Advisor checking

This is a photo of our advisor checking session in August. Rebekah and I have our computers on to look at resources on the computer and the Teop translation is edited on the small netbook computer at the window.

We wanted to return the village as soon as possible, so we were working very full-on, including evenings and weekends, so that we could get though the chapters and go back to the village.

Village checking

In village checking, we get together with Teop speakers in the village and read through the translation to check that it makes sense and see if they have any suggestions for changes. The photos here show what village checking looks like.

Good discussions:

The changes were getting directly inputted into the solar-powered netbook as we did the village check.

Advisor checking

Rebekah’s and my role in our translation work is that of an advisor. Our Teop translators make a draft translation and Rebekah and I check it. We have some software on our computer with lots of in-depth resources about Biblical books, which we can look up for advice.

During March and April, Rebekah and I prepared for doing an ‘advisor check’ of Mark 1-6 in May. We had questions, suggestions and items for clarification in the draft translation of Mark 1-6. We worked together with Joyce and Ailyne at the Training Centre in Buka and managed to get all six chapters checked.

Some verses were very frustrating, but other verses were fairly straightforward. We had a good time, including some great laughs…

In the photo below, Joyce is explaining to me how corn grows for the parable of the growing seed in Mark 4:26-29.

We had a look at a packet of mustard seeds when checking the parable of the mustard seed in Mark 4:30-32.

‘O vaaviararaa no vua mastat’ – ‘The parable of the mustard seed’ with the packet of mustard seeds next to it.

Ailyne looking at the packet of mustard seeds:

The Anuki Team

During the translation workshop in February, I was working with the Anuki language group. Each language group sends three people to the workshop, two who work on translating and one who works on producing literacy materials, such as books for children in their language. The team that the Anuki language sends in consists of translators, Kipling and Hazel, and the literacy worker Paulus. In the picture above you can see Kipling and Hazel working on translating a passage.

Paulus joined us to check through the passage – when I did the advisor checks, he joined us and I asked him questions about the passage since he hadn't worked on it and didn't know it so intimately. We are doing an advisor check in the picture below.

Nearly every night after dinner, I went back to work with the Anuki team to finish off the day's work and I was glad when we had the occasional day that we finished everything before dinner! The days we finished earlier were the days that we only had 12 verses to translate. Other days we were working on 15-19 verses.

At the end of the workshop, we had an evaluation, and the Anuki team said that when we translated only 12 verses in a day it was not enough! I tell you what – they are so dedicated that they are happy to translate more verses and working after dinner doesn't faze them! They're just incredible!

Kipling working hard in the picture above.

More of our translation process

Continuing from the last post, after they check the passage and make the changes, we put the text into a special program called Adapt-It and the translators tell the program which English words go with the words from their language.

I take the word for word translation and compare it with an English Bible to check that everything's there and how it should be, and I prepare some questions to ask in an advisor check later. The questions vary from comprehension questions, to checking out the deeper meaning of a particular word.

Each language group sends three people to the workshop, two to do translation, and one to prepare literacy materials. When it is time to do an advisor check on the passage, we ask the questions to the literacy person, since he/she hasn't worked on the passage and doesn't know it in depth like the translators. He/she doesn't necessarily know what it is supposed to say, so if there are problems with the passage, they may become apparent.

After the advisor check, we put any changes into the computer. Later we will print a booklet of everything they translated at this workshop and they language groups will take the booklets to the village and check them with the community, asking comprehension questions. Later on there will be another check with a person who is experienced in translation and has been trained to do final checks, known as 'consultant checks'.

Usually I work with the Anuki people until about 5pm and then we come back again after dinner and work for another hour or so. That helps us to keep up with the work. We get everything for that day finished so then we don't fall behind.

How do we translate?

I could write an answer to this question that would fill a page, so I'll try to be brief.

There are different stages to translating, some of these are: first draft, advisor check, village check, back translation and consultant check. After each checking session, changes are made to the draft translation, until it is refined and as accurate as it can be. During this workshop I am involved in the first draft, advisor checks and back translation.

You might wonder how I can be involved in the first draft, when I don't know the language. Well, the two Taupota people do the actual translating. I typed for them (not easy when you don't know the language!) and I gave suggestions in English about different ways they could write it. I also explained things to them, such as the meaning of certain words or passages. They told me word for word in English what they had written in Taupota and sometimes I checked the meaning of the words or picked up on something that they hadn't included.

That's the main initial part of the translation process. I will try to write about the other parts another time.