tranfree issue 24 - 15th January 2001

Translation as Teamwork

By Michaela Fisnar-Keggler

Have you ever worked on a translation together with someone else? I hadn't - and I didn't know what I was missing.

A few months ago I read a mystery novel written by a husband and wife Swiss author team. I liked it so much that I mentioned to my husband Johnny that if it was written in English I would want to translate it into German (German being my first target language).

Johnny, who is half American, half British, and an excellent professional editor, suggested we translate the book into English together. The idea was intriguing but I had all kinds of reservations...

• How would we structure the work?
• How could we arrange the work schedule to suit both of us?
• What if the collaboration would create problems on a personal level?
• We undertook the endeavour nonetheless - the challenge was too tempting.

Here's how we did it...

• I read the original book twice, then prepared a rough draft of the translation, including in the text all my thoughts, suggestions, questions, etc.
  
  
• Johnny did not read the original at all; this way his perspective remained that of a first-time reader.
  
  
• We edited the draft together, checked it word by word, sentence by sentence.
  
  
• Each of us did a final reading, we discussed potential problems, and did the final edit.

Our teamwork turned out more successful than we had ever imagined. We enjoyed the following advantages...

• a native speaker of the source language (translator)
• a native speaker of the target language (editor)
• great enthusiasm for language on both sides
• two pairs of very critical eyes (and ears)
• the will to take constructive criticism and to learn from each other
• respect for and faith in each other's knowledge of the respective native tongue
• the ambition to produce a good translation
• a great story to work with
• an affinity for having a lot of fun together

I believe that we were very lucky in many ways. Firstly, in a sense that the publishing house agreed to commission our translation. Secondly, Johnny and I seem to be the perfect match for this kind of work. It could very easily have turned out quite differently.

Finding someone with whom you can - and want to - embark on such a venture is certainly not easy since many factors are involved in such a collaboration. Both team players must be willing to...

• spend a lot of (spare) time together
• control their own temper
• respect the other persons highs and lows and motivate him/her if necessary
• criticize in a constructive manner ONLY
• take constructive criticism without bad feelings
• be able to accepts the other person's ideas and solutions
• separate topical issues from personal issues (very important!)
• follow through with the job, no matter how exhausting it may get at times (and believe me it does).

It was a lot of work and, in fact, we were two people working for the fee of one. But the experience was extremely rewarding.

And it also gets your names on the cover of a book - great publicity! And it gave you the idea for this great article

During the five months of our work I learned more about the English language than I had in all those years before. For example, my first draft was full of word selections, i.e. if I had a few possible translations for an adjective I would write them all into the text and Johnny had to choose one.

He understands all the nuances which are simply beyond my grasp. (English really has a tremendous number of words!) Time and time again I was reminded of how much it takes to truly know a language and it was wonderful to have someone to guide me with perfect competence. On the other hand, I could explain to Johnny the subtleties of the German text that might have escaped a non-native German speaker.

Another great advantage was our knowledge of different subjects. For instance, since the story takes place in Russia, I was able to use my knowledge of Russian to deal with specific Russian issues, i.e. Russian names, foods, geography, etc.

Johnny, who is the editor for a defence magazine, was able to translate many of the specific police, weaponry and military terms without any research.

And yes, it is great fun to work with someone you like. It may take a bit longer because you talk, crack jokes, argue (about text-related issues!), and if one of you doesn't have time or is otherwise indisposed you just have to wait.

But then again, instead of spending Saturday night in a bar or at the movies you open...

...a bottle of good wine and "do" a few pages. Call us what you will - we enjoyed it!