Like any other job, translation too comes with its share of challenges. A translator is required to be familiar with all the nuances of the language, he/she is supposed to translate to/from.
Translation doesn’t only bring into play the linguistics but also the socio-cultural aspect of the text. Overcoming the language barrier is no child’s play. Even seasoned translators face hurdles in translation from time to time. The most frequently faced challenges to translation are-
- Language Structure – An English sentence usually has a subject, verb, and an object. An Arabic sentence does not share the same language structure. Words have to be manipulated accordingly by the translator to convey the same meaning in the target language.
- Idioms – Idioms are culturally rooted and require in-depth knowledge of the culture to be able to translate effectively.
- Words that don’t have corresponding words for – Often, one comes across a word in the source language that the target language has no match for. Translation becomes difficult in such cases.
- Words that have more than one meaning – Many words in different languages serve different functions in different instances. Being able to figure out when a certain word means what is integral to good translation.
Conclusion
Accurate translation requires a level of immersion in the culture from where the language, to be translated to/from, arises. A good translator will triumph over these challenges and express clearly what the subject in translation intends to convey.