What is Translation?

Translation could be defined via metaphors. The most known is "Translation is like a bridge". According to Google Dictionary, a bridge is:

"a. a structure carrying a road, path, railroad, or canal across a river, ravine, road, railroad, or other obstacle. 

b. something that is intended to reconcile or form a connection between two things."

Therefore, in this case, the two things that are connected are languages and cultures.

 

Research has revealed that translation could be defined as a process and as a product through 36 metaphors (Words without Borders, 2021). The aim of this blogpost is to discuss the worth of these metaphors and their success in describing the task. 

• What do you think of these metaphors? 
• What is the closest metaphor to the reality of the task? 
• What is the metaphor that takes into account all the aspects of translation?

History of Translation and Interpreting

     The History of Translation and Interpreting dates back to the first use of language. Every act of communication is an act of translation.

      Indeed, the history of translation can be approached from different perspectives. One way of looking at it is through considering its development as a human activity in each region of the world and comparing it to the other regions. Thus, each civilization will have its own history. This kind of research can be narrowed down by studying the history of translation in every country of the world to see its contribution in the development of the overall translation movement which is bridging the gap between the different cultures and peoples.

     Therefore, we may have to explore the history of translation by looking at its development in:

• The Western World
• The Eastern World
• The Arab World

    

Audio-Description Process

         The process of producing effective Audio-Description includes many steps starting from the selection of audio and studio gear to the processing, mixing and mastering of voices and sounds.

          A lot of considerations must be taken into account in the production process. In-depth insights could be learnt about the definition of Audio-Description and the process of script writing, if you take a look at the following Playlists:

What is Audio-Description?

What is Audio-Description?

What is Script Writing?

What is Script Writing?

What is Creative Writing?

Best Machine Translation Engines

 

Machine Translation (MT), i.e. automated translation, is a "process when a computer software translates text from one language to another without human involvement [in the output]” (MemoQ.com, 2020). The human being is certainly involved in providing input, i.e. content to be translated, to the machine tanslation engine. 

Machine Translation has many advantages. The MT engine can handle large amounts of texts (8500 words per day) and a lot of languages, if compared with the human translator abilities (2500 words per day). Thus, it is efficient, because it is time-saving. It is also cost-effective, because it is useful in reducing costs. In addition, it improves quality through the memorization of recurrent translated sentences and terms.

Subtitling & Post-Editing Projects

Follow the external links below to watch on youtube the videos subtitled and post-edited by my students as part of their courses' assignments in the Master's programme at the UB2. These projects are short and deal with different themes each time.

SUBTITLING (From English into Arabic)

Subtitling Projects (M2 Translation 2022/2023 - UB2)   (Watch Now!)

Subtitling Projects (M1 Translation 2022-2023 / UB2)  (Watch Now!)

Subtitling Projects (M1 Translation 2022/2023 - UB2)   (Watch Now!)

Subtitling Projects (M2 Translation 2021/2022 - UB2)      

 

Subtitling Projects (M2 Translation 2020/2021 - UB2)       

Subtitling Projects (M1 Translation 2020/2021 - UB2)             

Subtitling Projects (M2 Translation 2019/2020 - UB2)

Subtitling Projects (M1 Translation 2019/2020 - UB2) 

Subtitling Projects (M2 Translation 2018/2019 - UB2) 

Subtitling Projects (M1 Translation 2018/2019 - UB2)

Subtitling Projects (M2 Translation 2017/2018 - UB2)

Subtitling Projects (M1 Translation 2017/2018 - UB2)

Subtitling Projects (M1 Translation 2016/2017 - UB2)

These video playlists will be updated. Check them out later

Your comments and feedback are most welcomed and greatly appreciated.