Native Speakers

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Wycliffe Associates argues that their use of the ‘local church’ and ‘native speakers’ means they can speed translation up. Certainly, using a highly trained native speaker would speed things up because they can skip the language learning phase but that doesn’t cut out ALL the other steps that take time.

A translator friend says, “Many people do not understand what good translation actually entails, and many believe it to be a relatively simple process of finding a word in the receptor language to replace a word in the source language. And we never get a 100% accurate message translated - but we do go through a lot of exegesis and checks and revisions to get as high a percentage as we can.”

Benefits of using a native speaker:

  •  No need to travel to another country
  •  No need for furloughs
  • No need for language learning
  • No struggle with visas
Native speakers are still people they:
  • Still need vacations.
  • Still get sick.
  • Still have family.
  • Still need an income. 
  • Still feel persecuted.
  • Still have stress, depression, mental illness.

I wonder if having untrained native speakers do the translation alone might slow down the process:

  • A native speaker of a language tends to not understand the grammar of their own language without studying it in-depth because they just have always spoken the language.
  • They will rely solely on the digital resources and only have access to that if the power is on and the computer is working.
  • They won’t have access to stores to fix their computer.
  • Lack of access to trainings if they don’t understand the software or forget how software works.
  • Lack of access to pastors that can help explain difficult concepts.
  • Lack of internet access.
  • Lack of finances.
  • Lack of encouragement to keep going when things get hard.
  • Can’t train people to take their place if they get sick or die.

What shouldn’t happen when using a native speaker:

  • Don’t skip the linguistic training.
  • Don’t skip the Bible training.
  •  Don’t skip the accountability.
  • Don’t skip the language analysis phase which is needed for translation and literacy.
  • Don’t skip the alphabet writing phase.
  • Don’t skip the drafting and rewriting.
  • Don’t skip the village check.
  •  Don’t skip the consultant checks.
  •  Don’t skip the literacy materials.
  • Don’t skip the scripture-in-use.
  • Don’t skip translating songs.
  • Don’t skip translating local stories.
  • Don’t skip the dedication ceremony.
  • Don’t skip the years of relationship building.

If English needed another translation, would I be able to do a translation of the Bible into English with two weeks of training and practice? No, and I grew up in the church, a child of Bible translators with my highest education being at the master’s level. No one is proposing that I create a translation for the English language, and Wycliffe Associates shouldn’t be promoting inaccurate translations done by untrained native speakers.

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