Translating with TJ: May 2014

Recent Translations

Below, some of my most recent translations. I’ll comment here on the blog about each one of them individually with time, among the other posts about general subjects and the translation area.

The books I translate are not mine, they belong to the authors, of course. But I translate them as if they were mine, with all my heart and soul. When you translate, you have to enter in the author’s mind, to know what he/she’s thinking, understand his/her feelings so that the book can be perfect. I feel this strong empathy with the author and make all the efforts for his/her book’s contents to be in Portuguese exactly the way they are in the original form in English. Translating is fascinating. Besides the knowledge about languages, I have to research a lot and I end up reading and learning many interesting things. That’s why I’m so proud when I see the result. The book is not mine, but I’ve treated it as if it was my own treasure all the way.

- The Book of Why - O Livro do Porquê - Nicholas Montemarano - LeYa

- Weapon: A Visual History of Arms and Armor - Armas - História Visual de Armas e Armaduras - Lafonte

- The World Atlas of Whisky - O Atlas Mundial do Whisky - O Atlas Mundial do Whisky - Dave Broom - Larousse

- Being Wrong - Por que Erramos? - Kathryn Schulz - Larousse

- Evidence of the Afterlife - Evidências da Vida Após a Morte - Jeffrey Long - Larousse

- It’s Your Time - A Hora é Agora - Joel Osteen, Larousse

- Think Smart - Mente Saudável, Mente Brilhante - Richard Restak - Riverhead Books - Larousse

- Whisky Classified - Whisky Classificado - David Wishart - Pavilion Books - Larousse

- The Elephant and the Flea - O Elefante e a Pulga - Charles Handy - Arrow - Almedina do Brasil

- Pauline Bonaparte, Venus of Empire - Paulina Bonaparte, a Princesa do Prazer - Flora Fraser - Borzoi Book, Knopf - Ediouro

- My Life as a Traitor - Minha Vida Como Traidora - Zarah Ghahramani e Rober Hillman, Bloomsbury Publishing - Ediouro

- How the Wise Decide - Como os Sábios Decidem - Bryn Zeckhauser e Aaron Sandoski - Crown Business - Ediouro

- My Best Friend’s Girl - A Filha da Minha Melhor Amiga - Dorothy Koomson, Sphere (Warner), ARX

- Autobiography - Slash - Autobiografia - Anthony Bozza – HarperCollins - Edirouro

- 81 Challenges Smart Managers Face – Desafios Gerenciais, Tim Connor - Sourcebooks - Futura

- Do it Tomorrow - Deixe para Amanhã - Mark Forster - Hodder & Stoughton - Futura

- Was Your Boss Raised by Wolves? - Seu Chefe Foi Criado por Lobos? -

Gerald M. Groe - Career Press - Futura

- Fat Free and Fatal - Insaciável - G.A McKevett - Kensington Books - ARX

- Mirage - Miragem - Soheir Khashoggi - Forge-Tom Doherty - ARX

- A Dangerous Dress - Um Vestido Perigoso - Julia Holden – NewAmerican - ARX

- Prince of Lost Places - O Príncipe dos Lugares Perdidos - Kathy Hepinstall - Putnam - Best Seller

Some of the translations of Tina Jeronymo to Portuguese.
Algumas das traduções de Tina Jeronymo para o português.

Human and Automated Translation

Nothing substitutes the flesh and blood translator and interpreter. The professional translator doesn’t use translation machines to perform his work for him. He/she can, however, use the available translation devices to understand a bit the languages he/she doesn’t know and increase his/her knowledge about other peoples and cultures as well, in cases he/she can’t count on foreign colleagues to help him/her. I believe technology serves to help man, never to substitute him. It’s always man’s intelligence that’s behind the machines.

The “Phraselator” technology mentioned here, from the glorious “Star Trek”, is actually being used nowadays, especially in the military area. Those who are smart enough to use it when it’s strictly necessary, however, are also smart to know they’re carrying a kind of electronic phrase dictionary, not a versatile human translator and interpreter.

A translator uses a bilingual dictionary (and even consults reliable translation sites) as a mere tool, the same way a writer uses his native language dictionary to elucidate doubts. But there’s a big difference between the human and the automated translation and their respective usages.

Only the human translation transmits the precise sense of a text in a way that’s completely understandable to the reader. The automated translation, in its turn, has a fantastic comprehensiveness of languages and it’s a useful and valid tool to several kinds of professional in many situations. When there can’t be an interpreter available, the automated translation facilitates the communication between several peoples during trips around the world and the cultural interchange. (I myself, for instance, here on the blog, as I mention on the presentation, have included the Google translator because _ though I never use it professionally as a translator, since translations are too literal and usually don’t “fit” _ I think it’s a very useful tool for any language reader to understand at least the contents of a foreign text).

Basically, it would be something more or less like this: “Just when the access to a “Personal Human Translator” is not possible for some reason, take your “Phraselator” with you.

Translation is not a mechanic act. It’s not the transcription of word for word of a text literally. It’s a kind of craftsmanship, even an art. As an example, when we translate a word from English to Portuguese, such as “water”, we have one meaning, but if we add another word, such as in “water clock”, “water closet”, “water mill”, “waterfall”, “waterfront”, the meaning changes, naturally, and the translator has to know that in order not to translate those words separately and getting wrong meanings. If you take a word in Portuguese such as “água” (water), and add other words such as in “água-viva” (jelly-fish), “água sanitária” (chlorine bleach), água-forte (etching) etc., you have other meanings. In phrases, and, especially in paragraphs and longer texts, the meaning one wants to give to words and to the general context becomes more complex, and so it would be impossible to merely replace words. That is, translation can’t be done word for word, literally. It’s a combination of ideas, a composition elaborated with the knowledge of the origin and target languages and of several cultural aspects, besides other factors.

The same way an artisan creates a piece with all his/her care, the translator composes a translation by attaining the feat of being faithful to the author and, at the same time, being faithful to the reader.