Articles and Stories

August 28, 2013

Just a few days ago, I received this saying in my inbox from a friend:

To understand another language and to translate accurately and stylishly requires being able to think in that language. It is not enough to have learned it in school, you need to have lived in that country and be able to understand jokes, puns and homophones. When you understand jokes, puns and homophones and can translate them into your language so that they turn out as jokes, puns and homophones, then you can call yourself an expert translator.

This above example with the usage of homophones would surely challenge any translator. Can you even remotely imagine how you would translate this saying into another language so that it still sounds funny?

Professional translators, unlike people who are simply bilingual, have the ability to link languages and rewrite the source text to make it sound as if it originated in the target language. Translators can be compared to a bridge, a bridge linking languages and conveying messages and even jokes.