Dr. Alex Philip's Hindi is translated into Surjapuri as we start Listening Group Leader training.
It’s stories like these that reinforce the great need for the accurate mother-tongue tellings of Scripture and social development information that T4 Global mother-tongue translation teams are working to develop.
When translations are recorded and CHECKED the result is accurate communication of important information.
I wish there were better ways to quickly check translation when speaking to large groups.
Story 1
Last Sunday morning T4 Global CEO Ed Weaver was speaking at a church. His text included creation stories from Genesis. When he began to talk about creation of man Ed decided it was a good spot to draw in the children’s attention.
“Children — Do you play in the dirt?” he asked the crowd.
“NO!” the children shouted back to the surprise of Ed and myself sitting in the back observing.
Regrouping to try and make his point, Ed asked, “Don’t you run on the dirt when you play?”
“NO!” the children shouted back.
Recognizing an illustration about to be “lost in translation” Ed moved on.
The next day Ed and I learned what happened.
Dr. Alex Philip, our host, told us the translator had asked the children “Do you play in the dirty?” using a Hindi word for the kind of dirt that is swept up off the floor in a house.
Of course the children had been wisely taught never to play in that kind of dirt!
“If you had said “mud” the translator would have better translated and the children would have shouted YES!” Dr. Alex told us as he chuckled about the story.
“When Shyamal realized where you were going Ed, and what you had tried to ask the children, he began to correct his translation and use the Hindi word for “mud” when describing how God made man.”
Story 2
Introducing myself during Surjapuri training on Monday I reported I live in Tucson, Arizona.
I found out Wednesday from Dwarika, one of our T4 Global staff from Nepal who was with us, how this had been translated when he commented on a Facebook post I made while I was in Chicago waiting for the flight to Tucson.
“Praying for you! One quick reminder when you say you are waiting to go to Tucson, which I forgot to mention about the translation with Surjapuri translator. You told the group: “I am from the city called Tucson.” The translator translated: “I am from the city where Two Suns meet”
I wonder how the Surjapuri folks in the crowd that day pictured the city where Susie and I live?
Now I know why it gets hot in Tucson.
Bruce C. E. Fleming January 26th, 2012 3:23 pm
An American pastor was warned ahead of traveling to a new culture group not to use complex literate concepts. He thought he would use the popular tool The Wordless Book.
Great tool! Wrong place to use it!
1. His audience did not know what a book was. 2. And “wordless” made no sense at all.
3. The trade language they were using to communicate with the people who came from different tribal language groups only had three words for colors: black, white and other. And the wordless book uses 5! The translator was faced with an impossible task!