Translation Procedures

Translation Procedures

            According to Larson (1984: 3), “Translation is transferring the meaning of the source language into the receptor language. This is done by going from the form of the first language to the form of the second language by way of semantic structure. It is meaning which is being transferred and must be held constant.” In transferring the meaning, a translator needs some procedures, methods, and strategies to make the translation easy to understand and appropriate with the aim of the source language. Here, I will explain the translation procedures that are depicted by Nida (1964). There are two procedures; they are technical procedures and organizational procedures.

            The first procedures is that, technical procedures. It relates with the process of translating. There are three steps in this procedures, they are:

a.       Analysis of the source and target languages. The translators here should understand about the culture side of the source language and the target language whether that is meant in the source language also exists in the target language.

b.      A through study of the source language text before making attempts translate it. It means that the translators have to know about the aim of the source language. They have to understand the essence given in source language. In this step, the translators could make a discussion with the writer itself, other translators, or some groups that interest with the book which will be translated. 

c.       Making judgments of the semantic and syntactic approximations. The translators need to make sure the equivalence of the words, the sentence structure, and the closest meaning of the source language. It leads to the correct translation, so it doesn’t diverge from the writer’s purpose.

The second procedure is organizational procedures. It is stated that constant reevaluation of the attempt made; contrasting it with the existing available translations of the same text done by other translators, and checking the text's communicative effectiveness by asking the target language readers to evaluate its accuracy and effectiveness and studying their reactions. These procedures relate to the result of the translation. It is like a test of the naturalness of the translation. The translators can examine their translation by asking some critics and suggestions from the readers. So, they can revise their translation to be better and understandable.

That’s all what I know about translation procedures. I think it is very important for translators to use this kind of procedures. It is very helpful to make a good translation. Enjoy Translating !