The art of translation is the art of building bridges
Good translators are cultural ambassadors of their countries, representing the best of its knowledge and literature
In today’s age, it’s not only countries and societies that need to interact closely, but individuals, too. This is why the field of translation has become an important one. It is through the art of translation that a culture’s complete wisdom is now available to us.
Translation studies has, over the years, emerged as an important subject in university curricula, both at the graduate and postgraduate level. A good translator is well-versed and proficient, bilingual, and familiar with the subject of the source language in the text chosen for translation. He never tries to insert his own ideas or personal impressions into the text he is transliterating. His objective is to convey the content and the intent of the text as exactly as possible. A good translator is a good writer, too. This skill makes his translation both explicit, expressive and readable; he adjusts and accommodates, but never compromises on the original text.
Good translators in every major language of the world need patrons, since they are the real cultural ambassadors of their respective countries, representing the best of their culture’s knowledge, wisdom and literature.
The art of translation is the art of building bridges. But it is not an easy task, because not all languages have the same words or their equivalent in other languages and cultures, and not all words and ideas can be easily translated or explained in another language. The best translators don’t give up.
— The reader is an educationist, writer and translator, based in India
