited: Dec 6, 2022
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  10. JonC

    JonC Moderator
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    I guess you'd also have to know the culture and language common to the people.

    When I was in the Army two of my soldiers went for a language identifier (same time for the same language). The one who passed was the son of missionary who learned the language formally. The guy who had that language as a primary language didn't pass.
     
  11. John of Japan

    John of Japan Well-Known Member
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    Very interesting. Am I right to assume that a "language identifier" is some kind of test?

    Learning a language formally forces you to learn the grammar correctly. There is something called the "-te form" in Japanese. (Some grammarians call it the Japanese participle, but it doesn't function like a participle.) So once I bought a very basic grammar book in Japanese of the language, and it didn't even have this form in it!

    On the other hand, a native speaker always knows the symbolic language better: idioms, metaphors, etc. A native speaker is also more likely to know the classical and literary forms of the language, if there is such.
     
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  12. Salty

    Salty 20,000 Posts Club
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    I barely made it thur Spanish 1
    I failed Spanish II two times!

    Would I be a good candidate?
     
  13. JonC

    JonC Moderator
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    Yes. Soldiers could take a test to get the identifier if fluent in the language (if they need the language they attend a 1 to 2 year course in CA before their job training).

    A coworker was military intelligence and they sent him to learn Hebrew (40 hrs a week for a year and a half).
     
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  14. AustinC

    AustinC Well-Known Member

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    I have a friend who has been a Bible translator with Wycliffe for over 30 years now. He spent most of those years translating a language on New Guinea and now is doing language checks on a variety of languages while living here State side. It is fascinating to hear him talk through the various ways by which you translate into another language and then peer review the work for clarity and specificity. He has been a faithful person to whom an entire tribal group is in his debt. Various books of the Bible are now translated and recorded for the illiterate to hear and learn. The tribe is becoming literate as they long to hear the Word of God. It is such a blessing.
     
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  15. Marooncat79

    Marooncat79 Well-Known Member
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    So you was a Kung Fu fighting?

    you should write a song about it!!

    Haha
     
  16. John of Japan

    John of Japan Well-Known Member
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    Alas.... :(
     
  17. John of Japan

    John of Japan Well-Known Member
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    Someone else did. I just sing it--which can be a devastating weapon. :Ninja
     
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  18. John of Japan

    John of Japan Well-Known Member
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    A tough language. I had to be in Japanese school for two years, full time--35-40 hours a week.

    This points up the fact that the typical translator has taken a whole lot of time and money to become fluent in that second language, unless he or she grew up bilingual. This is just another reason I can't abide the translator wannabe; he or she does not understand nor respect what the translator has done to become a translator.
     
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  19. John of Japan

    John of Japan Well-Known Member
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    I have great respect for this type of ministry. To start from zero, and produce a written language and then a Bible translation, may be the most difficult Christian ministry on earth.
     
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  20. AustinC

    AustinC Well-Known Member

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    It is the closest thing to the gift of tongues that I have seen. I am so happy that God gives the gift of learning languages to some of his children so that they can interpret. It is not my gift, but I fully support it both with my verbal support as well as my financial support. By the way, Wycliffe needs more young people to join them and keep working on translations. The past generation is nearing retirement age. This is an urgent need.
     
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