[Warning! This may sound like work, but it is not. It is just my appreciation to the work done by some people.]

Wow, I can't believe I'll be attempting to write something about this but I feel I need to, after attending the 11th International Translation Conference in KL. Like most people, I do not really understand the work of a translator until recently. I've started to appreciate the work that they've done.

It is because of them that we get to bridge the barrier of language gap over the world; We get to communicate with people that do not understand our languages; We get to read work from philosophers and scientist that was written in a foreign language; We get to watch & understand foreign movies; We get to attend foreign conference by listening to Interpreters over the headphone. We have benefited a lot from the work that they have done. I feel we need to really acknowledge their work and appreciate them, so that, they keep on doing what they're doing. I know that I really need them especially when I watch Mandarin shows! (Opps! I've just admitted that I'm a Chinese Banana.. Hahaha.. ) How about you?

During the conference, I had a chance to listen to the experience of translators in translating famous philosophy books. (Technical text are easier to translate, believe me. Read on & you will understand what I mean.)

Preparation Work.
Do you know that they actually did a lot of background work before the actual translation begin?

• They got to make sure that they are familiar with the work of the original author by
• reading books written by the author
• analyse the author's writing style
• study the author's thinking & feeling at the moment when the book was written to understand the author's expressions used in the book. This is to avoid misinterpretation of content in the book.
• Study the target language & target audience language culture by
• understanding the style of target language used
• find terms that are commonly used by the target community
• Checks whether there were any related work done to reuse phrases that were previously translated

I was flabbergasted when I heard that they really really do a lot! And that is before translating the work! Aren't that amazing! I'm not sure whether you share the same amazement but I sure did!

Actual Translation.
During the actual translation, they got to make sure that they do not change the original ideas of the author in its translated version. They also need to make sure that when readers read the translated version, they are able to still connect to the original author feelings & maintain the author's style & expression, yet made it meaningful & natural to the reader. This is not an easy task! I was in awed. I start to admire their work more & more. .

I actually received a copy (gift from organisers) of a translated work from German to Malay of the famous book titled "Siddhartha" written by Hermann Hesse who was a nobel prize winner & translated by Hedy Holzwarth. I am keen to read this famous book & thanks to the translators, I got a chance to read it even though, I do not understand German.

But of course, besides attending the conference, I got a chance to stay in a 5-star Prince Hotel located at Jalan Conlay near Bukit Bintang & also visited the Pavilion!

Photos!
Conference
 

Prince Hotel
 

The Pavilion