Comments on: Liner Notes for “County Doctor” http://www.motleyvision.org/2009/liner-notes-for-county-doctor/ Mormon Arts and Culture Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:46:59 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Kent Larsen http://www.motleyvision.org/2009/liner-notes-for-county-doctor/comment-page-1/#comment-38240 Kent Larsen Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:26:29 +0000 http://www.motleyvision.org/?p=2978#comment-38240 Great post, William. I'm fascinated by the process you used, and I found parts of it very familiar--I also do much of my translation during my commute, which takes much longer, but both allows me to use time that might be otherwise wasted, and gives a break between translating sessions, which forces me to take a different or fresh look at what I've done frequently in the process. There are a few differences, however: * I use google translate for a rough first draft. In recent months google translate has become quite good, leaving only higher-level issues (word choice, sentence structure, etc.), since most of the more basic grammar is correct. I can see, however, that for literary translations like yours that might not be the best idea. It also doesn't work very well when the source document uses archaic or obscure or precise language. * I like putting the translation and the original side-by-side on the same sheet of paper, ideally with the google first draft translation double-spaced or triple-spaced. * Once the translation has been corrected to the point that I like it, I then ditch the source and work only with the translation, running it through spell and grammar checkers in addition to my own reading for tone, word choice, etc. I don't know if you are planning any future translations (it would help your German, you know), but if you are, or if anyone else is planning on taking a stab at it, my experience might be helpful. AND, William, there really isn't any excuse of a lack of resources for keeping up your language skills (lack of time, yes, lack of resources, no). With the Internet, podcasts, online newspapers, etc., it is really possible to maintain a language very easily. Great post, William. I’m fascinated by the process you used, and I found parts of it very familiar–I also do much of my translation during my commute, which takes much longer, but both allows me to use time that might be otherwise wasted, and gives a break between translating sessions, which forces me to take a different or fresh look at what I’ve done frequently in the process.

There are a few differences, however:

* I use google translate for a rough first draft. In recent months google translate has become quite good, leaving only higher-level issues (word choice, sentence structure, etc.), since most of the more basic grammar is correct. I can see, however, that for literary translations like yours that might not be the best idea. It also doesn’t work very well when the source document uses archaic or obscure or precise language.

* I like putting the translation and the original side-by-side on the same sheet of paper, ideally with the google first draft translation double-spaced or triple-spaced.

* Once the translation has been corrected to the point that I like it, I then ditch the source and work only with the translation, running it through spell and grammar checkers in addition to my own reading for tone, word choice, etc.

I don’t know if you are planning any future translations (it would help your German, you know), but if you are, or if anyone else is planning on taking a stab at it, my experience might be helpful.

AND, William, there really isn’t any excuse of a lack of resources for keeping up your language skills (lack of time, yes, lack of resources, no). With the Internet, podcasts, online newspapers, etc., it is really possible to maintain a language very easily.

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