Clarence Williams

Translation and interpretation can be extremely difficult, but the common reader usually doesn’t understand the complexity that is involved. In this paper, we attempt to explain some of the more common reasons for translation error and some new courses to aid translators. Translation is different things for different groups of people. For people who are not translators, it is primarily a text; for people who are, it is primarily an activity that is more of an art than a science. Due to the large number of errors found in translations of literature works, leading universities began to develop translation programs of study. This led to the development of a degree in translation studies with the goal of giving greater precedence to ensuring that word meanings and cultural nuances are carried over.

In time, German to English Translation programs become more and more common place and it became common for degree programs to include courses in the history of translation theory and continuing into modern times. New coursework was later amended to study programs plans that emphasized specific problems of literary translation through a close, practical analysis of texts that tackles crucial problems of translation and extensive suggestions for further reading.

In the first semesters of the program, students learn that a text’s reliability consists in the trust a user can place in it, as a representation or reproduction of the original. Students also learn the downfalls of word for word substitution. Most computer based translation applications are based on word for word substitution and we all know how imperfect those can be. These issues are encountered on a regular basis by professional translation workers when dealing with highly technical subject matter like Legal Translation. The following true story attests to the difficult issues encountered by professional translators.

About a decade ago, a junior in a translation program received a Medical Document Translation internship with a leading research organization that is located in Germany. Although his native language was English, he spent a semester in college at a German university. He was a native speaker of English and knew some German – probably enough to make some very embarrassing mistakes. When his hosts asked him if he was comfortable, he knew how he wanted to respond and he knew the appropriate words for “comfortable,” “hot” and “cold.” Since he was quite warm, he responded answered by saying that he was feeling a tad bit too hot. Like most people from the English-speaking world, he didn’t realize that in German he should have replied by saying “It seems very hot to me.” instead of “I am really warm.” While they seem similar in English they are drastically different in German. Unfortunately, the service worker looked befuddled and amused which suggested that the reply was incorrect for the occasion. Indeed, the German translation of “I am hot,” conveys a sexual meaning, whereas “it is hot to me” conveys the meaning that the temperature is too warm. In German, there is a big difference between the two statements, even though in English the statement “it is hot to me” is a bit awkward and cumbersome.