THE Group for Authors! discussion

What do you think if the translator is also the author? Something very cool
Have you tried this?
Because successful translation needs to understand the real meanings, good translation is like a new composition, in order to give each language its right to care.

Bi-lingual writers, like bi-lingual speakers, are to be admired for the mastering of more than just their native language. However, one must be extremely fluid and knowledgeable regarding all of the idiosyncrasies of the second language in order to accurately capture each nuance and slang interpretation. This is extremely difficult when attempting to effectively translate a specific emotion or innuendo from one language to another. Those that have mastered this skill are to be admired and respected.

Yes, you are right . Is there anyone who did that?

In university, I took 2 translations courses - one was English to French and the other French to English. The "rule" given was (at least then) that a translator is supposed to translate TOWARD his or her first language (language first spoken and understood). In practice, this is not the case (at least not where I work).

The best translators know both languages equally well AND know the terminology and slang in both languages of what they're translating.

I'm lucky, my first language is French (the harder of the 2 to learn) and was the only language I spoke until I was 11 years old. I then went to junior high school to university in English and I worked hard to be as good if not better in English than native English speakers. Today, I work in both languages (I deal with colleagues in different sites in Canada) so I practice both languages regularly. I watch TV mostly in English but I always speak to my family in French. I can create a "work" document in either language at the same level. I have even translated at work.

What will actually determine if the original author can translate his own work is what his level of terminology knowledge is in the genre he's writing and his writing mastery of each language. In my case, I tried, for the heck of it, to translate to French a chapter of my first fantasy book. It took a lot of time because I don't read fantasy in French so I had to figure out what the best terms were in French. I figured the further I got into translating it, the easier it would get. I only did one chapter. My mastery of written English is far superior so although I might consider translating my own work, I would run the translation through an editor/proofreader. But I understand and speak the 2 languages equally well (I can think in either language).

There are advantages for an author to translate his own work:
- The author knows the story the best. He doesn't have to "guess" what the author meant when a sentence is unclear
- It can be a way to find unclear sentences in the original text. Anyone who has translated their own work will get this. There's nothing like translating a sentence to realize how bad the original sentence is.
- Price, of course, no need to pay someone else to translate
- The author knows where flexibility is acceptable (such as dialogue) versus near-literal translations (some expressions don't translate well or have an equivalent but it may not always fit the context).

Disadvantages:
- While translating, the author is not creating new original work
- Time
- It takes skill to translate and avoid literal (word for word) translations. It's also easy for the original language structure to sneak into the translation

This is something I have thought about, whether to translate my own work. If I decided not to do it myself, I would at least review very closely the French translation. As I've had to review outsourced translations for work, this can be a nightmare. It sometimes would have been easier if I had translated the text myself than having to review it.

If I go with a translator, I would first get them to translate the first chapter to see just how much work I would have reviewing the translation.

First the terminology problem really needs careful work.
The advantages and disadvantages of the author's translation of his books have been well illustrated.
The practice remains very important, especially as it conveys the spirit of the text and this is important.
  The vernacular little can master the difference between them and the language of books, especially if he does not speak this language in life.
A new idea I think is important: may make the author change his original text, add new ideas, and correct.
Thanks