AREAS OF DIFFICULTIES

IN TRANSLATION

Rida Wahyuningrum
English Department
Wijaya Kusuma University, Surabaya

By the end of this lecture, you will be able

to answer questions about:
1. What requirements a translator should
meet
2. Some difficulties a translator might
encounter during translating a text
3. Innacuracies and accurateness of
translation

WHAT IS
A
TRANSLATOR?

A translator can be defined as a person or

machine that translates speech or writing.

 In a broader sense, he is the one

employed to render written works into
another language or a tool (a
computer program or application) that
renders one language or data format
into another.

WHAT DOES
A TRANSLATOR
DO?

To create conditions under

which the source language
author and the target
language reader can interact
with one another

To use the core

meaning present in the
source text to create a
new whole, namely,
the target text

To become the agents

for transferring
messages from one
language to another,
while preserving the
underlying cultural and
discoursal ideas and
values

WHAT CHARACTERIZE
A GOOD TRANSLATOR?

GOOD
COMPETENCE
IN BOTH
SL AND TL

GOOD
REFERENCES
AND
USE OF THEM

A TRANSLATOR
SHOULD
- employ an extensive
reading of different
translations of
different kinds of
texts.
- develop receptive
skills before the
productive ones.

A TRANSLATOR SHOULD
- write smoothly and correctly in both source and
target languages.
- become familiar with different styles of writing
and techniques and principles of editing and
punctuation in both source and target languages.
- edit and punctuate to improve the quality and
readability of the translation

A TRANSLATOR SHOULD
- have a good ear for both source and
target languages; i.e. he should be alert
to pick up various expressions, idioms,
and specific vocabulary and their uses,
and store them in their minds to be used
later.

A TRANSLATOR SHOULD
- understand the value of the source text
within the framework of the sourcelanguage discourse.
- be aware of the cultural differences and
the various discoursal strategies in the
source and target languages.

A TRANSLATOR
SHOULD
- read different genres
in both source and
target languages
including modern
literature,
contemporary prose,
newspapers,
magazines,
advertisements,
announcements,
instructions, etc.

A TRANSLATOR SHOULD
- have socio-cultural awareness to
improve the quality of the
translations to a great extent
- be familiar with the culture,
customs, and social settings of
the source and target language
speakers
- be familiar with different
registers, styles of speaking, and
social stratification of both
languages

A TRANSLATOR
SHOULD
- have different
monolingual and
bilingual dictionaries,
encyclopedias, and
the internet.

Successful translators
usually choose one
specific kind of texts
for translating and
continue to work only
in that area.

Why does English

Cause Translation
Difficulties?

English translation is known to be

one of the most difficult translations
when needing consistency.

THE VERB-ADVERB COMBINATION

(unique to English)
This is shown by combinations such as
turn on, turn off, mark up, or mark
down.
Other languages use single specific verbs
instead of the English verb-adverb
combinations.

THE USE OF ARTICLES

Although almost all Western European
languages use articles, many other
languages do not.
The Slavic languages do not use articles at
all, which causes great difficulties when
translating English to a Slavic language.
Bahasa Indonesia also has articles, but the
distribution is not similar to that of in
English.

THREE TYPES OF
TRANSLATION DIFFICULTY
1. Distinguishing between general vocabulary and
specialized terms
2. Distinguishing between various meanings of a
word of general vocabulary
3. Taking into account the total context, including
the intended audience and important details such
as regionalisms

Distinguishing between
General Vocabulary and
Specialized Terms

a vehicle carrying many passengers;

used for public transport

an electrical
conductor that
makes a common
connection between
several circuits

a financial institution that accepts

deposits and channels the money
into lending activities
a slope in the turn of a road or
track or river

Distinguishing between
Various Meanings of a Word
of General Vocabulary

The English word 'fish' can be used to refer

to either a live fish swimming in a river, or a
dead fish that has been cleaned and is ready
for the frying pan.

Spanish makes the distinction obligatory. For

the swimming fish, one would use pez and for
the fish ready for the frying pan one would
use pescado.

Taking into account the total

context, including the intended
audience and important details
such as regionalisms

Translating an English Thank you into Japanese

needs a translators understanding about the
meaning intended when it is applied in the
language and its culture.

Translation
and
Accurateness

The ideal
translation will be
accurate as to
meaning and
natural as to the
receptor
language forms
used.

The success of a translation is

measured by how closely it
measures up to those ideals.

The ideal
translation,
therefore, should be
accurate, natural,
and communicative.

ACCURATE

reproducing
as exactly as
possible the
meaning of
the source
text

NATURAL

using natural
forms of the
receptor
language in a
way that is
appropriate
to the kind of
text being
translated

COMMUNICATIVE

expressing
all aspects of
the meaning
in a way that
is readily
understandable to the
intended
audience

TRANSLATING FILM DIALOGUES

Film dialogues have

characteristics which
set them apart from
other kinds of texts or
documents to be
translated.

TRANSLATING FILM DIALOGUES

Spoken forms of movie

scripts

Adaptations of other literary forms (novels, short stories, even poems)

or original scripts especially written for films or plays

The following is the data gathered between

the early 2001 and August 2003
(see Retmono: 2003)

LABELS/CODES USED

Rida Wahyuningrum
English Department
Wijaya Kusuma University, Surabaya