I was working on a proposal for a possible customer. They needed a document translated, of course. Or that is what they said they needed (I will change languages to protect the innocent!).
A phrase in the original material spoke, using a normal English expression, about a certain location having a "down home" feeling.
In other words, that location made people feel "at home" and comfortable, not like a guest or a stranger.
A beautiful picture!
That phrase was given to a translator and the result was basically: this location gives you an "under the house" feeling.
Well, maybe you like crawling in the dust next to spiders under a house, but I am not sure that is what they wanted their audience to imagine!
As a translation, it was actually "correct": the words matched up pretty well. The dictionary was happy.
But the message was lost.
Translation is not the work of a technician. Translation is best understood as communication, and as an art, the art of a craftsman.
We like to think of Interlogia as more than a translation company. It is more like an artists' guild where master craftsmen and apprentices and artisans are commissioned to produce inspiring and living works of art for their patrons: for you, and for your audience and customers.
So, you don't need anything translated. You need your message turned into art!
A phrase in the original material spoke, using a normal English expression, about a certain location having a "down home" feeling.
In other words, that location made people feel "at home" and comfortable, not like a guest or a stranger.
A beautiful picture!
That phrase was given to a translator and the result was basically: this location gives you an "under the house" feeling.
Well, maybe you like crawling in the dust next to spiders under a house, but I am not sure that is what they wanted their audience to imagine!
As a translation, it was actually "correct": the words matched up pretty well. The dictionary was happy.
But the message was lost.
Translation is not the work of a technician. Translation is best understood as communication, and as an art, the art of a craftsman.
We like to think of Interlogia as more than a translation company. It is more like an artists' guild where master craftsmen and apprentices and artisans are commissioned to produce inspiring and living works of art for their patrons: for you, and for your audience and customers.
So, you don't need anything translated. You need your message turned into art!
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