Translation

[Anonymous No.7028154]

Hey /lit/,

What are you translating this afternoon? I'm working on the first book of Eutropius.

Any language, prose, verse, history, fiction, philosophy - beginners and professionals. What are you hard at work on?

[Anonymous No.7028158]

>>7028154
I'm translating some songs for 10 bucks per song, that is very nice.

[Anonymous No.7028159]

>>7028154
Hentai

[Anonymous No.7028164]

>>7028158

That's pretty cool. From what language/s to which language/s? Is it taxing or going pretty smoothly?

[Anonymous No.7028430]

>>7028154

OP here. Bump. Just finished translating the passage about the dictator Camillus' victory over the Gallic siege of Rome.

Any classicists here have any thoughts on when to convey the best sense in English and when to try to be rigidly literal? I've been penalised on occasion for idiomatic translation that best conveys the sense of the Latin in English because it is assumed that I have missed the literal sense of the text.

[Anonymous No.7028442]

>>7028154
I'm double checking an eighteenth-century English translation of the psalms against the masoretic text. But not really, since I'm fucking around on /lit/, leaving my dissertation unworked-on.

[Anonymous No.7028448]

>>7028154
I'm currently translating a manual of audio description for the blind and visually impaired. It's scientific so no beautiful turns of phrase, but it puts bread on the table. I've just started, so I've got about a month of that ahead of me.

After that, I'll probably be able to sign a contract to translate a collection of short stories, but that's still up in the air.

[Anonymous No.7028454]

>>7028430
>when to convey the best sense in English and when to try to be rigidly literal
Doesn't it depend on the purpose and intended audience? If it's for academic purposes or readers, pedantic and showy literalism is the way.

[Anonymous No.7028460]

>>7028430

I'm this guy>>7028448
You can translate some things literally (metaphors come to mind), but when it comes to grammar, do so sparingly. It's a good way to make your text look outdated or translated shoddily.

[Anonymous No.7028462]

>>7028448

From which language/s to which?

[Anonymous No.7028466]

Has anyone else tried to self-publish translations of slightly obscure public domain material?

I was thinking about translating the work of some minor surrealist poets from French to English. French copyright law says it's in the public domain if the author has been dead for 70+ years so translations are fair game. I would then put it up on Amazon as like a $2.99 e-book.

It probably wouldn't make much money but would be fun as a side project that might make $100. Thoughts?

Also has anyone done any freelance translation on contract? How did you get started?

[Anonymous No.7028474]

>>7028460
>>7028454

Of course context matters - but in an academic setting you are often asked to translate Latin into 'idiomatic English' but then can be penalised for English idiom failing to express the precision of Latin tenses/cases (a precision that just doesn't always translate that well or at all into English). I guess it's just a gripe I have - the rubric must mean that a lot is down to the marker's own preference/judgement in each case.

[Anonymous No.7028485]

>>7028158
Who hires you? I want to do that as well.

[Anonymous No.7028500]

>>7028474
>the rubric must mean that a lot is down to the marker's own preference/judgement in each case.

Shitty deal. good luck with that.

[Anonymous No.7028511]

>>7028500

It is I guess :(. It sucks a little to be told to do one thing, and when you do it, to sometimes be told you haven't quite grasped the meaning.

[Anonymous No.7028613]

>>7028154
kοπτο

[Anonymous No.7028620]

>>7028154
Translating some of the work of Mathieu Arsenault - essay analysing a school shooter's diary, and some creative stream-of-conscious-y semiautomatic bits of text from the POV of secondary students. Fr>En

[Anonymous No.7028624]

>>7028620
Paid work or for pleasure?

[Anonymous No.7028650]

I heard some of Duns Scotus' stuff remains untranslated. It is my dream to do it. Please wish me luck.

[Anonymous No.7028670]

>>7028650
Oh, I'll wish you luck. BAD luck!

[Anonymous No.7028680]

>>7028462

English --> Dutch.

[Anonymous No.7028792]

>>7028670
the absolute madman!!!

[Anonymous No.7029009]

Bumping for interest

[Anonymous No.7029013]

Translating some /ss/ hentai from Jap to spanish and english simultaneously.

[Anonymous No.7029183]

do you prefer reading books translated into your first language or the original language

[Anonymous No.7029392]

>>7029183

It depends on why I am reading it. If I am reading it because I want to know something or understand something, I prefer a translation. If reading for pleasure or to practice a language then I prefer, for obvious reasons, to read the original. My Latin and Greek are not such that I can translate large passages quickly - so if I need to look at the work of say an ancient historian for research, I will look at a translation, and if there is a point of contention or ambiguity in the secondary literature, I'll home in on the original text I need and see what I think is meant/works best.

[Anonymous No.7029582]

>>7028154

Bump to keep this alive till morning.

[Anonymous No.7029595]

>>7029392
Can you not just read something in the original like one would read something in French? Why do you have to translate it to read it?

[Anonymous No.7029595,1]

>>7029595
As I explained, my Latin and Greek are a ways from perfect and as highly inflected languages it is much harder to just 'read' them along to oneself.