Featured What if you were the one?

What if you were the one to do a translation of the Bible into Rohingya, starting with the NT? Here are the questions you would have to answer. How would you do it?

1. What is your source text?
2. What are your goals for the translation, as per Skopos Theory? This is a theory that says that how you translate depends on your goals.
3. What will be your theory of translation? For example, how do you handle ambiguity in the source text? How do you handle weights and measures? How do you handle words the target language does not have?
4. What system of writing do you use? (Google it. This is a really tough one in this language.)
5. What book do you start with?

Begin.

 

More decisions:

6. The team compositions: are lost translators useful?
7. What team members are needed? In other words, what positions are there (chairman, lead translator, etc.)?

 

Bible translation for an unreached people group with an unwritten language is, in my opinion, the most difficult task in all of Christian work! I know some of these incredible missionaries, and respect them highly. Keep praying for them, sister!

 

That's a very common beginning and a good one, since it can then be used for evangelism. Another common one is Mark.

Wycliffe people often begin with Genesis.

 

Actually, you already revealed one skopos with Post #5--evangelism. This will affect how you translate to a certain degree. You'll probably go with a more colloquial translation rather than a literary one.

 

Interesting choice. Where would you access F35, somewhere on the Internet? Fortunately for your idea, there are large Rohingya populations in various places with easy Internet access, such as Milwaukee. Otherwise, if you were there in a Burmese jungle where they come from, you might not have Internet access.

 

Oh, shucks, you figured it out.

 

"They" never do figure it out.

 

That looks quite readable. Just in case anyone on this thread opts for a UBS text, UBS 4 has a truly awful font, and UBS 3 isn't much better. They both look like some kind of permanent italic font. Don't these people think of who has to use their Greek NT?? It's enough to make a Byzantine advocate out of a person! I have UBS 2 at home--at least it's readable, though not the best font.

 

The strategy, as I understand it, is to lay the groundwork for NT teaching. For example, Ethnos360 (formerly New Tribes) used to have a program of taking the tribal people through many lessons (50? IDK) before concentrating on the Gospel. (They might still do this--I don't know.) I've seen the lessons, and they are good. However, I believe that the Gospel can be presented powerfully right from the start, even with an illiterate tribal people (Rom. 1:16). Therefore, even with a tribal people with no written language, I would start with John, filling in the details of creation and the nature of God along the way. However, I would not press for decisions, but wait for the Holy Spirit do that work. They need to know about Jesus!

This approach would hopefully provide born again translators to help with the work. I believe at some point the tribal translators must be born again, thus opening their hearts to the Holy Spirit's help in the translation effort.