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alexpgpSo here I've been working for about 5 hours and have made about as much progress as I used to make back when I started translating. I blame the fact that the language is not technical, but literary (if you fuzz your eyes sufficiently).
The "bad" thing about technical translation is having to understand (i.e., learning) enough about what's going on to write about it using the proper terminology (resistors are connected "in parallel" and not "concurrently"), but if you already have a technical bent, the learning curve is fairly short. Once you get a handle on the terminology, you get to enjoy the good thing about technical documents, which is that there are no metaphors, similes, alliterations, rhetorical questions, or other devices (though there are rare exceptions that smack you squarely between the running lights with their obviousness).
Literary (or broadly speaking, non-technical) text typically requires both a deeper knowledge of vocabulary, idioms, and slang as well as a feel for how various devices are used to express subtle intentions. Then there is "register" to consider, which is its own separate brush fire.
A prime example of this difficulty was the "Встретили по одежке" that I overanalyzed in the previous two posts. While I stand by my assessment that "Greeted as strangers" is a workable rendering, it turns out that my decision was strongly clouded by what I had already translated. The text that followed the heading actually did discuss how someone's clothes had affected their participation at a meeting, so "Judged by appearances" is starting to look pretty good at this juncture, but I shall exercise my prerogative and let the issue hang until I do my review.
That being said, I need to take a power nap and start on 4,000 source words of the contract due Thursday. I'm going to be playing catch-up on that project all week.
Cheers...
The "bad" thing about technical translation is having to understand (i.e., learning) enough about what's going on to write about it using the proper terminology (resistors are connected "in parallel" and not "concurrently"), but if you already have a technical bent, the learning curve is fairly short. Once you get a handle on the terminology, you get to enjoy the good thing about technical documents, which is that there are no metaphors, similes, alliterations, rhetorical questions, or other devices (though there are rare exceptions that smack you squarely between the running lights with their obviousness).
Literary (or broadly speaking, non-technical) text typically requires both a deeper knowledge of vocabulary, idioms, and slang as well as a feel for how various devices are used to express subtle intentions. Then there is "register" to consider, which is its own separate brush fire.
A prime example of this difficulty was the "Встретили по одежке" that I overanalyzed in the previous two posts. While I stand by my assessment that "Greeted as strangers" is a workable rendering, it turns out that my decision was strongly clouded by what I had already translated. The text that followed the heading actually did discuss how someone's clothes had affected their participation at a meeting, so "Judged by appearances" is starting to look pretty good at this juncture, but I shall exercise my prerogative and let the issue hang until I do my review.
That being said, I need to take a power nap and start on 4,000 source words of the contract due Thursday. I'm going to be playing catch-up on that project all week.
Cheers...
