towards a better translation

2. A dynamic-equivalence translation can also be
called a thought-for-thought translation…
In making a thought-for-thought translation, the
translators must do their best to enter into the
thought patterns of the ancient authors and to
present the same ideas, connotations, and effects
in the receptor modern language.
From the Introduction to the New Living Translation.

3.  Do you have your feathers? Good.
 Siap dengan bulu-bulu kalian? Bagus.
 It is not appropriate to translate it as :
 Apakah kamu sudah mendapatkan bulumu?
Bagus.

4.  No, stop,stop, stop! You’re going to take
someone’s eye out.
 Tidak, hentikan, hentikan, hentikan! Sebelum
kamu membutakan mata orang.
 It is not suitable to translate it as: bukan,
berhenti, berhenti, berhenti , kamu akan
membuat mata orang keluar.

5.  It’s Leviosa, not Leviosar
This sentence will be appropriate to be translated
as : “Leviosa, bukan leviosar.” There is no need
to translate the words “It’s” to be “Itu Leviosa,
bukan leviosar”.

6. Dynamic equivalence translations do not attempt to
translate every word, but rather give the meaning of
every thought (though most words will be
translated).

7.  the most emotional parts of the text occur when
one of the main characters, Lintang, has to
leave the school:
 "It was dead silent. The birds that usually
played in the filicium were silent, too.
Everyone’s hearts were drowning in tears at
having the pearl of knowledge taken away
from school. We hugged Lintang as a symbol
of saying goodbye.

8.  His tears fell slowly, his hug tight like he
didn't want to let go. His body shook when
his noble soul was forced to leave the school.
I couldn't bear to see his miserable face, and
no matter how hard I tried, my sadness won
and emptied my eyes of their tears.

9.  It turned into a silent, tearless cry; it was so
painful. I couldn't even utter a fragment of a
word to say goodbye. We were all sobbing.
Muslimah’s lips quivered holding back tears,
her eyes red. But not one tear fell from her
eyes. She wanted us to be strong. My chest
ached seeing her like that.

10.  That afternoon was the saddest afternoon in
the history of Belitong, from the Linggang
River delta to Pangkalan Punai Beach, from
Mirang Bridge to Tanjong Pandan. It was the
saddest afternoon in the world. At the
moment I realized that we all were actually
the brothers of light and fire.

11.  We pledged to be faithful through strikes of
lightning and mountain-moving tornadoes.
Our pledge was written in the seven layers of
the sky, witnessed by the mysterious dragons
that ruled the South China Sea. Together, we
were the most beautiful rainbow ever created
by God."

12.  "On a silent evening, a poor man with a heart
as big as the sky passed away. One of the
wells of knowledge in the forsaken
(terabaikan/ditinggalkan), dry field was gone
forever. He died on his battlefield, the school
he fought to keep alive until his last breath. A
noble death, just like he always wanted.

13.  There were no rounds of gunshots to salute
him, no flower arrangements, no awards from
the government or speeches from the
Education Minister, no glorifying monument
of any kind from anybody. But he had left a
pure well in the hearts of eleven students, a
well of knowledge that would never dry up.

14.  We wept in the classroom. The one who
sobbed most heart wrenchingly( hati yang
pilu/terpukul) was Harun. Pak Harfan had
been like a father to him. He sobbed and
sobbed; he couldn't be consoled (dihibur). His
heavy tears streamed down, soaking his
shirt."

15.  The translations produced by this method
are easier to read and understand, and
generally are written in smoother English
 These translations make it easy to
understand the central meaning of a
sentences.

16.  This method requires more
interpretation by the translator than an
essentially literal translation

17. Bahasa Indonesia:
A: Eh, TUMBEN kamu di sini.. Janjian ketemu sama
orang?
B: Ngga, ISENG aja. Udah lama ngga ke sini.
English:
A: Hi! I didn't expect to see you here. Meeting someone?
B: Nope. Just thought I'd come here. Been a long time.
How would you translate the indonesian word "TUMBEN"?
And what about "ISENG"? you don't translate them, do
you?. You just look at the whole context of conversational
exchanges and find expressions that best convey.

18.  In the Belgian comic book The Adventures of
Tintin, Tintin's trusty dog, Milou is translated
as Snowy in English,
Bobbie in Dutch, Kuttus in Bengali,
and Struppi in German;


19. Paraphrases or free translations are most concerned
with a fresh way to express the meaning of the
passage, and are generally not concerned to translate
each underlying word or even phrase from the original
language

20.  Translations produced by this method will
usually be very original and may cause the
reader to take more notice of the passage

21.  These translations are highly interpretive
 These translations have no concern for
translating each underlying word or phrase
and so are not good for study purposes

22.  There is no such thing as a perfect translation
– language is simply too complex
 Due to the fact that languages change, all
translations will have to be updated over time